Upgrading your hard disk drive (HDD) with a solid state drive (SSD) is a great way to speed up the booting and application launch times of your Mac. With more SSD drive models available in the market and with prices going down, replacing your Mac's HDD is now easier than ever and is a solid way to speed up an aging Mac or realize the potential of the newer ones. However, due to the limited information on user-upgraded Macs available online and with vendors obviously patronizing their carried brands, the choice of what SSD will work flawlessly with your Mac may be a hit-and-miss affair. While many consider buying an SSD from the supplier of your Mac's Serial-ATA controller (ex: Intel or Samsung) to be the the safest way to go, it may not however be the most readily available nor cost-effective solution out there, hence this database. So have you upgraded your Mac to an SSD lately? What brand and capacity did you get? Were there any issues that you encountered? Did you apply any fixes or enhancements to get your SSD to work? How long has your Mac been on an SSD? What applications / uses benefitted the most from your SSD? I suggest that we follow the following format: MAC: SSD: INSTALLED: (date) COMMENTS: Here's my setup: ========== MAC: 17" 2.0GHz iMac C2D (late 2006) SSD: 160GB Intel 320 Series (SATA II) INSTALLED: 31 August 2012 COMMENTS: used a 2.5"-to-3.5" mounting bracket, no issues encountered yet What's yours? [post edited to discourage benchmarking as per LeoCastillo's post below]
^nice thread, am also on the lookout to upgrade my MacBook pro was hesitant bec. of some compatibility issues with certain ssd's. Thanks sir, bookmarked
hi sir..nice thread. if i may ask, what settings [blackmagic[ did you use here? so that we are on the same page. thanks.
i used the default 5GB stress test, sir. i'd love to see this app run on a standard HDD since i have no point of comparison.
Thanks for this booblanco. Here's an alternate point of view: Don’t run benchmarks on your new SSD Optimizing MacOS X Lion for SSD » Martin's Weekend Coding Of course, whatever you want to do is fine, just good to have more info. Leo
thanks for this info, Leo. i'm posting it here: editing my post now re: benchmarks. very interesting tip from this link: use TRIM Enabler: http://www.groths.org/?page_id=322 IT WORKS!
MAC: MBP 13" Mid 2010 SSD: OCZ Vertex 4 256GB INSTALLED: July 2012 COMMENTS: First Foray into SSD. Had issues on wake from sleep due to unupdated firmware. Installed SSD in a windows lappy, updated fw to 1.5. Reinstalled in the MBP. Damn blazing fast and no need to enable TRIM. Used manual optimization techniques. MAC: MBP 13" Mid 2010 SSD: Samsung 830 256GB INSTALLED: August 2012 COMMENTS: Replaced the OCZ with this. OCZ was used as a temporary solution while waiting for this from the US. OCZ a tad faster in real world experience. I love the thinner profile of the Samsung drive. No firmware update required. Difficult to update since there is no Linux Samsung boot disk. Samsung utilities only run on windows and the ssd must be installed as a secondary internal ssd for it to work. Used Chameleon optimizing tool - requires re editing of options after an OS update
MAC: MBP 15" 2012 SSD: Crucial M4 512GB INSTALLED: August 2012 COMMENTS: This machine was DAMN FAST (especially with 16GB). I removed the Superdrive and the SSD is coexisting with my WD Scorpio Black 750GB 7200RPM HDD. This is the perfect Mac for me at the moment: superfast with lots of storage. Having said that, I discover I could actually have lived with a 256GB SSD / 750GB HDD if i had too. Still nice to have a large SSD though. Leo
MAC: MBP early 2011 13 SSD: Samsung 830 128gb INSTALLED: April 2012 COMMENTS: Trim not enabled as of Benchmark below right after installation. IMHO Benchmarking upon installation is fine to confirm that all is working as it should be. It's benchmarking multiple times extensively that wears it down prematurely.
the figures you got are fast! way way above mine (may be due to my iMac's 1.5 GB/s SATA1). btw, i just ran the tool for a few seconds to get my initial reading. did you have to wait for all those checkmarks to come out and how long did it take?
Around 3 read write runs in about 30 seconds is all it took to confirm that it's within the hardware's norm.
i just did a comparison of two Macs at home and here's the result: boot time & Blackmagic Disk Speed Test MAC: 15" 2.4GHz C2D MacBookPro (late 2007), SATA I controller STORAGE: 160GB Fujitsu 5400rpm SATA I HDD RAM: 4GB - vs - MAC: 17" 2.0GHz iMac C2D (late 2006), SATA I controller STORAGE: 160GB Intel 320 SATA II SSD RAM: 3GB somewhat an apples-to-oranges comparison, but you get the picture.
I have the same MBP model as yours and I'm planning to get the crucial m4 ssd from amazon. Just want to ask if there are special screw driver or tools required to open my mac? This is the first time I'll be opening it on my own. Thanks
Thanks for this thread. I'm about to install a SSD into the optical bay and run them in tandem. I have a 15" mid 2010 MBP with a 1TB 7200rpm HD and 8gig ram. I rarely use my superdrive now, and I've been experiencing some slow downs when running things like aperture and iMovie with web browsers. I'll be using this on my 15" mid 2010 MBP with a 1TB 7200rpm HD and 8gig ram: -Hard Drive Caddy Tray for Apple Unibody MacBook / MacBook Pro -Crucial 256 GB m4 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s CT256M4SSD2 -Micro SATA Cables - Super Slim USB SATA External Slot in DVD Burner Case (to hold the Super Drive after). I found this very helpful thread in MacRumors.com that is a "how to do it yourself guide/tips" in swapping out your optical drive for another HD/SSD. The thread already saved me money/hassle, in directing me to the cheaper [just as good] hard drive caddy compared to the more expensive OWC versions, which SSDs to use and avoid, and low cost superdrive enclosures. It also was very helpful in determining which MBP version will benefit for performance/safety benefits to where the SSD was to be installed (straight swap into existing HD, putting it directly into optical bay slot, ect). Mine is a Mid 2010 MBP - so it was recommended to install directly into the optical bay (same speeds). It wasn't too expensive for the whole upgrade - around $220 - for everything. Hopefully it'll extend my MBP's life for another 2-3 years.
MAC: Macbook Pro 13" Early 2011 SSD: Vertex 4 128GB INSTALLED: August 20 COMMENTS: No problems so far, did ssd optimization and the one i bought has already the latest firmare which is the 1.5. Boot up time 13secs. Shutdown is like sleeping. Now, I have a fast machine for my development needs.
You are gonna use the SSD as boot disk and not the 7200rpm right? There are booting issues when boot disk is in the optibay so best if you place SSD in main and mechanical HD in optibay. Sorry to disappoint you but but if aperture and imovie are currently slow, it will still be slow after the SSD upgrade as it is cpu power + memory that matters and not drive read write speeds.
^aperture and imovie were very fast before my 1TB HDD started to get filled up. I only have something like 300gigs left in free space. according to the articles linked everything should speed up, and my specific macbook should be fine using posted solutions (using terminal) and the SDD in the optical bay. can you link current threads/articles with the boot issues? I've done my research but it would be helpful to have input from you and other philmuggers.
hi booblanco. Thanks for starting this thread. I have an iMac that's a generation old than yours - 17" 1.83GHz CD (mid 2006). It is still usable but it has become quite slow (i.e., longer boot time, longer time to launch applications, etc.). So, this thread gave me an idea how to address those issues and maybe extend the life of my iMac. Did you upgrade your iMac on your own? or did you bring it to a service center for them to do the upgrade? Thanks. ramil
