SSD in MBP 13

Hi everyone,
Apologies if someone has already asked this or if I'm posting in the wrong section!
I have a mid 2010 MBP 13". The day I got it, I upgraded the HDD to a seagate 500 GB 7200 rpm. Today I only have 100 GB free. In need of more space, I decided that it was time for me to get rid of the optical drive and replace it with a HDD. In the process I would like to speed up my machine by adding a SSD. SSD in initial HDD location and current HDD in the optical drive location. I have a couple of questions:
1- If I decide to go with a larger HDD, will those 12.5mm fit using a IBM (Ayagroup) caddy or will I have to move the SSD in the caddy. Any advantage/issue for doing it this way or the other way around?
2- Will a 40GB SSD drive big enough for OSX, Microsoft Office, Parallels/ windows 7. I'll be moving my home folder on the mechanical drive.
3- I know most people swears by Intel SSD, but are there any other SSD of the same value, performance and reliability? Any suggestion?
4- Is there anything I should be aware of before starting the process?
Sorry for the long post and thank you all for your help!

Just based on research and reviews, this is one that I might end up trying if I go the SSD route: OWC Mercury Extreme Pro RE SSD 200GB SATA 3.0Gb/s Solid State Drive (http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/SSDMXRE200/) - at $649.99, it is not inexpensive, but also in relative line with other SSDs, considering what you pay for.
They also have 120GB and 240GB Mercury Extreme Pro SSDs. The apparent difference here is the "Over Provisioned Redundancy" aspect, with the Pro class claiming 7% Over Provisioned Redundancy and the RE class claiming 28% Over Provisioned Redundancy. The way I read this is attributed to their RAISE™ technology - Redundant Array of Independent Silicon Elements that protects the data on your drive similar to having a RAID setup. In the their specs then you see 8GB allocated to real-time data redundancy & error correction for the 120GB Mercury Extreme Pro and 56GB allocated to enterprise-class real-time data redundancy & error correction for the 200GB Mercury Extreme Pro RE. You will also notice the RE class does cost me than the Pro class, so I am guessing it is for the difference in the "Over Provisioned Redundancy". But the REs have a 5 Year OWC Warranty, while the Pros have a 3 Year OWC Warranty.
On another note, OWC has their little benchmark test down there at the bottom, which compare with Intel. Showing in "summary bar chart", OWC is better, but benchmarks can also be quite complicated, so although it is nice to see, I also realize this is just good marketing.
On final note, as it seems that many SSD manufactures are integrating things such as the RAISE™ technology on OWC and the SSD Toolbox with Intel SSD Optimizer on Intel, which make them even more difficult to compare "apples to apples". In that case, I do value the OWC "No Risk, No Hassle 30-Day Money Back Guarantee" (read terms and conditions, which do sate a Restocking Fee: Yes, 15%*), which I have not seen this with other SSDs.
Message was edited by: aprouser

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SSD in MBP 13" Retina Late 2013 doesn't work - Can't boot at all

I have a new MacBook Pro 13" Retina which works flawlessly. It has a factory installed 512 GB SSD, which also works flawlessly. Then I bought basically the same type of 512 GB SSD, 2nd hand but new, which I intended to install in another MacBook Pro Retina Late 2013.
The seller told me it is compatible with the MBP Retina Late 2013, but when installed, the known to be good MBPR doesn't boot. Not from that SSD, not from an attached USD HDD which has two perfectly bootable Mavericks partitions. When pressing the alt-Key on booting, I can however see two partitions on that SSD (Mac OS X 10.8.4 and a Recovery Partition), yet it is not booting at all, thus also doesn't allow me to inspect or treat this SSD with Disk Utility or other tools.
All I get is the grey screen with the striked through circle sign (see attached image). I've tried both, PRAM reset and SMC reset, no change.
Here comes the interesting part: Although both SSD look identical, they have slightly different model and part numbers (see attached image).
Working, factory installed SSD: Model MZ-JPUS512T/0A6. Part No. 665-1805D
Non-booting, 2nd hand SSD: Model MZ-JPUS512T/0A2. Part No. 665-1805A
Any ideas what’s going on here and how to solve this?

Excellent point! Mac OS X 10.9.1 doesn’t equal Mac OS X 10.9.1!
Back in the bad old days of Mac OS X Install DVDs, I was aware of the fact that there were different versions of the OS X Installer testing against the Mac ID to make sure that bundled versions get only installed on those Macs which the DVD came with. And the DVD where clearly labeled in that sense.
Now in the days of Internet download and installation from USB sticks, SSD and HDD, one completely forgets about this. On the other hand, with Mavericks being free, I don’t understand the need for such limitations, and not at least the recovery partition allows booting any Mac which supports Mavericks.
When you boot with the alt-Key pressed and you see at least one partition with Mac OS X 10.9.1, one just doesn’t understand why the heck the Mac doesn’t boot. Now I do. Apple would be well advised to simply add a short info line, like „This version of Mac OS X is missing components to boot this Mac. Please re-install from the AppStore using this computer“. It would take out A LOT of guesswork.
Anyhow… I booted the MBPR using the working SSD, installed Mavericks from the AppStore on the external USB HDD, switched the SSDs, booted from the external USD HDD’s now bootable 10.9.1 Recovery Partition, wiped the suspicious non-booting SSD and installed Mavericks. No further problems. (Completely forgot about the CMD-OPT-R Internet Recover Mode keg55 has mentioned…)
Thanks for the hint!

Adding SSD to MBP?

I want to buy a new MBP (15", 2.2 GHz model) for University.
I wish to put an SSD in it, for performance and durability. After some reading online, I found that Intel's SSDs generally have higher reliability (at least, in the tests I saw) than Toshiba's (which I believe Apple uses), so I wish to get a 320-Series Intel X25-M SSD, likely at 160 GB.
Before I make the purchases, though, I have a few questions:
1) How difficult is it to install an SSD at home, replacing the built-in HDD? If it is difficult, could I get it installed at the Apple Store?
2) Is there a defined standard for laptop disk size/connections? Is there some specific identifier I need to look for to ensure that the SSD I purchase will work with an MBP?
3) Would it be advisable to use only an SSD and no HDD? (I've heard horror stories about SSDs crashing. Obviously, I back up files, but it'd still be a massive pain to have to replace a drive and restore a backup.)
4) Does TRIM support make a significant difference in terms of performance? Should I wait for Lion to bring TRIM to Intel drives, or get a drive direct from Apple that already supports TRIM with Snow Leopard?
Thanks very much in advance!

There are a lot of messages in this forum on that matter of the SSD.
If you buy the MBP 2011 from Apple with the ssd option, you will have the MBP with a SSD (probably Samsung) WITH TRIM SUPPORT (in Mac OS10.6.7).
If you want to buy the cheapest version HDD in it and replace the HDD for a SSD afterwards, it is simple to do that, The best way is to buy with OWC: they deliver with tools and good instructions. Also the MBP Manual gives instructions to do that; also iFixit has good instructions. Good SSD with Trim support are Crucial, Vertex, Mercury, etc.
If you do not want to reinstal OS after installation, have an external holder (like Icy Box) to put your SSD in before installing it and clone the actual HDD to the SSD; then build it in.
If Trim support is not done automatically (check with System Profiler), you can do it easily with the program Trim Enabler (which hacks the IOAHCIFamily.kext file).
have fun,

Third Party RAM and SSD for MBP's???

I found MACSALES.COM GREAT SITE!!
Crucial SSD's !
Is it really that difficult to install the SSD and or RAM as I am hearing on the new Aluminum Chassis???? Any sites explaining how to DIY?
BTW is the DDR3 OWC RAM Other World Computing - 1333DDR3S08S Item Not Found on par with the Crucial IBM quality??
APPLE SITE: "4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; supports up to 8GB"
Does this mean there is two slots for RAM? It is not possible to buy 2 8GB DDR3 RAM for the 17 MBP? Only a max of 8G's?

Is it really that difficult to install the SSD and or RAM as I am hearing on the new Aluminum Chassis???? Any sites explaining how to DIY?
Look under *Tech Support* on the www.macsales.com site for instructions on how to install a SSD or HD and also for RAM. It's a 10 minute process for both. Look for the late 2009 or 2010 MBP models, the process is identical.
BTW is the DDR3 OWC RAM Other World Computing - 1333DDR3S08S Item Not Found on par with the Crucial IBM quality??
Question doesn't make sense please re-phrase it.
Does this mean there is two slots for RAM? It is not possible to buy 2 8GB DDR3 RAM for the 17 MBP? Only a max of 8G's?
Yes this is clearly stated in the system specifications.
Roger

What is better to buy: MBP w 256GB SSD or MBP w Retina display 256 Flash D

I'm in the process of buying an new MBP (13 inch) and can't decide between the MBPro with 256 GB SSD or the Retina display with 256 flash memory. Both come very close in price, but I'm confused about which is better. I use my computer for internet surfing, word processing for work, and watching movies, in addition I have large music and picture libraries. I'm also confused by the option of buying the MB Pro with the standard ATA drive which would give me 750 GB. Isn't there more storage in this last mentioned version? Too many choices!!

Given your use indications, I would opt for the non-retina macbook Pro with the 256gig SSD
The standard SATA conventional HD of course is larger, but external storage is VERY cheap. A 1TB external USB toshiba is only $65 retail.
The SSD is nice, I have both conventional and SSD. SSD is very fast, boots extremely fast and is lovely on read/write speeds.
If youre not doing video or high end photo editing in mass, the Retina screen is nice. Ive owned a retina for several months. I still have a non-retina Pro.
750gig is MORE yes, but storage is CHEAP. The SSD has a price premium. Basically its non-volatile memory (the SSD), meaning extremely fast and fast read/write.
yes, the SSD is much smaller, but youre getting the premium ultrafast boot times
Go for the SSD and spend $65 on a 1TB external USB.
You MUST (the general rule is) have a backup for your data regardless anyway.
Most importantly regardless of what you get, always always always backup your data (time machine backup) AND archive your valuable data (yet another external HD).
Mass internal HD storage has almost become an irrelevancy (as it should!). Any laptop should never (and never should have in the past) be considered a data storage center,....rather a working platform. Keep all huge files not often used OFF the computer on external storage.

Anyone got a crucial SSD working MBP 17?

Had a Crucial M4 512 working my 2.0ghz MBP15 but the logic board went out. Got a refurb 17 MBP for dirt cheap...and it's slightly newer then the 15 I had...but when I put the Crucial M4 SSD in it...it will not recognize it. If I put the drive in anything else it boots right up, so we know it's good.
Seems odd that a slightly newer (in design) MBP 17 would struggle where a MBP 15 doesn't.

Thanks Bob. I have to run to the Apple store tomorrow to have them test out the logic board on my MBP15 that this MBP17 replaced...I'll ask them about their knowledge of bad SATA cables and issue SSD based on your comment. Thank you.

Logic 9, SSDs, new MBPs and OSX TRIM support

Gang, my 2006 17" MBP is on its last leg, so the rumored MBP refresh is timely for me. The rumored hardware refresh has the MBPs sporting the new intel sandy bridge architecture along with a 16GB SSD boot for OSX. There's also a rumor of the option of upgrading the Superdrive to a secondary SSD.
This would've been a 50/50 coin toss a year ago as I wasn't doing audio editing/songwriting. Now, researching this whole SSD write fatigue issue is driving me nuts.
Some say that write fatigue is very real. Some say the effect is negligible in newer drives and it's getting better every few months with new hardware. Some say the write fatigue issue is moot since the poerformance is still (mostly) better than that of a HDD. Others point to it not being an issue with Win 7 and Linux due to TRIM, but it is still a bugaboo on OS X due to lack of TRIM support.
So, I'm confused.
This really wouldn't be an issue if I was running an 8 core Mac tower with 10/15k rpm drives. Since I'm updating my laptop to another laptop as my only production platform, I really want to have the best portable package I can have performance-wise (setting aside the issue of ditching the ODD for a moment).
If the rumors are true, I could boot from the dedicated SSD, have my apps, VSTs and samples on the secondary SSD, and do all my writes/reads to the HDD. Is this a logical file layout?
For those that use a SSD, what has your experience been with it in audio production? Are you SSD-only, or in a mixed SSD/HDD environment?
This is all academic really, because the first thing I'm targeting in a new MBP is 8GB of ram. My current setup is only 3GB with Logic and a major VST like Omnisphere or Trilian. I can squeak by with freezing tracks, etc. If getting opting for the SSD means losing ram, then I'm definitely passing on the upgrade.
Thanks for any input!

Mixed SSD/HD here.
I didn't really see much value in having Logic (and other apps) boot any faster since I don't mind a) boot times as they are, and b) I actually appreciate some of those times when I can't get straight to it. Sometimes slow is good, it allows the imagination free reign.
I use the SSD for all samples, etc. EG - I use Omnisphere a lot and working off a hard drive is fairly mind numbing when clicking through sounds. It's now fast enough that it begins to feel like an old school synth in terms of patch changing. I'm happy.
This way is also 'write once, read many' so I get the best of SSD tech meantime.
Irritatingly expensive for storage, of course.

Ssd in MBP late 2011

Just purchased from Ebay a brand new sealed Samsung 840 series 250 Gb SSD i'm ok with the removal of HDD and re fitting of the SSD my question is what is the best method to reinstall Mountain Lion, a detailed blow by blow explaination would be greatly appreciated.

1. Clone your current HD ( let's call it HD1) to the new HD.
To do this, you will need a). an enclosure where you will install HD2, and b). the software to do the cloning.
a. the enclosure, is something like this - not an endorsement, the link is to give an idea of what is needed:
http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-NexStar-2-5-Inch-External-Enclosure/dp/B002JQNXZC/r ef=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359413916&sr=8-1&keywords=2.5+hard+drive+enclosure
b. the software is something like this: http://www.bombich.com/
2. Put HD2 in the enclosure, connect it to your Mac, and clone HD1 to HD2 using cloning software like that identified above.
3. Physically remove HD1 from your MBP and replace it with HD2.
Instructions for this are here: http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/

First time set-up and HDD to SSD advice (MBP 13")

Hello.So, earlier this week I ordered the MBP 13 non-retina (Model #:A1278). It arrived yesterday. I haven't turned it on yet, and I know all about changing completely the first time for battery conditioning. I'm planning on using it for school this fall. Do you as a community have any favorite software for academic use (free or not)? Are there any programs, utilities, etc. that would benefit my mac that you recommend downloading. Second topic: I want to put in an SSD instead of the stock 500GB 5400rpm one. I bought this[1] earlier this year and never used it in my PC as planned. So, I'll clone the HHD to the SSD immediately after first time set up, right? I'd like to put the stock HDD back in with a caddy. There's a bunch of talk describing MBP's with year and time of year (late-2009, mid-2012, etc.). I have not seen mid-2013 once. Would this one[2] work in the most recent MDP 13 non-retina; the reviews don't specify. Thanks! Please leave any others things worth sharing.

Office 2011 is an essential for the university. A backup drive and backup software. Develop a backup strategy and stick to it.
Basic Backup
For some people Time Machine will be more than adequate. Time Machine is part of OS X. There are two components:
1. A Time Machine preferences panel as part of System Preferences;
2. A Time Machine application located in the Applications folder. It is
     used to manage backups and to restore backups. Time Machine
     requires a backup drive that is at least twice the capacity of the
     drive being backed up.
Alternatively, get an external drive at least equal in size to the internal hard drive and make (and maintain) a bootable clone/backup. You can make a bootable clone using the Restore option of Disk Utility. You can also make and maintain clones with good backup software. My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Carbon Copy Cloner
2. Data Backup
3. Deja Vu
4. SuperDuper!
5. Synk Pro
6. Tri-Backup
Visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on backup and restore. Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files. For help with using Time Machine visit Pondini's Time Machine FAQ for help with all things Time Machine.
Although you can buy a complete external drive system, you can also put one together if you are so inclined. It's relatively easy and only requires a Phillips head screwdriver (typically.) You can purchase hard drives separately. This gives you an opportunity to shop for the best prices on a hard drive of your choice. Reliable brands include Seagate, Hitachi, Western Digital, Toshiba, and Fujitsu. You can find reviews and benchmarks on many drives at Storage Review.
Enclosures for FireWire and USB are readily available. You can find only FireWire enclosures, only USB enclosures, and enclosures that feature multiple ports. I would stress getting enclosures that use the Oxford chipsets especially for Firewire drives (911, 921, 922, for example.) You can find enclosures at places such as;
1. Cool Drives
2. OWC
3. WiebeTech
4. Firewire Direct
5. California Drives
6. NewEgg
All you need do is remove a case cover, mount the hard drive in the enclosure and connect the cables, then re-attach the case cover. Usually the only tool required is a small or medium Phillips screwdriver.
While your computer is in warranty do not make any internal hardware changes. The minute you open the case your warranty and service support flies out the window. If you wish to use an SSD then put it in an external Thunderbolt caddy like the Seagate caddy.

SSD on MBP early 2011.

Hello to everybody!
I want to upgrade my MBP by installing of a SSD instead of optical drive.
Please help me to choose the best of SSD that fits to my model.
I've read a few test and made a short list of SDD. Here it is:
Plextor PX-256M5P
Corsair CSSD-N240GBGTX_BK
OCZ VTX4-25SAT3_256G
OCZ is the fastest one by tech spec, but I have read somewhere that OCZ SDD's doesn't fit to MBP as well as it kills of MBP's motherboard or something like that.
Is that true?
So please help to chose one of these 3 model or advise me an other model.
Thanx a lot.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Pesronally, I have and recommend the Crucial m4 series for Mac users. They just 'play well' with Macs and you can update the firmware on a Mac, unlike some other brands with which you need to use a Windows machine to update firmware.
It's not the very fastest drive around - but quite a few of us around here have them and have had no problems with the drives.
If the other models that you mention fit the MacBook Pro form factor, I'm sure that they would work. But I'd take a look at the Crucial m4 256GB SSD - the price/performance ratio is very good.
Go to the Crucial site and look around. You can usually save a few dollars by shopping at Amazon, Newegg, etc.
Good luck,
Clinton

SSD in MBP early 2011 optical drive

i have an i7 macbook pro that has been very tired lately from video editing and photoshop
i have a 500 gb hdd that i want for random files (current hard drive)
i want to run adobe premiere, photoshop and larger files from the ssd
i will be putting the ssd in the optical drive of the MBP, leaving the hdd in its place
how can i leave my old hard drive in and tell my computer to now boot from the new ssd ?
also can i just drag and drop premiere/lightroom/photoshop from current drive into ssd once completed

First off, I would NOT put the SSD in the optical bay - MacBook Pros MUCH prefer to have the boot disk in the hard drive bay - where it's supposed to be. A lot of people have had trouble with trying to boot from a storage device in the opti-bay. It may work for a while, but it usually gives you problems down the road.
So just put the SSD in the standard hard drive bay, put your hard drive in the optical bay and install OS X and all of your apps on your SSD; leaving your HD for storage.
When you install the SSD you can simply hold down the option key to boot from your 'old' drive in the opt-bay, format the SSD using Disk Utility and either clone your HD to your SSD or make a clean start of it and install ML on the SSD and then begin installing your apps on the SSD. If you're getting a 512GB SSD, you may just want to use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your old drive to the SSD. If your SSD is going to be smaller, just install everything 'fresh'.
No, you can't just drag and drop the Adobe applications. They have tons of auxiliary files and folders that are stored all over your drive.
Oh, and after you have your SSD prepared as a boot disk, you can simply go to System Preferences>Startup Disk and select it as the boot disk.
Call back with any questions...
Clinton

Will switching to an ssd make MBP faster?

I have a mid 2009 MBP 3.06 6GB RAM, running 10.9. I run CAD software and i'm finding that it's lagging just enought to make it anoying. and i'm sure the next CAD upgrade may make it too slow. the memory pressure is only about 20%, will switching to an SSD make any real improvements in speed? or is it my video card and is there anything i can do about that? i will have to buy a new machine, but i can't afford to until next year, so i thought this might be an affordable option to get me through. i'm not looking for miracles here, just enough of a boost to make it more usable.

The effect on an SSD depends on how much your CAD program relies on fast disk access. You have done a smart thing by determining that RAM is not the bottleneck. You should also look at the CPU section of Activity Monitor and make sure CPU is not the bottleneck, by checking what % of CPU your CAD program uses. And look at the Disk section of Activity Monitor while your CAD program is running and observe how heavily the disk is used, compared to other applications like your web browser or word processor.
If you find that your CAD program involves heavy disk access while CPU or RAM are not stressed, then yes an SSD would help it. It would also help overall speed since the OS in general hits the disk regularly.
Csound1 wrote:
Although an SSD will make your Mac faster in general, it will have little effect on video. You'd have to try it and see if it is worthwhile,
It is not clear why that comment was made since there was no reference to video applications in the original post. Even if it was, it would not necessarily be a true statement since most major video applications (FInal Cut, Premiere Pro, After Effects) are now taking extreme advantage of the video card GPU to accelerate playback and final rendering. But that doesn't apply to this question.
wildernessbob:
or is it my video card and is there anything i can do about that?
As far as this question goes, you must check with the CAD software developer to see how much application performance is affected by your video card GPU. If it doesn't, it isn't a factor. If the CAD program does make heavy use of the GPU, unfortunately the video card of an Apple laptop can never be upgraded. The only way to upgrade an Apple laptop GPU is to buy a new Apple laptop.

Selling SSD and MBP. Not find answer in process I'm considering.

Thanks for biting at my question to consider it. I've searched the discussions and have come to the conclusion there is no perfect way to make sure my data on the SSD in the MBP I'm selling is secure from the new owners possible prying eyes. So please keep reading my outline of how I plan to address this issue and maybe someone can fill in my missing blanks.
Situation : Have spring 2009 Core Duo MBP that started with a HDD and Snow leopard. Much later a 480GB SSD was installed. Finally just before Moutain Lion came out I upgraded to Lion. (I know I'm always late to the party). Having used the SSD some and having my personal files on it I'd like the SSDas clean as possible.
Possible solution :
1. CCC clone to an external HDD for safety and later use on new Mac.
2. Boot MBP from the new external HDD clone.
2. ?? How do I erase EVERY file I'd need to on the SSD including cache, system, etc., from clone ???
3. SSD now erased so copy my large music collection of files from a server to fill the SSD.
4. Erase ervery file (the whole SSD).
5. ?? How do I install Lion given only the Snow Leopard recovery disk and external Lion clone ??
6. MBP with SSD now safe enough in my mind to sell.
Thanks everybody who got this far and especially those providing help.

You can use Disk Utility to do a secure erase, which writes over everything numerous times to prevent recovery.
Also to get it back to Lion, I would suggest following a guide, such as this one http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/08/make-a-bootable-mac-os-x-10-7-lion-installer-from -a-usb-flash-drive/ to make a bootable Lion disk, you don't need a flashdrive, any partition on an external hard drive will work if you don't have a flash drive, although a flash drive is best.
Use Disk Utility to erase the disk and install Mountain Lion using the flashdrive.

Advice - caddy for existing HD after SSD replacement MBP M2009

Would love to hear any advice on what is a good caddy to purchase for my Mid 2009 MBP.
I have just bought a Crucial 512GB MB SATA 6GB 2.5" Internal SSD drive, which I intent to install but would like to replace my underused CD Drive with the replaces SATA HD that was shipped originally in the machine.
Would greatly appreciate any advice or recommendations on what worked for you and any gotchas I may need to know when identifying the right kit.
Rapid responses greatly appreciated.
Durbs

I sold my MB and upgraded to a new C2D MBP and couldn't be happier. The graphics are a world of difference, and no excessive fan noise anymore. I just have the 128M graphics card, so I'm not sure how much better the 256M card would be.
-Bmer
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Configured SSD from MBP to MP??

I have a MP ordered and currently using a late '08 MBP with 240GB SSD. If I purchased a 3.5 to 2.5 adaptor for the SSD, could I put the SSD in the MP and have it boot the machine? I'm just trying to get out of migration and since I won't be using the MBP anymore, I was thinking that would be a good way to make use of the SSD. I know the SSD will fit, but I didn't know if the MP would boot, since the OSx is machine specific.
Let me know what you think
Paul

Thanks for the help, I was hoping that this would be the case. I apologize for taking so long to get back with you.

SSD in MBP 13

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