New MBA - Can you upgrade the SSD at a later date?

[Zigrivers]

Hi guys,

I'm considering getting my wife the new MBA for Christmas this year. I'm going to get her the 13", but I was considering going with the 128GB version to save some money.

My question is would I be able to upgrade the drive to a larger size down the road? I know Apple overcharges for stuff like this and I'm comfortable doing these types of upgrades myself if it is possible.

Thanks for your help/advice!

 

[Hellhammer]

Yes, but currently the SSDs that MBA uses are not available at anywhere else. Sooner than later they will arrive to eBay at least

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Air-11-Inch-Model-A1370-Teardown/3745/1

 

[pandamonia]

next year SSD are going to half in price for the same capacity when intel starts making the new chips which have double capacity and double speed

 

[Hellhammer]

double speed

False.

Write speed will get the biggest upgrade but read will stay pretty much the same with a small increase in random read performance. SandForce based SSDs are still much faster than Intels but the issue is that SATA 3Gb/s is starting to be too slow

 

[pandamonia]

False.

Write speed will get the biggest upgrade but read will stay pretty much the same with a small increase in random read performance. SandForce based SSDs are still much faster than Intels but the issue is that SATA 3Gb/s is starting to be too slow

the next SSD ARE TWICE AS FAST.

There are some Sandforce prototypes looking at 400-500 MBPS for a single drive for read and write and even random is going to see huge increases

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3971/...oller-sf2000-capable-of-500mbs-and-60k-iops/3

 

[Hellhammer]

the next SSD ARE TWICE AS FAST.

There are some Sandforce prototypes looking at 400-500 MBPS for a single drive for read and write and even random is going to see huge increases

You were talking about Intel SSDs. As I said, it doesn't matter as long as we have SATA 3Gb/s in Macs. It tops out at 285MB/s and current SF SSDs can already deliver that.

 

[pandamonia]

You were talking about Intel SSDs. As I said, it doesn't matter as long as we have SATA 3Gb/s in Macs. It tops out at 285MB/s and current SF SSDs can already deliver that.

No i was talking about intel chips not intel SSD.

Intel has a fabrication that produces NAND chips that will be used in next gen Sandforce SSD's

Its double capacity and near enough double performance with the new Sandforce controller.

Also Sata 6gb will see adoption soon enough but sadly for Apple consumers your going to be running at 3GB/s for a long time since Apple are to slow on the take up

 

[Hellhammer]

Also Sata 6gb will see adoption soon enough but sadly for Apple consumers your going to be running at 3GB/s for a long time since Apple are to slow on the take up

How do you know what Apple is going to do? It still doesn't matter to the OP because the MBA he's going to buy has SATA 3Gb/s. Current SSDs are more than fine for an average user. In basic usage you won't notice the difference between 50k and 60k IOPS.

 

[pandamonia]

How do you know what Apple is going to do? It still doesn't matter to the OP because the MBA he's going to buy has SATA 3Gb/s. Current SSDs are more than fine for an average user. In basic usage you won't notice the difference between 50k and 60k IOPS.

I was more referring to the double capacity which is the most important since the latest SSD are very quick anyway.

the double capacity will hit the current value of the MBA more than anything else

 

[skeen]

Do Apple offer this?

 

[Hellhammer]

I was more referring to the double capacity which is the most important since the latest SSD are very quick anyway.

the double capacity will hit the current value of the MBA more than anything else

Macs hold their value pretty well though. Sure it will take some hit as in few years 128GB is what we'll have in thumb drives but the good thing is that the SSD is easily upgradeable and in fact the only component that can be upgraded. You can throw in a 512GB SSD in couple years. That's one reason why I was able to justify getting a MBA instead of MBP as I can still get more storage if needed (I doubt I'll need that but just thinking about the future).

All in all, I wouldn't think about the resale value that much when buying a computer. You aren't buying it so you can sell it, are you?

Do Apple offer this?

We don't know yet but since the SSD can be upgraded, it's possible that Apple will. At least 3rd parties will

 

[pandamonia]

Macs hold their value pretty well though. Sure it will take some hit as in few years 128GB is what we'll have in thumb drives but the good thing is that the SSD is easily upgradeable and in fact the only component that can be upgraded. You can throw in a 512GB SSD in couple years. That's one reason why I was able to justify getting a MBA instead of MBP as I can still get more storage if needed (I doubt I'll need that but just thinking about the future).

All in all, I wouldn't think about the resale value that much when buying a computer. You aren't buying it so you can sell it, are you?



We don't know yet but since the SSD can be upgraded, it's possible that Apple will. At least 3rd parties will

i always used my old gear to fund my new gear and upgrade every 18 months or so so its quite important to me really.

i find you lose the most when you keep stuff for too long and have to stump up an unfunded purchase with nothing of value to sell.

thats why id go for base model MBA until the new one hits with Sandybridge and double capacity SSD in 2011 maybe