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Hello All,
I have a mid 2010 MBP that I have become rather attached to, so rather than replace I am thinking about treating it to an upgrade to help speed it up a bit. I have already upgraded RAM to 8gb max.
So I am thinking of fitting a Data Doubler caddy in the optical drive (I don't need internal optical drive) and fitting an SSD. Most people seem to fit the SSD where the hard drive was and move the HDD to the caddy. Why is this? Can I not just put the SSD in to the caddy and leave the HDD alone?
Second question. If if i go ahead and put the SSD in the caddy and make a clone of my HDD and out on it will I need to reregister all of the software? I am thinking particularly about CS5 and M/S Office for Mac?
Any advice from techie types would be very much appreciated.
Ian
I did it with my old 13mbp (still have the caddy somewhere) but kept the original hd where it was and used the SSD as storage and a scratch disk for photoshop. I can't see the point in moving them? Just clone data across and once you have booted from ssd and have everything running ok wipe the old hd and use as storage.
i cloned my drive using super duper from mechanical to ssd on my mbp. I didnt have any problems with the software and just booted up on the new drive. I kept the old drive as a backup. I didnt have cs or office but you have the old drive if you have any problems.
Depending on the vintage of MBP you'll have a slower SATA interface to the optical drive.
Also, removing the optical drive and putting the optibay in is by far the fiddliest bit of the operation, swapping the HDD is dead easy.
If you're worried about swapping the HDD then maybe this isn't the upgrade for you...
Actually, you might be ok on a 2010 as you've only got 3Gbps sata on both I think:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2800891
So it'd make no difference. Check though, modern SSDs can saturate 6Gbps SATA if you have a decent one, let alone 3Gbps.
Thank you for you help all.
IA, the SSD I have purchased is a 6Gbps one. Am I right in thinking that which ever drive space I put it in it will limit the speed to 3gbps due to the age of my MBP?
Am I right in thinking that which ever drive space I put it in it will limit the speed to 3gbps due to the age of my MBP?
Don't know but I have a mid 2010 MBP and since putting the fastest SSD I could find, it is blisteringly fast, way quicker than our brand new 2015 iMac.
Ok, thank you. I will give it a go tonight.
Ian
Actually, Footflaps, did you do the install yourself? Was it relatively easy?
Ian
IA, the SSD I have purchased is a 6Gbps one. Am I right in thinking that which ever drive space I put it in it will limit the speed to 3gbps due to the age of my MBP?
Yes, but I wouldn't worry about it - the near 0 seek time is what will help, saturating even 3Gbps will take some serious IO. So you'll still see a significant difference in use.
That's great, thanks everyone for being so helpful.
Ian
Actually, Footflaps, did you do the install yourself? Was it relatively easy?
Very easy. Plugged new SSD into laptop USB port. Used Carbon Copy to clone HD.
Shutdown MBP, undid screws, swapped HD over for SSD (about 3 screws and one connector)
Put lid back on, and all done...
I swapped out the hard drive a year or so ago on a much older MacBook. Because it had failed and I did have a backup, reinstalling the software was a pain but the hardware was a breeze. It's now got a faster boot up time than my iPad!
now got a faster boot up time th
Who's actually booting up macbooks or ipads? Crazy people that's who.
Sleep them!
...people who do software updates, or are curious about the impact of a major upgrade to their machines.
Who's actually booting up macbooks or ipads?
Once you have an SSD, there's no real difference so you may as well shut it down to save power.
, there's no real difference
Eh? Quite a difference IME (using machines with SSDs for years). One I open the lid and I'm good to go, the other I open the lid, wait, logon, wait for apps to start (or start them manually) then I'm off...
people who do software updates
Updates that need a reboot are pretty infrequent, especially as a %age of the number of times I grab my computer to do something.
I guess if I used my machine less frequently I might shut it down, but the sleeping power draw is very minimal. Also on a modern* mac, it'll do updates, backups etc. whilst "asleep" so you waste less time when you want to be using it.
*2012 onward IIRC, tho depends on the model, Airs got it earlier than Pros.