Macbook Pro late 2010 HDD compatibility..SATA ??

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Macbook Pro late 2010 HDD compatibility..SATA ??

I have the 15" mid-late 2010 Macbook Pro. It currently has the 500GB HDD 2.4 GHz in it and want to go to 1TB. I will be upgrading to the 8GB of RAM, and am wondering..

1. Was SATA spec can it handle? II? III? SATA 6?

2. Any recommendations for drive models?

I found this:

SATA 6

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Performance-Mobile-Hard-Drive/dp/B01DOL05OC

if I can't go SATA 6 how about something else comparable? 7200 RPM and 1TB that works?

Thanks a million Apple experts!

MAcBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on May 3, 2016 10:16 AM

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Answer 1

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OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

May 3, 2016 10:58 AM in response to nate4surf

A 2010 MBP has SATA2, 3Gbps connectivity. However all drives will be backwards compatible. Try OWC:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/

There are cheerleaders for all of the various brands, but bottom line, they all will work.

Capacity is not an issue. They now come up to 2 TB.

I have a Crucial 1 TB SSD in my 2010 MBP and it performs as expected, very well.

Ciao.

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Answer 2

nate4surf Author

Level 1

4 points

May 3, 2016 10:55 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Ok thanks. So to be clear the SATA number doesn't really matter when choosing a drive for our model?

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Answer 3

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

May 3, 2016 10:59 AM in response to nate4surf

Correct, it does not matter. With SSDs, they will not be able to perform at there maximum design level, but nevertheless they do speed things up quite noticeably.

Ciao.

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Answer 4

nate4surf Author

Level 1

4 points

May 3, 2016 11:07 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

One more thing, does that same rule apply to HDD? Not SSD? with regards to the SATA?

The guy who is installing it for me wanted to make sure the connection will work before I buy it.

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Answer 5

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,305 points

May 3, 2016 11:10 AM in response to nate4surf

In theory I suppose it should but I have not used them so long I am afraid I cannot give you a definitive answer based on actual usage. 🙂

Given a choice and if it is within your budget, do opt for a 7200 rpm HDD. It will make things a little quicker, but no as much as the difference with a 5400 rpm HDD may imply.

Bottom line, it will be what the MBP will allow.

Ciao.

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