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SSD BTO in new MacBook pros Sandy Bridge 2011

post #1 of 26
3/1/11 at 6:34am
Thread Starter 
Hello all.

I've just ordered a BTO MacBook Pro 17'' with the i7 2.3GHz (8MBL3) + 8GB 1333Mhz DDR3 and the 512 SSD option. I do believe that Apple will probably choose a device with a good balance between stability, support and performance, but it has been impossible for me to find out which device are they currently using in the latest Sandy Bridge update.

Does anybody have any information about it? I will be receiving mine in two days (it has been shipped already) so, once here the first thing I'll do is open the MacBook and try to get some info about the device. If anyone has some extra information about it, could you please share it with us?

Thank you!
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post #2 of 26
3/1/11 at 10:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cosimo View Post

Hello all.

I've just ordered a BTO MacBook Pro 17'' with the i7 2.3GHz (8MBL3) + 8GB 1333Mhz DDR3 and the 512 SSD option. I do believe that Apple will probably choose a device with a good balance between stability, support and performance, but it has been impossible for me to find out which device are they currently using in the latest Sandy Bridge update.

Does anybody have any information about it? I will be receiving mine in two days (it has been shipped already) so, once here the first thing I'll do is open the MacBook and try to get some info about the device. If anyone has some extra information about it, could you please share it with us?

Thank you!

Interesting post, Cosimo.

I too am thinking about upgrading my 2009 13" MacBook Pro to the latest Sandy Bridge model, also with 8 Gb of memory and a 512 Gb SSD drive.

The cost makes me gulp a bit, so I too am interested to know which brand of SSD Apple uses and how reliable they are based on the experiences of people who have bought machines with them.

Any thoughts or feedback would be much appreciated.
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post #3 of 26
3/1/11 at 11:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tailpipe View Post

Interesting post, Cosimo.

I too am thinking about upgrading my 2009 13" MacBook Pro to the latest Sandy Bridge model, also with 8 Gb of memory and a 512 Gb SSD drive.

The cost makes me gulp a bit, so I too am interested to know which brand of SSD Apple uses and how reliable they are based on the experiences of people who have bought machines with them.

Any thoughts or feedback would be much appreciated.



No info at the moment. At soon as I get mine I will be publishing here the specs and the benchmarks results. At the moment my MacBook Pro is taking a vacation in Pudong International Airport in shanghai, and once TNT decides to end them and deliver it to me I will be back
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post #4 of 26
3/2/11 at 12:33am
Good luck with the new machine. How did you arrive at the decision to upgrade to the SSD? I'm about to order a new 17" myself, but I've never owned an SSD. Some of these stories about SSDs being less reliable over the long term than was originally thought have me wondering if spending $500 on the SSD upgrade is as beneficial or as smart as I had thought. Thanks.
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post #5 of 26
3/2/11 at 4:06am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jsk173 View Post

Good luck with the new machine. How did you arrive at the decision to upgrade to the SSD? I'm about to order a new 17" myself, but I've never owned an SSD. Some of these stories about SSDs being less reliable over the long term than was originally thought have me wondering if spending $500 on the SSD upgrade is as beneficial or as smart as I had thought. Thanks.


Basically for two important reasons,

1) SPEED They are like 10 times faster or more. Actually, traditional Hard Drives in laptops (either 5.400 or 7.200) are the slowest thing on earth.

2) Noise. They are perfectly quiet. I dont' want to listen to the rotation noise anymore.


And regarding security, as I said at the beginning of this thread, I have confidence in what apple chooses for MacBook laptops. And by the way Lion will finally support TRIM at once and for all which reduces the failure probability and reduces performance decrease.



This is going to be my first SSD, (which by the way costed me 1.100 Euros..) But I'm sure that will be the best thing I'll ever added to a MacBook. I'll keep you updated!



ps: My MacBook is still in Pudong (Shanghai)... What a hell is TNT doing?!
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post #6 of 26
3/2/11 at 6:30am
My understanding is that Apple uses Samsung SSDs.

Intel is supposed to have launched its new X-25 range of SSDs with up to 600 Bg capacities. These are reportedly the most reliable SSDs currently available. They are not exactly cheap.

Rather than buying a MacBook Pro from Apple with a pre-installed SSD drive, I've thought about getting a standard MBP and installing my own SSD. Having looked into various options for doing this, it won't necessarily result in me getting a higher quality SSD drive, and it probably won't save me money. So maybe just waiting until the price of large capacity SSDs finally comes down in price is the best option.
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post #7 of 26
3/2/11 at 6:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jsk173 View Post

Good luck with the new machine. How did you arrive at the decision to upgrade to the SSD? I'm about to order a new 17" myself, but I've never owned an SSD. Some of these stories about SSDs being less reliable over the long term than was originally thought have me wondering if spending $500 on the SSD upgrade is as beneficial or as smart as I had thought. Thanks.

I think you've got it backwards. An SSD will probably be more reliable over the long term. They don't have moving parts. Spinning platters are going to fail eventually. SSDs have their issues but compared to conventional HDDs the new ones are likely to be more reliable not less.
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post #8 of 26
3/2/11 at 8:19pm
i actually bought the new 15in with an 128gb ssd upgrade. if i really do like ssd over the long term, im more than willing buy a 512gb ssd when the price goes down and upgrade it myself, its really not that hard. the 128gb ssd is only 90 additional bucks, and i have a 2tb hd on the side, i dont think i need more than 128gb for my mac (id like to keep it clean and simple)
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post #9 of 26
3/2/11 at 8:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by backtomac View Post

I think you've got it backwards. An SSD will probably be more reliable over the long term. They don't have moving parts. Spinning platters are going to fail eventually. SSDs have their issues but compared to conventional HDDs the new ones are likely to be more reliable not less.

Well, the above is how SSDs are marketed, but a quick Google search yields a lot of articles that claim the marketing has been overstated or is even false -- i.e., info. from the manufacturers reportedly indicates the failure rates of SSDs are roughly the same as traditional hard drives.

I'm still leaning toward upgrading to the SSD, but with the $500 price tag, the articles have me a little concerned.
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post #10 of 26
3/2/11 at 9:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueeddie View Post

i actually bought the new 15in with an 128gb ssd upgrade. if i really do like ssd over the long term, im more than willing buy a 512gb ssd when the price goes down and upgrade it myself, its really not that hard. the 128gb ssd is only 90 additional bucks, and i have a 2tb hd on the side, i dont think i need more than 128gb for my mac (id like to keep it clean and simple)

This is an interesting approach. I've been leaning toward getting the 256 GB SSD, but I only have about 80 GB of data on my 7-year-old PowerBook (with none waiting to be ripped or downloaded), so the 128 GB SSD might be the way to go until prices come down.

Anyone know how much actual space is remaining on an MBP's 128 GB SSD out of the box?
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post #11 of 26
3/3/11 at 5:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jsk173 View Post

Well, the above is how SSDs are marketed, but a quick Google search yields a lot of articles that claim the marketing has been overstated or is even false -- i.e., info. from the manufacturers reportedly indicates the failure rates of SSDs are roughly the same as traditional hard drives.

I'm still leaning toward upgrading to the SSD, but with the $500 price tag, the articles have me a little concerned.

Post a link. I'd like to check it out. Maybe I'm wrong on this.

The first SSDs had some issues where performance would degrade over time and I think some firmware updates bricked certain SSDs. But I was under the impression that these issues were mostly a thing of the past.
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post #12 of 26
3/3/11 at 8:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jsk173 View Post

This is an interesting approach. I've been leaning toward getting the 256 GB SSD, but I only have about 80 GB of data on my 7-year-old PowerBook (with none waiting to be ripped or downloaded), so the 128 GB SSD might be the way to go until prices come down.

Anyone know how much actual space is remaining on an MBP's 128 GB SSD out of the box?

i will be getting my BTO 15in today, so i will post what is shown when I receive it (hopefully).
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post #13 of 26
3/3/11 at 8:58am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueeddie View Post

i will be getting my BTO 15in today, so i will post what is shown when I receive it (hopefully).



I am STILL waiting to get mine.... TNT is a huge disaster.. It was shipped last saturday from Shanghai.... and i guess I won't receive it tomorrow, which means that at least 'till monday...

We'll be awaiting your specs!
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post #14 of 26
3/3/11 at 10:44am
i just got mine. what specs do you want?
i purchased an 2.2 15in with antiglare display, 128gb ssd and 8gb ram
available ram is 99gb out of 120.99gb

geekbench score hit 11083 for 64bit
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post #15 of 26
3/3/11 at 7:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by backtomac View Post

I think you've got it backwards. An SSD will probably be more reliable over the long term. They don't have moving parts. Spinning platters are going to fail eventually. SSDs have their issues but compared to conventional HDDs the new ones are likely to be more reliable not less.

There are many things with no moving parts that fail much more often than HDDs. SSDs store data in the phase change of the media. There is a finite number of phase reversals in each bit.

In the absence of mechanical failure, a HDD will last for ages. Even a floppy disc will last for decades barring a mechanical failure. Heck, I have floppy discs that date back to the Reagan Administration. I trust Apple to place high-quality SSDs in my iPhone and iPad. However, I am not willing to pay a substantial premium over HDD for a SSD in my laptop or tower for a drive that has lower capacity and shorter lifetime than the less expensive mechanical drive.
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post #16 of 26
3/4/11 at 12:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueeddie View Post

i just got mine. what specs do you want? ...

Thanks for the feedback.

Quote:
available ram is 99gb out of 120.99gb

Ouch -- only 99 GB was available out of the box?

I have about 80 GB of data, so I'd have less than 20 GB of available space on a new MBP. I'm not sure if this would be wise for me, given the push toward digital downloads, etc.
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post #17 of 26
3/4/11 at 3:47am
Thread Starter 
Guys! I've just got my new MacBook Pro i7!! Finally! This the specs,


Intel i7 2.3GHz Quad Core + Hyper Threading 8MB Cache L3

SSD 512 GB

8GB DDR3-1333Mhz RAM



I've opened just 10 minutes ago, and regarding the drive, this is what System Profiler says:


Intel 6 Series Chipset:

VendortIntel
Productt6 Series Chipset
Link Speedt6 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speedt3 Gigabit
DescriptiontAHCI Version 1.30 Supported

APPLE SSD TS512C:

Capacityt500.28 GB (500,277,790,720 bytes)
ModeltAPPLE SSD TS512C
RevisiontCJAA0201
Serial Numbert
Native Command QueuingtNo
Removable MediatNo
Detachable DrivetNo
BSD Nametdisk0
Medium TypetSolid State
TRIM SupporttYes
Partition Map TypetGPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. statustVerified
Volumes:
Capacityt209.7 MB (209,715,200 bytes)
WritabletYes
BSD Nametdisk0s1
Macintosh HD:
Capacityt499.93 GB (499,933,818,880 bytes)
Availablet478.72 GB (478,718,423,040 bytes)
WritabletYes
File SystemtJournaled HFS+
BSD Nametdisk0s2
Mount Pointt/


More info and benchmarks to come!
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post #18 of 26
3/4/11 at 4:01am
Thread Starter 
Guys, as you can see, TRIM support is already in the latest Snow Leopard Build! We don't have to wait to Lion to get it!!!!




Quote:
Originally Posted by Cosimo View Post

Guys! I've just got my new MacBook Pro i7!! Finally!

I've opened just 10 minutes ago, and regarding the drive, this is what System Profiler says:


Intel 6 Series Chipset:

VendortIntel
Productt6 Series Chipset
Link Speedt6 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speedt3 Gigabit
DescriptiontAHCI Version 1.30 Supported

APPLE SSD TS512C:

Capacityt500.28 GB (500,277,790,720 bytes)
ModeltAPPLE SSD TS512C
RevisiontCJAA0201
Serial Numbert
Native Command QueuingtNo
Removable MediatNo
Detachable DrivetNo
BSD Nametdisk0
Medium TypetSolid State
TRIM SupporttYes
Partition Map TypetGPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. statustVerified
Volumes:
Capacityt209.7 MB (209,715,200 bytes)
WritabletYes
BSD Nametdisk0s1
Macintosh HD:
Capacityt499.93 GB (499,933,818,880 bytes)
Availablet478.72 GB (478,718,423,040 bytes)
WritabletYes
File SystemtJournaled HFS+
BSD Nametdisk0s2
Mount Pointt/


More info and benchmarks to come!
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post #19 of 26
3/4/11 at 4:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cosimo View Post

Guys, as you can see, TRIM support is already in the latest Snow Leopard Build! We don't have to wait to Lion to get it!!!!

Is it limited to the new hardware? Can someone isolate the system components and add it to a current 10.6.6 install on an older machine?
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post #20 of 26
3/4/11 at 4:56am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tonton View Post

Is it limited to the new hardware? Can someone isolate the system components and add it to a current 10.6.6 install on an older machine?

I guess that this is one of the changes that the latest 10.6.6 buld included with the new MacBook Pros, which is: 1QJ3210 is TRIM support systemwide. I'm sure that once 10.6.7 is released will be included for all other machines.
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post #21 of 26
3/4/11 at 7:07am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cosimo View Post

I guess that this is one of the changes that the latest 10.6.6 buld included with the new MacBook Pros, which is: 1QJ3210 is TRIM support systemwide. I'm sure that once 10.6.7 is released will be included for all other machines.

Here a pic

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post #22 of 26
3/4/11 at 7:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Me View Post

In the absence of mechanical failure, a HDD will last for ages...

Reminds me of that saying, "if your mother had balls she'd be your dad". That's precisely why HDDs fail. I guess its debatable whether the SSDs will fail before HDDs due to the finite number of read/writes that they can perform over their lifetime. But HDDs will eventually fail because of mechanical failure. Its only a matter of time. Most do survive the lifetime of an average pc but certainly not all.
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post #23 of 26
3/4/11 at 9:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by backtomac View Post

Reminds me of that saying, "if your mother had balls she'd be your dad". That's precisely why HDDs fail. I guess its debatable whether the SSDs will fail before HDDs due to the finite number of read/writes that they can perform over their lifetime. But HDDs will eventually fail because of mechanical failure. Its only a matter of time. Most do survive the lifetime of an average pc but certainly not all.

Just because you know how a part may fail does not mean that it will fail. I have had hard drives to fail. In fact, the first computer that I owned experienced a hard drive failure. However, I also have computers whose hard drives are going strong after nearly two decades. SSDs have not been around that long. It will be interesting to see how long we can reasonably expect them to last. It will also be interesting to see if data is as easy to recover from a failed SSD as it is from a failed HDD.
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post #24 of 26
3/7/11 at 7:14am
I was reading This months edition of PC Format and they had a round Up of SSDs

I was wondering how many of you have started using SSDs, and is the performance increase that significant,

I was thinking of getting an SSD drive and installing windows on it and using it as my primary drive and my 1TB WD as my data drive,

Is it worth the price for the speed increase or should i just stick with the 1 TB,
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post #25 of 26
3/7/11 at 7:19am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sotoordidly View Post

I was reading This months edition of PC Format and they had a round Up of SSDs

I was wondering how many of you have started using SSDs, and is the performance increase that significant,

I was thinking of getting an SSD drive and installing windows on it and using it as my primary drive and my 1TB WD as my data drive,

Is it worth the price for the speed increase or should i just stick with the 1 TB,



The performance boost is amazing. Also considering that usually, Notebooks HD are the slowest thing on earth. I had this SSD for over three days and I can say that I knew that it would be quicker... But this is just STUNNING! The Os's responsiveness, the process of opening tons of applications at once, absolutely EVERYTHING suffers an incredible boost... It is just amazing to realize that in modern computers what is really braking everything down are old, crappy noisy traditional HDD.

I will never go back...
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post #26 of 26
3/30/11 at 4:02am
I do not like how they are sticking SATA 3Gbps Drives in SATA 6Gbps capable machines. !!!!
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