#BEST SSD FOR APPLE MAC INSTALL#
#BEST SSD FOR APPLE MAC PRO#
#BEST SSD FOR APPLE MAC SERIES#
#BEST SSD FOR APPLE MAC MAC#

#BEST SSD FOR APPLE MAC MAC#

I strongly recommend updating your Mac to the latest non-beta version of macOS it can run before beginning the backup process. You’ll see definite speed improvements for whatever files and apps you place on the SSD, though overall macOS performance won’t change unless you’re booting from the SSD itself.īefore any hard disk to SSD swap, my advice is to run a complete Time Machine backup to an external drive - preferably one that’s connected with a cable rather than Wi-Fi - so all of your old hard drive’s contents will be ready to transfer over to the new SSD.

#BEST SSD FOR APPLE MAC INSTALL#

Ideally, you’ll install the SSD inside your Mac, squeezing maximum performance out of its chips without needing to power an external device. But if your Mac can’t be internally upgraded, or you’re squeamish about opening up your computer, you can buy an external SSD and connect it to a USB 3 or Thunderbolt port.

MacBook Pro: Up through mid-2015 models For Non-Upgradable Macs, Consider External SSDs

MacBook Air: Up through 2017 (current) models Mac Pro: Up through late 2013 (current) models Mac mini: Up through late 2014 (current) models. If your Mac is one of the following models, it can probably be upgraded with an SSD.

#BEST SSD FOR APPLE MAC PRO#

Owners of the very latest MacBook and MacBook Pro models shouldn’t bother going further these laptops have hardwired SSDs that can’t be replaced, a trend that Apple may expand to future desktop Macs. Apple continues to shrink its desktop and laptop machines, more tightly integrating the few remaining components inside, so you’ll want to follow an iFixit disassembly guide to safely open and close your machine. īad news: the newer the Mac, the greater the likelihood that actually installing the drive yourself will be tricky. Good news first: most older Macs and even some current Macs can be easily user-upgraded to include SSDs. With limited expertise and only three tools, I was able to swap out my 2011 iMac’s old hard drive for an SSD in roughly 30 minutes. Which Mac Models Can Be Internally Upgraded? Not all SSDs are equivalent in reliability and performance, but ones from top-tier chip companies are pretty incredible.

#BEST SSD FOR APPLE MAC SERIES#

Running cooler, quieter, and with superior energy efficiency than traditional hard drives, SSDs have fewer failures, and reputable manufacturers tend to warranty them for longer than their predecessors.įor instance, Samsung’s consumer drives generally have 5-year warranties, and if you’re willing to pay more, its PRO series drives have 10-year warranties, eclipsing all but the most expensive enterprise-class desktop hard disks. Nine years later, dramatically faster and smaller SSDs with the same capacities can be had for less than a tenth of those prices, so every current Mac either has an SSD by default or as an option. The January 2008-vintage original MacBook Air was the first Mac with the option of a 64GB SSD (for a $1,300 premium over the laptop’s base price), and 1TB SSDs were going for roughly $4,000 - Apple didn’t even try to sell 1TB SSDs at that point. A Mac that once took over a minute to boot can now start working in seconds Macs built with SSDs can awaken from sleep instantly.ĭespite superior performance, high prices led Apple to slowly stagger solid state drive adoption across individual Mac product lines. Even without changing a Mac’s CPU, GPU, or RAM, replacing the hard drive with an internal SSD instantly leads to much faster macOS performance, app loading, restarting, and file accessing. So this is a perfect time to revisit the topic of SSD upgrades if you held out before, now’s the time to jump in!įor nearly a decade, SSDs have been acknowledged as the “future” of Mac storage. With this week’s release of macOS High Sierra, Apple has officially made SSDs its preferred Mac storage solution, introducing the new APFS standard to further optimize SSD performance over Fusion and traditional hard drives. Once unthinkably huge 2TB and 4TB SSDs are now commonly available, too, albeit at eye-watering prices.

Replacing your old 500GB hard drive with a same-sized SSD from a reputable manufacturer costs only $150, while 1TB drives are under $330, each $100 less than only a couple of years ago. Today, high-capacity SSDs are more affordable than ever. All for much less than the price of a new Mac. Replacing a Mac’s 500GB or 1TB hard drive with a same-sized SSD required at least $250 back then, but the benefits were tremendous: even an aging machine became markedly (5x) faster, silent, and - unexpectedly - more fun to use. When I first wrote about using solid state drives (SSDs) to radically improve the performance of older Macs, high-capacity SSDs were just beginning to become affordable.

Best ssd for apple mac