Hi All
I am thinking of upgrading to an SSD drive (replacing the hdd) on my Macbook Pro 17".
Many new SSD are SATA3 with data speed of 6Gb/s.
I think my Macbook Pro is only 3Gb/s.
Can I still install a 6GB/s SSD on my 2009 Mac?
Thx
Macbook Pro 17" 2.8HGz
Essentially all SATA-3 devices are backward compatible and will work on a SATA-2 bus without issue.
Be sure to enable TRIM to keep the drive from filling with uncounted deleted data. The 'trimforce' command can be used. I seem to remember it became available in 10.10.4 and later. There are other methods available in older MacOS.
Using a SATA 3 drive in a SATA 2 computer may cause the drive to downshift,
to SATA 1...
Very slow...
Use a SATA 2 drive, Other World Computing has them...
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro/2008-2009
Using a SATA 3 drive in a SATA 2 computer may cause the drive to downshift,
to SATA 1...
I have never heard of such a thing.
Do you have any sources or articles you could cite that support that statement?
Thanks!
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DDMBS6E240/
Special note for specific 2009 iMacs, 2008-2010 MacBooks, 2008-2009 MacBook Pros & 2009 Mac mini.
We highly recommend the use of a SATA 2.0 (3Gb/s) SSD such as the OWC Mercury Electra 3G for the following Macs:
iMac models with model ID:
How to find the model ID
MacBook models with model ID:
How to find the model ID
MacBook Pro models with model ID:
How to find the model ID
Mac mini models with model ID:
Mac mini3,1
The Mercury Electra 3G SSD is the OWC recommended upgrade option for the Macs listed in the special note above.
Also, I have found Macs with SATA III interfaces, but SATA II drives installed at the factory.
Installing even a platter SATA III drive makes a big difference in speed.
iMac 12.1, and 12.2 are examples...
MacBook Pro 17-in was produced for quite a number of years. Some are well outside of these lists.
Better advice would be:
"check your model against this here list at OWC, because CERTAIN MODELS may have this problem, not all of them do."
The advantage of a faster drive is that you MAY be able to move it to a later Mac, possibly as an external drive. The price differences are sometimes negligible.
Although it seems like using a SATA-III over a SATA-II should make a BIG difference, for rotating drives, other factors such as cache size and rotation speed make MUCH more difference.
This is because the best 7200 RPM rotating drives can only source one burst of data off the platters at about 125 MegaBytes/sec, and then there is an enormous dead time before the next data are available. That does not even outrun SATA-I speeds.
Selling rotating drives based on faster SATA speeds is pure specsmanship -- they simply cannot perform faster than the SATA Bus, and saying they go even faster makes no difference because SATA transfer rate is not the limiting factor.
Installing an SSD has been cited over and over again on these forums as "it feels like I got a brand new computer". So if you can, go SSD.
Hi All
I don't mind the speed drop as long as better than my current 5400rpm hdd.
And hopefully better battery life.
I am aware of the OWC warning. Mine is MacbookPro 5,2 and on the list.
Seems very hard to source SATA2 SSD. Most on Ebay are SATA3.
I might just give it a go, and clone the El Capitan from my current HDD onto the SSD.
I am planning to swap the SSD with the Hdd, which will go to the Optical Drive Bay.
Currently I have El Capitan and Win10 on the hdd(dual boot).
If I clone just the MacOS, can I assume when I press the option button, I have a choice of boot????
1. MacOSX (SSD)
2. MacOSX (hdd)
3. Windows (hdd)
4. Recovery
Any feedback appreciate.
Ultimate plan is to get OSX on the SSD only.
I run Win10 occasionally for certain apps.
Hi ALL
Partially solved.
Bought a Samsung SSD 240Gb which is backward compatible.
Got a good price a local retail for this.
Transferred most of my files (document, music and movie) to an external hdd
to reduce total file size.
Managed to reduce to 140GB in the 600GB (Mac partitioned).
Used Carbon Clone to clone the hdd to the ssd (which was connected
externally via USB).
In the option, I selected the SSD would be used as a primary and it copied
the recovery from the hdd to ssd as well.
During the copying process, at the last bit, it stated it stopped copying due
to missing SSD. It must have went off and on for whatever reason(s). 4 times, and similar
outcome. I just ignore it. And close off the clone process.
On rebooting, option key press, I was able to select the SSD (Mac) to boot (which
still connected externally). (Option still gave me the ability to boot from the hdd (Mac, Win10,
Recovery) and SSD (Mac, Recovery)).
It booted well. Test all the programs (all good)m,
I then removed the HDD and installed the SSD.
Booted the Macbook Pro. It is now relatively fast. Starting of program went pretty fast for Core 2 Duo processor.
Now I am currently waiting for my hdd adapter on the optical bay to arrived. I might leave my Win10 partition in there, initialize the the Mac partition to remove OSX just use for data storage or to store seldom used programs.
BUT, I am just wondering if I should invest in another SSD (a bigger one) to clone the Win10 partition
and some storage for the Mac. I am thinking about this upgrading, but what is holding me back is that my Macbook Pro 17 (mid 2009) cannot be upgraded to Sierra. Not sure about future support.
It must have went off and on for whatever reason(s).
The reason is called TRIM. An SSD has no way to get rid of deleted data. So when you copy a whole lot of stuff in, the drive fills up with deleted data and gets slower, and slower, and slower, and then seems to stop.
If you are running (if I am remembering correctly) 10.10.4 or later you can use the terminal
sudo trimforce enable
Older MacOS will require something else like TRIM Enabler. trimforce is installed in the running System, so getting your drive cleaned up before you get it fully running can be complex.
If you have managed to get the SSD working, you can use trimforce enable, then restart in Safe mode (which WILL TRIM the existing deleted data out).
SSD on a 2009 Macbook Pro 17
