More on 2011 SATA III Support

MacRS4 · 28 Apr 2011 at 13:53

I've updated my blog here about issues I'd been experiencing with a SATA III SSD in my 2011 MBP, thought some of you may find it useful.

Essentially I was getting uneven performance, and the odd pause. Not very fluid at all. Ended up putting the SSD in the OptiBay to force it to run at SATA II speeds - everything back to normal.

Sigh, why can't things just do what they say they will :confused:

JediFragger · 28 Apr 2011 at 14:27

Cheers for the info m8. I have an Intel 160GB to pop into mine once I get an Optibay. Where did you get yours if you don't mind me asking, official or the bay?

MacRS4 · 28 Apr 2011 at 14:40

I bought the official MCE one.

JediFragger · 28 Apr 2011 at 14:47

Cheers, how much with del & import fees? Guessing around the £100 mark

Deku · 28 Apr 2011 at 14:55

Hey Mark, have you tried this? or some other shielding like tin foil? Yes apparently something as cheap as tin foil helps to fix issues in a £2,000+ laptop in 2011.... just laughable really!

I must say if I'd have bought the 17inch I would be demanding an explanation from Apple regarding the matter.

MacRS4 · 28 Apr 2011 at 15:04

Shielding - that's an interesting one. Must admit that I'm not bothered enough to drag my ass to the Apple Store only to have them mumble, um & aah, pop a normal drive in, and it to work fine.

I may see if I can pick up one of the shielding packs and give it a go, thanks! I see from some of the other forums that replacing that cable seems to have helped some people.

MacRS4 · 28 Apr 2011 at 15:04

JediFragger said:
Cheers, how much with del & import fees? Guessing around the £100 mark

Yeah give or take a few quid - wasn't my money so wasn't paying a lot of attention

Deku · 28 Apr 2011 at 15:07

MacRS4 said:
I may see if I can pick up one of the shielding packs and give it a go, thanks! I see from some of the other forums that replacing that cable seems to have helped some people.

Yeah pretty much, that cable runs underneath the HDD only on the 17inch which is why the 13 and 15inch aren't experiencing the same issues.

Good luck, hope it works. You'll have to let us know

JonB · 28 Apr 2011 at 20:40

Where did you get your OptiBay from in the UK? Cheapest I can find it is for about £100.

Also, does this problem only affect the 17" models? I've got a vertex II waiting here, which I believe is SATAII so will I be ok or still affected by this?

MacRS4 · 28 Apr 2011 at 20:59

I didn't, I imported it from the US.

Vertex 2E is SATA II not 3, the new Vertex 3's are SATA III I think.

If you have a look at the Apple discussions forums seems to be a fair number of people getting the issues with other size models too.