MacBook Pro HDD & SSD combo

[juniorbattle15]

Hello everyone!!

I have a Macbook Pro Mid 2013 with 750gb HDD and a CD drive. I wanted my make my computer faster so I was thinking about switching out my CD drive with a SSD. Had a question on this mini project.

1. Is there a way to run both HDD and SDD at the same time?

I want to run the applications on my SSD (so that way everything opens up faster) but wanted all my downloaded files (movies, docs, pics, est.) on my HDD. Im a college student so I cant spend that much money on a SDD or else I would buy a 1 TB SSD. My plan was to have applications such as Microsoft word being runned on SSD and once im done with that file, I would like to save it on my HDD. That way I dont use up a lot of space on my SSD.

If anyone has tried this before, please let me know how you did this setup.

 

[jerryk]

I assume this is a classic MBP Pro 13 the 2012 model (non-retina), bought in 2013 If so, it should work just fine.

• Get a Disk Doubler or similar adapters that lets you put a disk where the CD drive was. $30 or so.
• Install either the SSD or hard drive into the doubler
• Stick SSD into remaining disk slot.
• Install OS on SSD
• Boot and enjoy your speedy new system.

My bias would be to install the SSD where the current hard drive is and put the old drive in the old CD slot, but it will work either way since both your connectors are 6GB sata.

 

[treekram]

As mentioned by the previous poster, you must have the mid-2012 MBP (or earlier). I have the mid-2012 MBP and an OWC Data Doubler, although I have SSD's in both slots. My comments would be:

- There are cheaper alternatives to the OWC Data Doubler. Some can be hit-or-miss. If you're patient and willing to put up with that, you can try to find a cheaper alternative (I see that it's currently $24). The bracket has a connector with some electronics and that's where some of the cheaper alternatives can fail.

- It will be less work to put the SSD in the new bracket and leave the HDD where it is. The HDD cable on these models have had issues (if you take it to an Apple Store, you can likely get it replaced for free if there are problems), some can work with the HDD but not an SSD but you won't face these issues (for now, at least) if your HDD is working now and you don't touch it.

- For small (say, 5MB or less) files, you probably won't notice the speed difference between storing to a HDD or a SSD. So you really can save it to the HDD and not have to go through the steps of saving to the SSD and then moving to the HDD.

Make sure you have adequate backup, before and after you add the SSD.

UPDATE: You should make sure you have the mid-2012 MBP. There are some differences between it and earlier models that could affect where you place the SSD and HDD. Press the Apple icon at the top left, and select "About this Mac".

 

[BigRed1]

As mentioned by the previous poster, you must have the mid-2012 MBP (or earlier). I have the mid-2012 MBP and an OWC Data Doubler, although I have SSD's in both slots. My comments would be:

- There are cheaper alternatives to the OWC Data Doubler. Some can be hit-or-miss. If you're patient and willing to put up with that, you can try to find a cheaper alternative (I see that it's currently $24). The bracket has a connector with some electronics and that's where some of the cheaper alternatives can fail.

- It will be less work to put the SSD in the new bracket and leave the HDD where it is. The HDD cable on these models have had issues (if you take it to an Apple Store, you can likely get it replaced for free if there are problems), some can work with the HDD but not an SSD but you won't face these issues (for now, at least) if your HDD is working now and you don't touch it.

- For small (say, 5MB or less) files, you probably won't notice the speed difference between storing to a HDD or a SSD. So you really can save it to the HDD and not have to go through the steps of saving to the SSD and then moving to the HDD.

Make sure you have adequate backup, before and after you add the SSD.

UPDATE: You should make sure you have the mid-2012 MBP. There are some differences between it and earlier models that could affect where you place the SSD and HDD. Press the Apple icon at the top left, and select "About this Mac".

I bought a caddy for about $5 on eBay. I have a ssd in the regular spot and a 1tb hdd in the optical bay. When installing the caddy, be VERY careful with the screws holding the superdrive in. They are the softest screws I have ever experienced and I stripped one, even when trying really hard not to. I ended up having to drill off the screw head in the end.