At KitGuru we spend a lot of time testing the latest and greatest components on the market for PC enthusiasts across the globe. But today we have set aside some time for Mac users, namely those who want to make the most out of their machine. Anyone who has looked into buying a new Macbook recently will know that Apple demand hundreds of pounds to install a solid state drive into your system, making it a less than desirable option. But if you perform the upgrade yourself, you can save a significant amount of money.
Kingston have kindly supplied us with one of their SSDNow V+ 64GB solid state drives for this article which provides a good balance between price and performance. We would say that 64GB is the minimum size you should consider when upgrading a laptop as anything smaller will likely prove too small in the long run. Before you start the upgrade, you must make sure you have the required tools as listed below.
Tools Required for Upgrade:
- Phillips #00 Screwdriver
- T6 Torx Screwdriver
Kingston SSDNow V+ 64GB
Features
- Innovative — uses MLC NAND flash memory components.
- Silent — runs silent and cool with no moving mechanical parts
- Shock-Proof — no moving mechanical parts so the SSD handles rougher conditions
- Supports S.M.A.R.T functions
- Guaranteed — three-year warranty, live 24/7 tech support
Specifications
- Form factor — 2.5″
- Interface — SATA 1.5Gb/s and 3.0Gb/s
- Capacities1 — 64 GB, 96 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB
- Dimensions — 69.85 x 100 x 9.5 mm
- Weight — 128 – 151 grams
- Storage temperatures — -40 ~ 85°C
- Operating temperatures — 0 ~ 70°C
- Vibration operating — 2.7G
- Vibration non-operating — 20G
- Sequential Read Throughput 2 — 230 MB/s
- Sequential Write Throughput 2 — 180 MB/s
- Power specs — Active – 3.4W (TYP), Idle – 0.05W
- MTBF — 1,000,000 Hrs
Nice idea, should help a lot of people who dont want to pay Apple £500 for a £100 drive 🙂
I always wondered how they got away with their SSD pricing. Lately it has dropped a little to be fair to them.
64gb is too small tbh. 96gb is a better idea.
Forgot upgrading your cheap made in taiwan apple computer; its made from scrap and discarded parts aniway and priced sky high by cancer better dead liar steve jobs.
Adding a US$200 SSD to your mac book would improve its price from US$50 to about US$200.
Anyway American assholes you would be better now now that Steve assJobs liar the menace is dead. Your fucking country would perhaps slowly come to its foot because you are one liar down. You have to contend with Negrobama for now.
I have installed my Kingston ssd, but now cannot get either my copy of snow leopard or mountain lion to install on it. Help?
Insert the old drive. put the new SSD into a USB enclosure. use carbon copy cloner to copy the internal drive to the SSD in the enclosure. Remove the old drive, replace with the new SSD.
No install needed.