** The Official WWDC 2012 Thread **

My MBA just got delivered.
13"
1.8Ghz i5
128GB SSD
8GB RAM
large.jpg
 
Last edited:
Anyone know which brand and speed Apple use for their SSD upgrades on standard MacBook Pros.

Going to replace the SuperDrive with a cradle anyway and put a Momentus XT 750GB in but also wanted a dedicated SSD for OS. Just wondered what speed SSDs they put in as it may work out cheaper to BTO a SSD from Apple rather than speccing the cheapest drive and buying a Momentus XT and a SSD separately.
 
Usually Samsung or Toshiba. From the speeds they're quoting the Mid-2012 machines must use SATA 6Gbps, pre Mid-2012 models were 3Gbps.

Apple BTO prices for RAM and storage upgrades have always been on the insane side. I'd buy the CPU and screen you want, then upgrade the RAM and HDD as you see fit unless out of the box TRIM support is a big thing for you.

As for upgrades the Crucial M4 seems popular over at MR, Samsung 830 drive is the closest you'll get to the OEM drive.
 
I'm just thinking that it may be cheaper to BTO a SSD and then get a 750GB Momentus XT instead of getting a SSD and Momentus XT separately.

As long as it's a fast SSD I don't mind going to the BTO route and having TRIM support out of the box is a plus. To be honest though, I've not really looked into TRIM.
 
I'd be getting the high end MacBook Pro so the SSD upgrade is £80. Also, with HE discount so costs a bit less again too.

But yeah...£160 for a SSD upgrade seems ridiculous...
 
£160 for the 128GB SSD isn't so bad considering Apple's prices haven't changed for 12 months or more, and 6-12 months ago 128GB SSD's used to cost £120 or so, then allowing a small 'premium' margin and labour charge its about right.

Obviously the higher spec ones are massively over-priced, especially now.
 
THe thing is it the 128GB doesn't cost £160, you should be getting credit back for the 500GB drive that Apple don't fit, say £40. So that's £200.

A Samsung 830 256Gb drive can be had for under £180. That's twice the capacity for less money.
 
MagicBoy said:
THe thing is it the 128GB doesn't cost £160, you should be getting credit back for the 500GB drive that Apple don't fit, say £40. So that's £200.

A Samsung 830 256Gb drive can be had for under £180. That's twice the capacity for less money.
Click to expand...

Just to make the blow worse, the 830 256GB can be had for under £150. And it's the notebook kit as well, making it even better value as it comes with everything that you will need to migrate your current installation over.

Go for 830 256GB, as it is the bargain of the moment with SSDs. The Crucial m4 is popular because of great value, reliability, and full compatibility with Macs for firmware updates. The 830 doesn't offer the latter, but I don't think it has needed a firmware update anyway.

As for mechanical drives, again, don't touch the Apple configurator, leave it as is. The £80 they charge for the 750GB upgrade is slightly more than it costs to buy the drive yourself outright. You can sell the 500GB drive that comes with it.
 
Had my retina (base model) for 4 or 5 days now, Ive honestly never been so impressed with any bit of kit that Ive bought, Ive never had a laptop so light and quick either, its a dream to use.

If you use VM you can run in windows at the native res but it is unreadable, its far too small to use, still its nice for showing off what it would look like.

Get 400mb reads 485 writes on the SSD, I ran a super pi through VM and came out about 14 seconds which I thought was pretty decent virtualised.
 
Went to look at a retina MacBook Pro today whilst I was out... must admit I was disappointed with the screen - much like with the new iPad. The screen is not THAT noticeably better unless you actually put your nose to the screen, so wouldn't make me want to upgrade from the previous generation.

Do agree however that for a newcomer to Mac, it's a fantastic bit of kit. Definitely MacBook size rather than anywhere approaching Air though!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom