What are the difference in dimensions of the SD card slot per MB model?

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Level 1

4 points

What are the difference in dimensions of the SD card slot per MB model?

Hello,

looking at the site of SD expansion cards for the MacBook, I can see there are different sized SD cards for each MB version: MB Air, MPB15 & MPB13 get different sizes and hence different maximum card capacity. For example, for the JetDrive Lite:

http://nl.transcend-info.com/apple/jetdrivelite/

Check the chart near the end of the page to see a comparison between SD Card versions and MB versions.

Below the chart, you can see the different SD cards and how each of them have a different size and hence different maximum capacities.

Oddly enough, they claim the MBP 13" has the smallest SD Slot space of all, and hence the card they can fit in it only expands up to 128GB.

For all other MB models, they can expand up to 256Gb, even the MBA.

In the Apple official support page about the MB SD slot (About the SD and SDXC card slot - Apple Support), it has no information about different dimensions per MB model. So, I'd like to confirm: does the MBP 13" really have the smallest slot of all (even smaller than the MBA)??? And if so, WHY THE **** IS THAT???

Thank you very much,

Henrique.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch,Early 2015), OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Nov 24, 2015 1:46 PM

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Answer 1

Phil0124

Level 10

216,896 points

Nov 24, 2015 2:10 PM in response to henriquesp

The physical size of the slot width-wise, is exactly the same for all MacBooks that have it since SD cards are standard size.

The depth of the slot is what varies. and the only reason they limit the size is because otherwise it would protrude outward from the MBP. Instead of sitting flush.

The MBP 13" has the shallowest slot since it has less space in the smaller form factor than the 15". The MacBook Air has a slightly deeper slot because of the difference in components inside. The available space into the case is a bit more than in the 13" MBP.

So for the card to sit flush with the frame in a 13" MBP it needs to be shorter. Being shorter limits the amount of storage it can have.

You can still however insert a 256GB SD card into the MBP slot and it will work, it just won't be flush with the frame, it will stick out slightly.

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Answer 2

henriquesp Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 24, 2015 2:17 PM in response to Phil0124

While I understand the inner components setup is completely different on the MBA and MBP, I can't accept that a product whose major strength was supposed to be design could have such a flaw. I mean, it's like the SD slot wasn't even part of the original design at all, and they just fitted the slot in whatever space they had left after the project was done. But from a UX standpoint, if you are going for a MBP (no matter if 13" or 15"), in general, it does mean you'd be more data intensive than a MBA user. In this context, for the SD slot, the use case perspective was simply ignored and they just went with whatever space they had left.

I've had a MBP 15"; I loved the performance and hated the size, so when the early 2015 MBP 13 Retina were released, with i7 procs, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSDs, I immediately grabbed one. My performance requirements are not less because I use a MBP13 instead of a 15, and extended storage capacity should be part of that equation.

This is truly frustrating.

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Answer 3

Phil0124

Level 10

216,896 points

Nov 24, 2015 2:57 PM in response to henriquesp

I doubt flush sitting sd cards were considered when designing it, no. But just because you can't get a sd card to sit flush, does not mean it lacks the functionality. It reads the same cards, and works the same way. I doubt Apple was ever thinking about flush sitting SD cards from 3rd party manufacturers.

The reader can still take the SD card regardless of depth. So in that regard, it works for anybody that needs 256GB there. It simply will not sit flush.

To me its very nit-picky to wine simply because the sim card is not fully inserted.

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Answer 4

henriquesp Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 25, 2015 8:08 PM in response to Phil0124

That's because the only use case you (and probably Apple) are considering is about being able to eventually read a sd card from your camera or other device to copy data in the Mac and then remove it. When you consider using the sd card as a permanent storage expansion slot, you do want it to sit flush or else in the first time you throw your MPB in the backpack in a hurry, you might damage both the card and the slot.

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