tim jans
Level 1 (15 points)

Q: Upgrade PCIe on Mac Pro 2013?

Hi all,

 

does anyone know if you can upgrade the PCIe Flash storage on a Mac Pro 2013 yourself? 256GB is a little bit on the low side and Apple will probably charge you an arm and a leg for the upgrade. Altho I think the starting price for these babies is very good considering the power they have.

 

Thanks!

Mac Pro 2.8 8GB, Mac OS X (10.6.4), Logic pro 9, Digi 002r

Posted on Oct 25, 2013 8:18 PM

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tim jans

Q: Upgrade PCIe on Mac Pro 2013?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,Helpful

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Oct 25, 2013 8:34 PM in response to tim jans
    Level 9 (61,385 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 25, 2013 8:34 PM in response to tim jans

    OWC (Macsales.com) developed an aftermarket SSD for the proprietary SATA-slot ones in the previous models, and are selling them now.

     

    Whether they or anyone else intend to do that for the proprietary PCIe-slot models; whether they are satisfactory, when they decide to market them; is all unknown.

  • by tim jans,

    tim jans tim jans Oct 25, 2013 9:14 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Oct 25, 2013 9:14 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Ok, thanks for the info, Grant!

  • by erfrith,

    erfrith erfrith Dec 20, 2013 3:40 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 20, 2013 3:40 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    ive just ordered one and wondered what the situation was,however memory is another matter

  • by FatMac>MacPro,

    FatMac>MacPro FatMac>MacPro Dec 21, 2013 7:41 AM in response to tim jans
    Level 5 (4,883 points)
    Dec 21, 2013 7:41 AM in response to tim jans

    tim jans wrote:

     

    ...does anyone know if you can upgrade the PCIe Flash storage on a Mac Pro 2013 yourself?...

    Yes you can and this is how to do it.

  • by FatMac>MacPro,

    FatMac>MacPro FatMac>MacPro Dec 21, 2013 7:46 AM in response to erfrith
    Level 5 (4,883 points)
    Dec 21, 2013 7:46 AM in response to erfrith

    erfrith wrote:

     

    ...memory is another matter

    You can upgrade that too using these instructions. You can order the memory here.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Dec 21, 2013 9:34 AM in response to FatMac>MacPro
    Level 9 (61,385 points)
    Desktops
    Dec 21, 2013 9:34 AM in response to FatMac>MacPro

    Be careful not to confuse these modules with the other "stick" form factor SSD Drives, which have a SATA-like interface and are used in some MacBook Air and recent-but-not-latest MacBook Pro models. These SATA-like SSDs ARE available as aftermarket drives, most prominently from OWC/Macsales in their "Aura Pro" line in sizes up to 480GB. But these do not work in the Mac Pro cylinder.

     

    --------

     

    It's good that they will allow you to do this as a user upgrade, but at this writing SSD drives in the "stick" form factor with a PCIe-like interface are so new, Apple is the ONLY supplier, and there do not appear to be any of these listed at the Apple Online Store.

     

    So you can put a different PCIe SSD in that slot, but at this writing you cannot buy one from ANY source.

  • by FatMac>MacPro,

    FatMac>MacPro FatMac>MacPro Dec 21, 2013 9:41 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 5 (4,883 points)
    Dec 21, 2013 9:41 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:

     

    Be careful not to confuse these modules with the other "stick" form factor SSD Drives, which have a SATA-like interface and are used in some MacBook Air and recent-but-not-latest MacBook Pro models...

    Very true and Apple makes that point in the instructions: "be sure you are planning to use a compatible flash storage device" and "If the flash storage device doesn't appear to fit, verify that you are using a compatible device." That's also a good reason to deal with OWC/Macsales because, in my experience, they deliver what they promise, and they don't promise until they're sure.

     

    The OP's question was if it was possible and Apple got the answer to that out very promptly indeed!

  • by The hatter,

    The hatter The hatter Dec 21, 2013 9:41 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 9 (60,935 points)
    Dec 21, 2013 9:41 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    SSD review sites mention retail PCIe-SSD from Samsung in 2014.