- Ssd Drives For Macbook Air
- Ssd Drive For Mac Mini Late 2014
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- Ssd Drive For Macbook Air 2015
DriveDx will protect you from data loss and downtime
- Jan 24, 2019 Original Apple SSD’s for the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are very expensive, especially compared to the price of standard NVMe SSD’s designed for Windows PC’s. MacOS Mojave (and High Sierra) supports NVMe drives as boot device in MacBook Pro models released from late 2013 to 2015 and MacBook Air models from 2013 to 2017.
- Discover the world of SSD Hard Drives for Mac. Compare models and options for the office or home and shop online.
With DriveDx you need not worry about losing your important data, music, and photographs.
So I've been thinking about putting one or two into my Mac Pro: I have a 2 1 TB RAID-1 for boot right now, but /Users is 760 GB of that-all that / really needs is about 90 GB. The other two drives in the Mac Pro are for scratch work. Putting the swap file onto a second SSD seems like a good idea. Internal Solid State Drives The solid state drive is considered to be one of the latest advancements with regards to storage solutions. It takes what a traditional hard disk drive or HDD can do and advances it, much to the benefit of many users, mainly those who are on the road often or are of the creative aspect.
You can know before your drive is going to fail, because DriveDx tracks more indicators of impending failure than any other product on the market for both SSDs and HDDs.
Video Tutorial
Drive Dashboard
Early Warning System
You will have more chances to save your critical data before any data loss actually occurs.
Video Tutorial
Drive Health Indicators
Modern SSDs and HDDs support
When evaluating the state of various drives, DriveDx can use different heuristic algorithms depending on the drive model and even its firmware version.
Video Tutorial
Drive Self-tests
Drive Self-tests
Will help to quickly identify if the drive is faulty.
Video Tutorial
Drive Self-test in progress
Automatic Email Reports
User does not need to have physical access to a specific computer all the time, which is especially useful for all kinds of server rooms, data centers, etc.
Video Tutorial
DriveDx Email Report Preferences
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Here's a DriveDx triumph. DriveDx showed my just out of AppleCare iMac with two pre-fail conditions for the hard drive. Made appointment and took it to Genius Bar yesterday. Tech looked at DriveDx and was very impressed. Even though out of warranty - they replaced the drive without question.God knows how many dollars and troubles DriveDx saved me since I had several vital FinalCut projects on it!
I just registered my copy of DriveDx. I want to say thanks for saving me a whole lot of time, expense, and aggravation. I’m trying to keep my 2011 MPB running for as long as I can….or at least until Apple gets their act together and starts making 17” laptops again. My Samsung 840 EVO SSD is aging, and my laptop gets very heavy work, managing networks, and saving the world.Lately, the system has been hanging under heavy load. On a whim, I loaded up DriveDx, which told me there were CRC errors on the SATA cable. A $13 cable later, and I am no longer able to crash the system no matter how hard I try. Drive Dx is well worth the $19.99! Thanks a million!
As a photographer, I’m always concerned about drive failure because I know it will happen to all of my drives. What I don’t know is when.DriveDx exposes low-level information of internal sensors, pre-fail indicators and lifetime accumulators of information that have allowed me to anticipate problems before they affect my system. As a result, I sent external drive back to LaCie for exchange under warranty due to anticipated drive failure.
This is one of the best investments you can make in your system. I recommend it highly.
This is one of the best investments you can make in your system. I recommend it highly.
External backup disk will have been gone soon. It's time for NAS server. Thanks for letting me know @BinaryFruit!
A couple of days ago, DriveDx warned me (pre-failing) for one of my external drives. I don't use it any more for backup. After DriveDx warning, drive behaved abnormally, I heard loud clicking noises and I got warnings from OS X as the drive unmounted abnormally while it was not the case.Thanks to DriveDx. Best in its class. Excellent tech support.
DriveDx app warned of pending drive failure before it happened. Nice!!! @binaryfruit
DriveDx just warned of pending drive failure - second time @binaryfruit app has avoided server crash.
Shout out to @BinaryFruit for offering a great product and great service over and beyond what they advertise! DriveDX is an awesome app!
Cheaper and better than it's main OS X competitors. DriveDx has a better GUI layout, clearer presentation of data, and explanations of each of the SMART attributes. Beautiful.
Absolute Must for the OS 'Toolkit'! I was having some serious issues with an SSD hybrid drive on my macbook pro, and well since seagate doesn't support mac, their 'seatools' software was useless (and required) for getting a proper exchange. That one event way more than paid for the price of the software. THIS software generated a report that was acceptable for me to get my exchange, and before the drive died completely. Got my replacement drive and I will most certainly never go back to not having it installed.
Just in Time! I downloaded DriveDx and discovered that the second HDD in my MacbookPro (in the superdive location) was having 'failing warnings', although DiskUtility said the drive was OK. So I decided that I had to replace it. I did that and enclosed the failing disk in an external enclosure to use it some more. A week later I began to have serious issues with the failing disk and ditched it. I am very happy with DriveDx, worth the money on all accounts.
I have a not so supported fusion drive in my Macbook Pro. There has never been any way to see the S.M.A.R.T. status. Decided to give this a try and the first thing that pops up is that my Crucial M4 SSD was close to failure because of a bug in the microcode. I have not tried to use this to look at my USB attached drives, since the only one I have is a small external that I boot from in emergencies. But DriveDx not only clearly sees both drives making up my fusion drive, but it also shows me the status of my 3 eSATA drives.
It's finally great to have something even better than Crystal Disk Info to monitor hard drive life signs.
Arrow PrevArrow NextAdvanced Drive Health Diagnostics
Regular diagnostic tools simply check the built-in S.M.A.R.T. status of the drive, which provides the user with little information about the actual state of the physical drive. As opposed to such tools, DriveDx analyzes the current state of the drive using all the drive health indicators that are most likely to point to a potential drive issue (for instance, SSD wear out / write endurance, I/O errors, pending sectors, reallocated bad sectors, etc). See competitive analysis against several popular products hereDrive Failing (Pre-fail) State Detection
Unlike most other tools, DriveDx detects not only “OK/Verified” and “Failed” drive health states, but also the “Failing (Pre-fail)” drive state. Thanks to that, you will detect problems much earlier than when using any other SMART monitoring utilities. This means that you have more chances to save your critical data before any data loss actually occurs. Learn moreReal-time Drive Health Monitoring
DriveDx runs in the background and periodically performs checks to determine the health of your SSD or HDD. When any issue or problem is found, it alerts you immediately. DriveDx acts as an “early warning system” for pending drive problems. As a result, you have more chances to save your critical data before any data loss actually occurs.Early Warning System
DriveDx features a special multi-tier warning system that will inform the user about deviations from the normal state of drive attributes. It constantly monitors each S.M.A.R.T. attribute (and its change dynamics) and starts continuously warning the user as the drive degrades. On the initial stages of drive degradation, the user will receive notifications of the Warning type, then Failing (means that this drive parameter is in a pre-failure state) and only then Failed. Learn moreDrive Self-tests
DriveDx allows you to start and control diagnostic self-tests of SSD / HDD. The primary goal is to quickly identify if the drive is faulty. Usually self-tests consist of a collection of test routines like electrical and/or mechanical performance tests as well as the read performance test of the drive. Depending on self-test type it does read scan of a small area or the entire media. Learn moreModern SSDs and HDDs Support
When evaluating the state of various drives, DriveDx can use different heuristic algorithms depending on the drive model and even its firmware version. One of the key advantages of the software is that the state of HDD and SSD drives is assessed using different algorithms, since many state indicators of HDD drives are not applicable or make no sense for SSD drives.Automatic E-mail Reports
The user can get problem notifications and drive status reports to email. Reporting can be configured on the basis of various criteria. Thanks to this feature, the user does not need to have physical access to a specific computer all the time, which is especially useful for all kinds of server rooms, data centers, etc.A modern, good-looking and user-friendly interface
DriveDx is one of the first drive diagnostic tools created in the true Mac style. All interface elements are clear and intuitive, so it will only take you a few minutes to learn the basics and start using the program. When a problem is identified, you will see a notification on the desktop and the status bar will show the status of your drives. Learn moreDrive Key Metrics Evaluation
DriveDx calculates various ratings of the current status of key drive characteristics (percent values):- SSD lifetime left indicator (in case of an SSD drive)
Drive Free Space Monitoring
Mac OS X and applications might fail due to an inability to allocate storage space. In addition, low disk space might cause disk fragmentation. To avoid data loss and to ensure the continuous functioning of your computer it is important to monitor the amount of available storage space on your drive. DriveDx can automatically monitor free disk space and will alert user immediately if user defined free space threshold exceeded. Learn moreDriveDx will protect you from data loss and downtime!
This article was originally written in 2015 but it is still relevant. I have just updated it given that SSD prices have dropped dramatically in the last 3 years. Upgrading the boot drive on my Mac Mini to an SSD drive was by far the biggest speed enhancement I’ve experienced on any computer! The speed increase is incredible – almost hard to believe. Boot time went from 60 seconds to under 30 seconds, and applications launch instantly – no bouncing dock icon. In terms of bang for dollar, upgrading to an SSD drive is by far the best upgrade you can do.
SDD stands for ‘Solid State Drive.’ SSD drives are the same shape and size as a traditional drive. The difference is that an SSD drive uses RAM chips instead of a spinning hard disk to store information. This makes it much, much faster.
SSD drives are now reasonably cheap. I’d suggest you upgrade your entire hard drive to SSD.
1. Order an SSD.
There have been issues in the past with SSD drives and there have been some brands not working with OSX, so make sure you get a good one.
The first place I would recommend is macsales.com. I have one of their OWC Mercury SSD drives in 2 of my laptops. They have a screen where you choose your macintosh computer, and it tells you which SSD drive is compatible. Just click here and you will be asked what mac you have, follow the prompts. (I have signed up to be an affiliate of Macsales so I get a commission if you use these links.) Last check a 1TB drive was under $400. When I first wrote this article a 480G SSD drive was $1579.99!
The second place I would recommend is crucial.com. If you do get a Crucial SSD you can go for the MX or BX series. I’ve also got a Samsung EVO drive running in a 2012 Macbook pro and it’s running fine. Buy a new SSD not a second hand one. They do degrade over time.
2. Temporarily connect the new SSD Drive to your Mac.
For this you will need a cable to connect your SSD drive to your USB port. They are only about $20 and they look like this:
The external drive enclosures for normal hard disks should also work with an SSD.
Plug the SSD into the enclosure, and then into the Mac, and it should appear on the desktop as an ‘Untitled’ drive.
3. Format the SSD Drive using disk utility.
After your SDD drive is plugged in you’ll need to use Disk Utility to format it – Mac OS Extended (Journaled):
4. Copy everything onto the new boot drive.
Substitute for milk in mac and cheese sour cream. Now you need to copy your entire drive onto your SSD drive. You can’t do this by hand – there are hidden files that need to be copied, so need to make what is called a ‘Clone.’ Apple’s built-in Disk Utility won’t do this so you will need an app like Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper.
Using Carbon Copy Cloner, select your boot drive as the target Disk and then select ‘Backup Everything’:
Click ‘Clone’ and your boot disk will be created on the SSD disk.
The other option is to use Super Duper. There’s a free version that will enable to clone your drive. Select ‘Backup -all files’ to make a clone.
Making a clone of you drive can take a long time – hours – so take a break!
5. Reboot from the new SSD boot drive.
Under System Preferences click Startup Drive select the SSD Drive, then restart! (wow – notice how fast it is!)
6. Swap the internal Hard disk for the SSD drive.
Now that it’s working it’s time to get rid of your old hard drive and physically replace it with the working SSD.
The difficulty of this varies according to what kind of a Macintosh computer you have. I’d check out ifixit.com for the best instructions according to your mac model.
Mac Pro
Difficulty: easy – 30 seconds.
For a mac pro it simply connects into the spare optical bay slot – no adapters needed, a 30 second operation – see how here. I just sat the SSD drive in and added a bit of gaffe tape but there are some great adapters out there eg Angelbird SSD Adapter
Macbook
Difficulty: moderate – 1 hour.
For a Macbook or Macbook Pro can replace the internal optical drive with your old Hard Drive or order a large SSD drive and replace your old hard drive with it. You can find instructions here.
Mac Mini
Difficulty: hard – 1/2 hr.
For a new aluminium mac mini you will need to replace one of the internal drives. This involves pulling out the fan and motherboard to get the new SSD drive in. You can get the old hard disk out without pulling out the motherboard but the SSD drives are actually ever so slightly thicker and more uniform in shape so the motherboard needs to come out to manoeuvre the SSD drive in place. There’s easy to follow instructions here at mac fixit.
iMac
Difficulty: hard – 1/2 hr.
It’s quite complex to pull the iMac apart and you need a vacuum clamp to pull the glass screen off. This is easier than it sounds, but you still need to but the suction caps to do it. It requires some mechanical skill. There are good instructions here and crucial have their own guide here.
So how fast is it? Here’s a demo of how quickly applications launch from my new SSD drive…
7. Check if you need to Enable TRIM.
Some Hard Drives do not come with TRIM support and so you need to download this TRIM Enabler app and run it. This will enable OS X built in TRIM support which keeps your SSD drive lean and clean.
The SSD I recommend above (Crucial M4) does not need TRIM support (read this article for more information). You can turn it on anyway no problems. The OWC Mercury SSD drives do not need TRIM enabled either.
STOP PRESS: There are new reports that TRIM enabler does not work with Yosemite. Read this article for more information.
8. Time Machine
If you already have a Time Machine backup, when you change Hard Drives it starts all over again and won’t recognise the old Time Machine backup. Read this post for info on how to get around this. Also here is another very good article on this.
I also just found this GREAT article on keeping Time Machine working when you change the Hard Drive.
If you don’t have a Time Machine backup now is a great time to start! You can use your old Internal Drive as a backup drive.
Related posts:
What is TRIM and do I need to turn it on in OS X?What’s the best SSD drive for a Mac and how do I install it?The best place to buy RAM for your macbook or imac.How to use 2 monitors on your mac7 ways to make your Mac boot faster.« Older CommentsStevesays:February 25, 2019 at 4:02 pmI am using a Seagate 250GB USB 3.0 as the boot drive (Mojave) on my 2014 Mac Mini. Seriously fast boot-up and excellent system responsiveness compared to the 1TB internal hard drive. No need to pull the Mac apart to upgrade the boot drive (just leave the internal spinning disk in place as your data drive, it works fine as an APFS volume, provided its not the system disk).
Installing an internal SSD may give you optimal performance but using an external USB boot SSD still gives a much more responsive system than the old hard drive, for minimal upgrade difficulty and minimal cost.
(I don’t have any trim issues either).
ReplyWaynesays:February 28, 2019 at 12:20 pm Yes now that they have fast External SSD drives with thunderbolt/USB-C this is certainly a great option.
ReplyS Bartruffsays:April 15, 2019 at 11:39 am Ssd Drives For Macbook Air
![Ssd drive for macbook Ssd drive for macbook](/uploads/1/3/3/9/133907195/799175731.jpg)
Help….I have established the SSD as the start-up drive (Mac Mini 2012) and it works effectively (much faster).
However, during the night the Mac reboots and establishes the Mac HD as the default start-up….How do I remedy this issue?
Thanks.
ReplyBartruff Stuartsays:April 30, 2019 at 8:21 am I may have solved the reboot problem by not allowing the Mac mini to transition to a sleep mode
ReplyStuart Bartruffsays:April 16, 2019 at 4:08 am Ssd Drive For Mac Mini Late 2014
Follow-up to my prior comment. The MAC rebooted again to default the MAC HD as the start-up. I received the following error message: The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer.
ReplyBobsays:May 30, 2019 at 6:46 am I did this with my wifes’ old 21′ Imac…those horrible ones that come with the built in memory. We were going to replace it , but this solution made it work like a new machine…much faster overall. I used a 256 Samsung T5, erxactly as described here.
ReplynmetroSsd Drives For Macbook
says:June 28, 2019 at 3:26 pmI bought a SanDisk Extreme Portable 1TB SSD dirve at Amazon.
I plugged it into my USB 3.0 port on an iMac late 2014 4k system, with soldered 8 GB memory.
I went through the formatting process with Disk Utility. Making sure that GUID was set.
I downloaded Carbon Copy, and ran it clicking on Trial. I then closed the disks (it took about 40 minutes for 6 GB)
I rebooted, when it was done, held down the Option key and selected the new disk.
I was up in under a minute. I tried a few things and they run much, much faster.
The SSD disk, I purchased, supports USB 3.1 and USB-C. It is also very tiny, light, and it wrapped in rubber to protect it. It is so small it can be attached, by Velcro, to the back of the monitor stand. I wasn’t that comfortable trying to take apart an iMac just to replace the disk.
Free powerpoint templates for mac. I do not use my iMac for heavy duty gaming, and the like, but I feel like that I have a new computer.
So these instructions, at least in my situation.
Reply« Older Comments