#Michael Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 I have a late 2009 15" unibody macbook pro. I want to put in an ssd so it extends the life a bit more but I am not sure what make/model is compatible with it. Is there a configuration guide somewhere that will help? I am look for a 250GB drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambroos Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 You should try Crucial's Memory Advisor: http://www.crucial.com/store/advisor.aspx It's brilliant. Enter your exact model and it'll come up with memory and drives that are guaranteed compatible. After entering your model just hit "SHOW ALL COMPATIBLE SOLID STATE DRIVES' in the respective category to expand the list. The Crucial m4 is an excellent SSD that will do perfectly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LogicalApex MVC Posted December 29, 2012 MVC Share Posted December 29, 2012 Unless Apple only allows specific drives you should be fine with any SATA SSD. The only major consideration on SSDs in laptops is drive height, but your 2009 MacBook shouldn't be using slim model drives so you shouldn't have to worry (you can get a slim drive into a non-slim bay, but not the other way around). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted December 29, 2012 Veteran Share Posted December 29, 2012 Unless Apple only allows specific drives you should be fine with any SATA SSD. The only major consideration on SSDs in laptops is drive height, but your 2009 MacBook shouldn't be using slim model drives so you shouldn't have to worry (you can get a slim drive into a non-slim bay, but not the other way around). Can't remember exactly, but didn't Apple make it so TRIM only works out of the box on "approved" SSD drives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_han_solo Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Not every drive will work. I have a Patriot Inferno and my late 2012 Mac Mini will not sleep. In retrospect I wish I would have done some more homework before using the drive. Fortunately I have not had any problem with leaving the Min on 24/7. TRIM is disabled on non-apple SSD's. However, download TRIM Enabler (Free) and it will enable it for whatever drive you get. Also if anyone has any ideas on how I get my Mini to sleep I would be open to suggestions. - Han Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambroos Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 Can't remember exactly, but didn't Apple make it so TRIM only works out of the box on "approved" SSD drives? If your drive has proper garbage collection TRIM isn't all that important. I've been running without TRIM for ages (two Toshiba SSD's in RAID0), and the difference in speed is negligible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#Michael Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Not every drive will work. I have a Patriot Inferno and my late 2012 Mac Mini will not sleep. In retrospect I wish I would have done some more homework before using the drive. Fortunately I have not had any problem with leaving the Min on 24/7. TRIM is disabled on non-apple SSD's. However, download TRIM Enabler (Free) and it will enable it for whatever drive you get. Also if anyone has any ideas on how I get my Mini to sleep I would be open to suggestions. - Han That was my problem with a seagate drive last year....kept getting kernel panics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LogicalApex MVC Posted December 29, 2012 MVC Share Posted December 29, 2012 Wow, thanks for the correction. I don't keep up with Apple and I wasn't aware they managed to cause problems for users with a commodity part like the disk drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted December 30, 2012 Veteran Share Posted December 30, 2012 If your drive has proper garbage collection TRIM isn't all that important. I've been running without TRIM for ages (two Toshiba SSD's in RAID0), and the difference in speed is negligible. yes, but my point still stands, Apple still disabled the feature on non-apple devices... still stupid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threetonesun Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Wow, thanks for the correction. I don't keep up with Apple and I wasn't aware they managed to cause problems for users with a commodity part like the disk drive. Apple didn't, per se, but a lot of SSDs require firmware updates to run out of the box on Macs. Any of the "better" drives, Samsung, Crucial, Intel, should work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#Michael Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 What samsung drive would anyone recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambroos Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 What samsung drive would anyone recommend? Samsung 830 or Crucial m4. Everything else is less good and/or pricier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted December 30, 2012 Veteran Share Posted December 30, 2012 Samsung 830 or Crucial m4. Everything else is less good and/or pricier. Samsung 830 is an awesome drive for the price, been using them exclusively in all my new systems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#Michael Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 Samsung 830 is an awesome drive for the price, been using them exclusively in all my new systems The 830 or 840 series? Because it seems that Amazon has the 830 series 256gb for $250 and the 840 series 250gb for $180. Both get great reviews....so which one is better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted December 30, 2012 Veteran Share Posted December 30, 2012 The 830 or 840 series? Because it seems that Amazon has the 830 series 256gb for $250 and the 840 series 250gb for $180. Both get great reviews....so which one is better? 830 is MLC 840 is TLC, TLC memory wears faster... MLC is better for wear... TLC is a cheaper memory that crams more bits into a cell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#Michael Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 830 is MLC 840 is TLC, TLC memory wears faster... MLC is better for wear... TLC is a cheaper memory that crams more bits into a cell So the samsung 830 256gb is a great drive if I am willing to spend a bit more. The crucial m4 256gb is a bit less expensive but also a great drive...I just have to update the firmware when I get it to make sure that it works as it should. I am thinking the crucial m4 is a great investment that should give me another year or two on my mbp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon H Supervisor Posted December 30, 2012 Supervisor Share Posted December 30, 2012 yes, but my point still stands, Apple still disabled the feature on non-apple devices... still stupid true, but it's still not hard to force re-enable TRIM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadrack Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I think that most 2.5" sata SSDs will work. Let me also say that the boost in performance will be substantial. I upgraded my mid-2009 mbp to an 80GB Intel SSD a little over a year ago and it still feels like a new snappy computer. Even compared to my wife's 2012 MBA. Don't lose sleep over TRIM and I recommend not doing any hacks to support it. IMO its just as good without the TRIM support and drives are not going to self-destruct without it. Also, I don't think you will get much more battery life when compared to the stock 4200rpm drive. You may even experience a small decrease in battery life. But it is hard for me to tell since Im running two drives (the Intel SSD and the stock 4200rpm drive). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#Michael Posted December 30, 2012 Author Share Posted December 30, 2012 I think that most 2.5" sata SSDs will work. Let me also say that the boost in performance will be substantial. I upgraded my mid-2009 mbp to an 80GB Intel SSD a little over a year ago and it still feels like a new snappy computer. Even compared to my wife's 2012 MBA. Don't lose sleep over TRIM and I recommend not doing any hacks to support it. IMO its just as good without the TRIM support and drives are not going to self-destruct without it. Also, I don't think you will get much more battery life when compared to the stock 4200rpm drive. You may even experience a small decrease in battery life. But it is hard for me to tell since Im running two drives (the Intel SSD and the stock 4200rpm drive). I take it that by adding the 2nd drive you no longer have an optical drive? Do you find that there is any disadvantage to this setup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadrack Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 I take it that by adding the 2nd drive you no longer have an optical drive? Do you find that there is any disadvantage to this setup? Not having an optical drive built in? Nope. Having 2 mass storage devices is way better. Nobody uses optical drives and if you really need one you can get an external one. I wouldn't recommend one of those super drive enclosure (for the one that comes out of the mbp). Those things don't work right... Get a proper USB optical drive if you need it. Brandon H 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#Michael Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 Just picked up the cruical m4 256GB drive from Amazon for $179 with free 2 day shipping. It should be here on Friday. Brandon H 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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