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Solid State Hard Drive For Mac

  1. Solid State Hard Drive For Macbook Pro 2013
  2. Solid State Hard Drive For Macbook
  3. Solid State Hard Drive For Macbook Pro 2014
  • Weighing the Need for Speed: Hard Drive or SSD? Solid-state drives (SSDs) have fewer moving parts than traditional hard drives, and they offer the speediest access to your data.
  • OWC Solid State Drives. Experience the true speed of your mac with an OWC SSD flash storage upgrade.

Aug 25, 2009  The only real benefit that a solid state drive has over a traditional hard drive at present is durability. Not sure if I'm just being pedantic, but one of the things that kills me is noise. A Mac Pro with four hard drives spinning is a little irritating. I used my friends iMac the other day. Whisper quiet.

Swapping out your old hard drive for a modern SSD is surprisingly affordable and results in 5X better performance: a reputable 500GB MacBook SSD can be had for around $150, while 1TB options are available for around $300 — both considerably cheaper than a new MacBook. It’s also surprisingly easy, even if you don’t know your way around the insides of a Mac.

Do I really need to upgrade my Mac hard drive?

Fitting a solid state drive in your MacBook Pro is a quick and simple way to boost performance but an upgrade might not always be needed.

If you only really use your Mac to browse the web and do some word processing, your current hard drive is probably fine. If your system feels a bit sluggish, try running CleanMyMac X first to clean away any resource-hogging junk. That might be the only fix you need (this way junk that is clogging up your system, such as old files, images, apps, duplicates and iPhone backups will be cleared away).

If, however, you’re noticing any of the following issues, an SSD upgrade will most certainly help:

  • Slow startup
  • Sluggish performance in resource-intensive apps such as Adobe Photoshop
  • System crashes
  • Permission denied errors to files that were previously fine

What to consider when choosing a MacBook Pro SSD

To reap the benefits of an SSD, you need a drive that’s up to the task. Here’s what to consider:

  • Read/write speed — SSDs are rated on their reading and writing speed. The higher the speed, the better the performance. Something in the range of 500MB/s and above is good, although actual speed will be about a third less than what’s advertised.

  • Memory — MLC (multi-level cell) and SLC (single-level cell) are the two options available. The former is cheaper and capable of holding more information but the latter is more reliable.

  • Capacity — Get as much space as you can afford. The greater the capacity of an SSD, the more it will benefit Mac performance.

  • Reliability — Read the reviews. See what the experts and other users say about SSD performance and reliability. You’ll typically find that brand name SSDs rank the highest. Samsung, SanDisk, Crucial, KingSpec, and Transcend are standout brands.

How to fit a new MacBook Pro SSD

Okay, let’s get down to business. SSD aside, here’s what you’ll need to fit your new hard drive:

  • SATA-to-USB cable

  • Small Phillips screwdriver

  • Torx T6 screwdriver

Step 1: Format the SSD

To perform a MacBook Pro SSD upgrade you’re first going to need to clone your existing hard drive so that the new one runs like clockwork when it’s installed.

Before you do this, you should use CleanMyMac X to perform a Smart Cleanup. This will clear your system of any junk files so that they’re not transferred over unnecessarily. You can download CleanMyMac X for free, here.

Cloning the hard drive can be done with a tool such as SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cleaner, or with Apple’s own Disk Utility program. Here’s how to do it with the latter:

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  1. Connect the SSD to your Mac using the SATA-to-USB cable.
  2. Go to Applications > Utilities and open the Disk Utility.
  3. Click on the SSD icon, followed by the Partition tab and select 'Partition 1' from the Partition Layout.
  4. Click on Options and select GUID Partition Table in the next window.
  5. Click on the First Aid tab, followed by Verify Disk Permissions.
  6. Click Verify Disk, followed by Repair Disk.
  7. Shutdown your MacBook and restart it, holding the Option key as you do. Choose the option to boot to Recovery Disk.
  8. Click on Reinstall Mac OS X and choose the SSD as the destination.
  9. Copy your files over from the installed hard drive to the SSD. When asked to restore files from another disk, choose the currently installed hard drive.

Step 2: Remove the hard drive

Now it’s time to get hands-on.

  1. Make sure your MacBook is shut down.
  2. Locate and remove the 10 screws using the Phillips screwdriver. Put the screws in a small bowl so that you don’t lose any.
  3. Remove the cover and touch a metal part to release the static electricity.
  4. Locate the hard drive and remove the plastic bracket securing it. This is held in place with two screws.
  5. Gently remove the hard drive and disconnect the SATA ribbon. Do this by wiggling the connector. Don’t yank on the ribbon.
  6. Remove the four Torx screws attached to the hard drive and screw the posts into the SSD.

Step 3: Fit the SSD

  1. Carefully attach the SATA ribbon to the SSD and lower it in place.
  2. Fix the holding bracket back in place.
  3. Replace the MacBook cover and screw in the ten tiny screws.
  4. Switch on your MacBook Pro, go to System Preferences > Startup Disk and make sure the SSD is selected.
  5. Restart your computer.

See, we told you it was easy!

Enjoy a faster, smoother MacBook Pro

A new SSD drive for your Mac will make an instant impact. Apps will launch faster, files will save quicker, and multitasking will be a much smoother experience. Use CleanMyMac X to regularly remove junk files from your system and you’ll enjoy slick performance for many a year to come.

CleanMyMac X finds and removes junk files from your MacBook Pro to free up space and keep your system running to its full potential. Make it the first app you install on your new SSD!

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Speed up your slow Macintosh with a FAST SSD drive!

One of the best inventions over the last few years has definitely been the solid state hard drive, or SSD for short. Hard drive technology has taken a radical turn with the advent of the SSD drive, bringing many benefits to your aging Macintosh computer. Why is my mac computer slow? In this post, Capital Mac Service will explain 5 things you need to know before upgrading to this exciting new technology, which is now in reach to any Macintosh user and finally at affordable rates.

Speed is king in a Solid State Hard Drive.

Witness the performance increase on a Mac from a solid state hard drive, seen in this speed chart–longer bars are faster!

  • Why is my mac computer running slow? Today’s solid state drive (SSD) upgrades will bring a new level of speed to your aging Macintosh computer. Most of our client interactions begin the same way: “My computer is so slow! It wasn’t like that when I bought it.” There’s good reason for this–old fashioned hard drives begin to slow down as they age, eventually failing completely. This translates into day to day speed degrading on your beloved Macintosh. An SSD will not only return you to early day speeds, but, it will sometimes eclipse the speed of your original hard drive by multiples. See some of the Capital Mac Service before and after SSD conversion videos here and prepare to be amazed–these are real client computers!

No moving parts.

On the left is an old-fashioned hard drive with moving parts. On the right, an SSD with no moving parts to slow it down.

The reason most old-fashioned hard drives fail is because they are built with moving parts–many moving and delicate parts. These hard drives spin like an old record player at about 5,400 RPM–that means they spin almost 6,000 every minute while in use. The arm that reads the data on this spinning disk is delicate and will usually be the failure point of these hard drives–you may even hear it “clicking” when it dies. Solid State hard drives on the other hand, have no moving parts whatsoever. This translates into longer life and much faster response time.

SSD Drives are affordable, now more than ever.

The price of an average Solid State Hard Drive is dropping dramatically as seen in this graph from a few years back

The prices of solid state hard drives have fallen dramatically over the last few years. This means that Capital Mac Service can now offer very competitive pricing on these exciting SSD upgrades. If your computer is in good working order, we can usually even transfer all of your current data from the old hard drive to the new SSD drive. We offer a variety of sizes on the SSD upgrade, from 128GB, all the way to 1TB if needed. Contact Capital Mac Service today for this amazing upgrade opportunity before you look at a new Macintosh.

Some Quiet, please.

Another benefit of the SSD upgrade on your Macintosh is the noise factor–SSD hard drives are silent since they have no moving parts. This means that you will virtually never hear anything coming from your hard drive bay, since there is no spinning disk anymore!

This graph shows the power consumption of a standard hard drive vs. a Solid State hard drive…lower bars are better!

Better battery life with an SSD.

Because there are no moving parts or motors to drive, your Mac’s battery will thank you for upgrading to a new SSD drive. Power requirements are much less with an SSD, which translates to longer battery life on your portable Macintosh.

Solid State Hard Drive For Macbook Pro 2013

Here we can see a scratch on a hard drive platter after being dropped. Chances of data recovery are almost 0% in this case. Solid State Hard Drives don’t have this issue!

Reliability and less accidental failures.

If you have ever dropped your Macintosh laptop, the first thing that will usually become damaged is the internal hard drive. It’s similar to dropping an old-fashioned record player onto the floor while playing a record. Bad drops are usually the death knell for a Macintosh hard drive. With a SSD upgrade, your hard drive’s chances of survival increase to almost 100%. Since there are no moving parts in an SSD, there’s nothing to damage. SSD drives are also slated to last longer than a traditional hard drive. SSD drives have a predictable rate in which they can no longer accept or write data, unlike a standard hard drive.

Solid State Hard Drive For Macbook

Capital Mac Service is a local SSD Upgrade leader.

Solid State Hard Drive For Macbook Pro 2014

Capital Mac Service has been installing SSD hard drives into older Macintosh computers in the Capital District for the last 3 years–we have the experience and knowledge to get the right SSD for your Macintosh and install it correctly and quickly. Most SSD upgrades are either same day upgrades, or, 24 hours at most. While your hard drive is currently working, contact us for a quote on this exciting new upgrade that will breathe life into your older Macintosh!