Should I get an SSD drive?

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Level 1

136 points

Should I get an SSD drive?

Hello.

I'm thinking of buying a new MacBook for school. I've come to the conclusion that I should get either the MacBook Air 13" or Retina MacBook Pro 13".
In either case I definitely want the specs to be: 8GB Ram and 256 GB SSD Drive.

However:

During my research I've come across a lot of articles saying that you should be aware of 'how to use' a SSD drive in order to 'make it last as long as possible', and that you should write as little data as possible to it.

How big of a deal is this really?

Since I'll be using my MacBook for school I obviously need to do a lot(!) of text editing, which means a lot of writting to the disk (since I'll be opening the same document several times and edit it). I'll be using it for light video (iMovie) and audio (GarageBand) editing as well.

After reading all these articles on the SSD Drive I'm thinking if it's better to just stick with a HDD Drive (the non-Retina MBP)?

Please help me out here guys.
Thanks.

Posted on Jul 13, 2014 2:32 AM

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Answer 1

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Jul 13, 2014 11:38 AM in response to MortenEJ

MortenEJ,

how big a deal it is depends upon how long you would like to keep whichever Mac you choose to purchase. The durability of the SSD for writing is typically measured in terabytes; even a lot of text editing is unlikely to make a significant dent in that. For me, the real issue for the current Retina models would be whether you would be able to purchase a replacement PCIe SSD for it if needed once the warranty period has ended. With a non-Retina MacBook Pro, you would at least have a choice of several SATA SSDs on the market.

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Answer 2

Jul 13, 2014 11:51 AM in response to MortenEJ

With all of the estimated "mean time before failure" tests I've seen regarding SSDs, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out - after SSDs have been installed in consumer computers for a longer period - if SSDs didn't come out on top versus the short lifespan of hard disk drives.

So if I were you, realizing that you're going to upgrade your computer within the next 7-10 years, I wouldn't worry about the read/write figures that you see with SSDs. My oldest SSD is 3 years old and it's still going strong. The current SSDs that I have are less than 4 months old, tops. I've yet to have a problem with an SSD (although all four of mine have been manufactured by Crucial).

I don't think you've anything to worry about - the SSD will long outlast the computer, I'm certain.

Clinton

MacBook Pro (15-inch Late 2011), OS Mavericks 10.9.4, 16GB Crucial RAM, Crucial M500 960GB SSD, 27” Apple Thunderbolt Display

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