Can Macbook air HDD be swapped to a SSD

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Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I have the possibility to purchase a Macbook Air 1.8 80GB HDD, awaiting a 128GB SSD to be released down the road. Can I have these drives swapped in the future??



I hope someone can help I have to make this decision soon!!



Groper

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    The answer would be yes. Assuming you want to rip apart the MBA to replace the HD you can get a SSD Drive in a 1.8" SATA Form Factor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...53&name=1.8%22) and put it in the MBA. You can put a SSD in a MacBook/MacBook Pro also by just getting a SATA 1.8" Form Factor. SSD's are nothing new they are just now starting to become 'cheap' enough for people to consider/afford them assuming they have the need for it.
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  • Reply 2 of 7
    First, the hard drive in the MBA is not SATA, it is PATA. Second, Apple uses a special ZIF connector (to save even more space), you'll have to find a drive compatible with it.
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  • Reply 3 of 7
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by FuturePastNow View Post


    First, the hard drive in the MBA is not SATA, it is PATA. Second, Apple uses a special ZIF connector (to save even more space), you'll have to find a drive compatible with it.



    Correct you are but if you look at my link you can get a 1.8" PATA SSD. PATA = IDE
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  • Reply 4 of 7
    Yep. But be carefull if u don't know what your doing...
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  • Reply 5 of 7
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by O4BlackWRX View Post


    Correct you are but if you look at my link you can get a 1.8" PATA SSD. PATA = IDE



    Yes, but it's a non-standard (or rather an uncommon standard) connector. Clicky
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  • Reply 6 of 7
    I was looking to upgrade my Revision A Macbook Air from the default Samsung HDD to a bigger SSD. Reading through forums including this one, I was pointed to a product from KingSpec.



    To make things short: I bought such a SSD on Ebay from a Chinese seller, it arrived 8 days later, I installed it and it works perfectly.



    Now the long version wit details how to do it.

    1. Purchase the product.

    Search in Google for the words between the brackets

    [1.8" PATA/ZIF 128GB SSD macbook air 1st]



    You will find a listings from a Chinese Ebay power 'seller ventures_cn1'

    (that is the guy that I bought from)

    Here is the link to his information:

    http://myworld.ebay.com.au/ventures_cn1/



    Look for the KingSpec 128GB SSD ZIP PATA and click on the link. His offering has

    good technical information, liks to Videos and photos at the end of that page.

    Important is the photo that shows how to install the SSD into your MacBook

    (Product label must be facing up!)



    I was first sceptical buing from China, but this seller has very good ratings. So I

    purchased with 'immediate buy' and paid via PayPal.



    8 days later it arrived at my door, which is in Switzerland.

    Shipment was done via EMS and I was able to track the shipment on their web page.



    I was very happy with this seller, very professional.



    2. Make a bootable HDD backup of your MacBook Air to an external USB disk.

    I did it with the product SuperDuper! from Shirt-Pocket Software.

    You can boot from such a backup disk. See following website that describes how to backup and restore your HDD

    http://www.macinstruct.com/node/130



    To be continued
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  • Reply 7 of 7
    Upgraded with many units already, I buy from 3V Distribution in Singapore.
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