HOW TO ADD SSD to MacBook

Question

I read in numerous forums and never came up with a real answer if it is possible to add a SSD (solid state drive) drive to your MacBook.
My test model was a new aluminum MacBook 2.4 already updated to 4 gigs from OWC for $80 delivered. (which I might say has worked flawless for over 7 weeks now)
To start I had to determine what type of drive I had and what type I needed.
The various types in the macbook appear to be PSATA, SATA, and SATA II.
My macbook uses SATA, however SATA II is backward capable and works fine in 10.6.
I then shopped for a SSD and found a 120 gb drive which is actually a 128 with 120 usable for only $199 shipped from NewEgg.
The model I use is this link
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227361&nmmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel&cm_mmc=TEMC-RMA-Approvel-_-Content-_-text--
(OCZ SATA-II 2.5" 9.3 mm thick. Core Series V2 120GB (actual usable)
model OCZSSD2-2C120G
bar product code 42024-00982
I paid 199 shipped and the price rises and falls on demand.
After 3 days the drive arrived and I then called my local Mac Genius, who has worked for Apple for over 20 years on instructions on how to make everything work.
I connected the bare drive to my computer via a standard mini usb to usb cable.
This drive also has a mini built in usb connector on it.
The drive instantly showed up on the desktop.
Next I opened Apple Disk Utility and highlighted the drive (upper not lower ID)
I then under the partition set it for 1 partition and also set it for "Guid partition table"
This step is important as the PC environment need to see it under this
I set the type of formatting as "Mac os Journalied and let the drive format.
Once this was done I went to Bombich.com and downloaded carbon copy cloner
Once on the desktop I selected the Mac hd as my source and the SSd as my target drive
46 minutes later I had a perfect clone of my original with all serial numbers and programs.
I now turned off my machine flipped it over removed the rear battery cover and the battery from the macbook
With a small phillips screwdriver I removed the screw above the hard drive which permits a little rubber bar to be removed.
I then pulled on the plastic tab on the drive and the original pulled out and the connector simply pulls off.
I then with a small torx screwdriver removed the 4 torx screws from the side of the original drive and installed them on the SSD drive.
I attached the connector to the drive which was a perfect fit and installed the drive back into the computer.
Installed the rubber bar retaining unit with phillips screw, battery in once lever is in open position and replaced the lid.
Note-lever must be in open position for battery to go in and out. It appears lever also secures battery and not just battery cover.
Once everything finished and double checked I started the computer which worked flawless
Only thing I noted was that I had to re-enter my wireless extreme name and password in order for it to work otherwise all other passwords were there.
Less then 24 hours of use it is fast quiet and extremely cool.
Power consumption has gone down from .60 amps @ 5 volts to .35 amps @ 5 volts a power savings of .25 amps or 1.25 watts per hour.
Given that apple claims a 5 hour run time for this 4 amp battery at 12 volts or 48 total watts this means that the computer uses approximately 9.6 watts per hour.
With this drive saving 7.5 watts over the 5 hours (1.25 x 5 hours)or now using only 8.35 watts per hour with this hard drive you should now get about 45 minutes more run time.
Of course this is all speculative and does not take into account energy saved, by not running the fan more often as the hard drive barely registers any heat.
In comparison my hard drive temperature was 108-f, and base was about the same, with cpu running around 120-f.
Now with the new hard drive the temp is 32-f for the hard drive, with the base running about 86-f, and the cpu at around 108-f.
The temperature for the HD appears to be too low to either be measured or register as 32-f would be freezing which is impossible in my household which hovers around 72-f.
On a scale of 1-10 research was about a 10 formatting and cloning the drive about a 5 and for switching the drives about a 2, and only a 2 because you had to change from a phillips to a torx screwdriver.
I hope this helps anyone else who is considering this upgrade to a 128 gb for less then $200.
Tim

Answer 1

Your ssd does not have a temp sensor so the software sets it to the baseline which is 32.