The choice depends on the hard drive interface your Apple laptop is equipped with. As previously mentioned, you may need a 2.5 inch, an mSATA, or an M.2 PCIe storage device. You’ll need an SSD compatible with Apple’s M.2 NVMe (NVM Express) proprietary interface, so do some research when choosing the product to make sure it fits.

Importantly, you can’t install a classic 2.5 inch drive in your MacBook Air. To swap your current SSD for another one, the only tools you’ll need are a Torx T5 and a Pentalobe screwdriver. That’s not true, unless you use a 2018 model or later in which the drive is soldered into the motherboard. There is a misconception that MacBook Air storage cannot be upgraded. Non-Retina 2012 MacBook Pro and earlier models can be upgraded with 2.5 inch SSDs. Keep in mind, though, that the former category requires an mSATA SSD, and the latter is only compatible with M.2 PCIe storage. If you own one of these and its storage is acting up or is no longer enough, you can upgrade the original drive with a new SSD.

These include mid 2012 to early 2013 Retina machines as well as all models released in late 2013 to late 2016. Some upgradeable MacBook Pro laptops came with SSDs out of the box. If you have decided to take the hardware leap by replacing your MacBook Pro’s current storage with a modern SSD, this article will point you in the right direction. With the growing affordability and plenty of benefits, the upgrade is worth the effort no matter how you slice it. Your laptop will also run longer when on battery power.Īlthough SSDs are more expensive than HDDs, the price gap has shrunk considerably over the past few years. These include multiple times higher read and write speeds, greater energy efficiency, smaller dimensions and weight, better shock resistance, and absolutely no clicking or grinding noise.īecause the flash-memory based technology functionally eclipses the spinning hard drive design in many ways, a MacBook Pro with an SSD on board boots much faster, launches apps in a snap, and transfers large amounts of data in the blink of an eye. Solid State Drive (SSD) is the name of the game as it offers several major advantages over traditional HDDs. When considering options to boost the performance of your MacBook Pro, especially if it’s an older model, an internal storage upgrade definitely belongs on your checklist.

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