Best SSD for Macbook Pro Early 2011?

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Level 1

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Best SSD for Macbook Pro Early 2011?

It seems the top two contenders are Samsung 840 Pro and Crucial M500. From a real world perspective, would I even notice the difference between the two as far a speed goes (or any other ones for that matter). i guess I am just curious if anyone has found other SSD drives that work nicely with the macbook pro, with or without trim enabled. I know the 840 EVO has issues for whatever reason. What about the Seagate 600 which does not use Sandforce or Marvell, or other Marvell drives like Sandisk Extreme II or Plextor M5 pro xtreme?

Also, if you could had how long they have lasted and comment on whether there has been any degradation in quality, that would be helpful as well. Things such as temperature and battery life would be helpful as well. Most review sites are so focused on Windows, it makes it hard to know.

I've already upgraded my RAM with the Crucial 16gb package and that is working well, and I am just looking to do the one other upgrade that will make this laptop viable for a few more years.

Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Dec 21, 2013 12:09 PM

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Answer 1

alex94598

Level 2

170 points

Dec 21, 2013 12:19 PM in response to JasonB824

An SSD will not effect the battery or temperature of your Mac.

Any SSD will last at least a couple years at the minimum. Unless you're planning to keep your computer for more than 5-10 years then you shouldn't really worry about quality.

It all depends on the read and write speed in terms of which SSD is faster. But In reality you won't notice much of a difference since practically any SSD will be dramatically faster than even the quickest HDD.

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Answer 2

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Dec 21, 2013 12:38 PM in response to JasonB824

JasonB824,

I went with the Samsung 840 PRO (with TRIM enabled) for my Mid 2010 MacBook Pro. I haven’t had it for very long, and it’s nowhere near full, so I can’t comment on its long term behavior. I haven’t observed any quality degradation yet, and it does come with a five-year warranty, so it should last a while. I almost always run my MacBook Pro plugged in, so I can’t comment on differences in battery duration between charges. (Hmmm, why did I reply? 😉) My MacBook Pro only supports SATA II, but since yours supports SATA III, you should see the full performance characteristics of whichever SATA III SSD you choose. Unless you’re engaged in heavy-duty disk-bound use, you’ll be unlikely to notice speed differences between your top contenders.

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