The best Thunderbolt 3 SSD and hard drives for your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, or iMac. The Plugable Thunderbolt 3 NVMe External SSD is a solid state drive that offers one terabyte. SanDisk 2TB Extreme Portable External SSD. Enjoy seamless transfers with this USB C SSD that gives up to 550MB/s read speeds. This external SSD for Mac is rugged and resistant to both water and dust with an IP55 rating. Along with being compact and pocket-sized, it's also durable and shock-proof. The Mac Pro is designed to have its hard drive replaced easily, while an iMac requires you to remove the entire screen. If you're not sure you have the technical chops to do it right, you should consider asking a more qualified friend to help, or even going to the professionals.
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. The king of fighters 10th anniversary 2005 unique free for pc. 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.
Sims freeplay mac. 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.
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.
Mac Ssd Vs Hdd
Upgrading Mac Mini or MacBook Pro to SSD Drive can significantly boost its performance. You will find below the steps to upgrade Mac to SSD Drive and transfer Data to New SSD Drive on Mac.
Upgrade Mac to New SSD Drive
The main concern when it comes to upgrading Mac to SSD drive is the possibility of data being lost and how to safely transfer data to New SSD Drive on Mac.
Luckily, macOS software provides multiple data transfer methods and you can choose from Time Machine, Migration Assistant or the Cloning method to safely transfer data to new SSD Drive.
Perhaps the easiest way to transfer Data from Mac to New SSD Drive is to use Time Machine, unless you have an older Mac running macOS High Sierra or MacOS Mojave.
In which case, the external hard drive gets formatted as extended journal and cannot be used for Time Machine Backups (you will need to use the cloning method on older Macs).
1. Make Time Machine Backup to External Hard Drive
The first step is to back up all the data and programs on your computer to an external Hard Drive using Time Machine Backup.
1. Connect External Hard Drive to the USB Port of your Mac.
2. Click on the Apple Logo and click on System Preferences in the drop-down menu.
3. On the System Preferences screen, click on Time Machine.
4. On the next screen, check Show Time Machine in menu bar option and click on Select Backup Disk… button.
5. On the next screen, select your Backup Disk and click on Use Disk button.
6.. If the selected disk is not formatted, you will be prompted to erase the disk first. Click on Erase to proceed.
7. After the disk is formatted, click on Backup Now to start the process of Time Machine Backup.
If you are making a Time Machine Backup for the first time, it may take multiple hours to complete the Backup process.
2. Replace Existing Hard Drive on Mac with SSD Drive
Now that you have a Time Machine Backup on a separate external drive, you can safely remove the current Hard Disk on your Mac and replace it with a New SSD Drive. Steam catalina mac.
To upgrade Mac Mini to SSD, you will need a New SSD Drive, TR6 and T8 Screw drivers, Logic Board Removal Tools and Spudger. Mushroom wars vk.
To upgrade MacBook Pro to SSD, you will be needing a New SSD Drive, P5 Pentalobe Screwdriver, T5 Torx Screwdriver and Spudger.
The steps to replace 2014 Mac Mini Hard Drive with SSD can be found in this ifixit guide and you should also watch this video on YouTube.
To replace 2015 MacBook Pro Hard Drive with SSD, you can refer to this ifixit guide and you should also watch YouTube videos applicable for your model of MacBook.
3. Format New SSD Drive Using Disk Utility
If you have replaced the Hard Drive on Mac with a New SSD Drive, you need to format the disk to APFS format.
1. Turn on the Mac and immediately press and hold Command + R keys on the keyboard of your computer.
2. Release both the keys when you see your Mac starting with white Apple Logo. This should make your Mac go to macOS Utilities startup screen.
3. On macOS Utilities screen, select Disk Utility option and click on Continue.
4. On the next screen, type a Name for your SSD Drive and click on Apply to start the format process.
5. When the SSD Drive is formatted, close the screen and this should take you back to macOS utilities startup screen.
4. Transfer Data From Old HDD to New SSD Drive on Mac
The final step is to transfer Data from Old SSD Drive to New SSD Drive on your Mac. You can skip steps 2, 3 below, if you are already on macOS utilities screen.
1. Connect External Hard Drive containing Time Machine Backup to the USB Port of your Mac.
Qual2k user manual. 2. Turn on the Mac and immediately press and hold Command + R keys on the keyboard of your computer.
3. Release both the keys when you see your Mac starting with white Apple Logo. This should make your Mac go to macOS utilities startup screen.
4. On macOS utilities screen, select Restore From Time Machine Backup option and click on Continue.
5. On the confirmation screen, click on Continue to confirm.
6. On the next screen, select your Time Machine Backup Disk as the restore source and click on Continue.
Mac With Ssd And Hdd
7. Select the New SSD Drive on your Mac as the destination source and click on Restore.
8. Patiently wait for the Restore Process to be competed.
Once Time Machine Restore is completed, restart Mac and see if all your data is intact.
5. Desktop & Apps Missing After Time Machine Restore
In our testing, Desktop Files and Program Files were missing on Mac after Time Machine Restore.
If this happens, you can always Enter Time Machine > copy desktop files from Time Machine Backup and paste them on your new desktop.
Similarly, you can copy Program Files from Time Machine Backup and paste them in Programs Folder on your Mac.
