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SSD for MacBook Pro (mid2010)

BlueDev

BlueDev

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 23, 2014
9
2
Hello guys,

I want to upgrade my old friend MacBook Pro 13inch (Mid2010 7,1) to SSD, but I'm not sure which one is the best choice for me. I have a chance to get some Patriot (Blaze or Blast) 240GB, Kingston and Transcend SSD for really low price, but I'm not sure which one should work the best. I've read on a lot of forums that older MBs with SATA2.0 interface may have some issues with SATA3.0 SSDs, so I need to choose SSD carefully.

Please give me some recommendations or your experience with listed or some other SSDs.
-Also, what is the cheapest enclosure/adapter to put my current HDD instead of SuperDrive? What is the difference between hard drive SATA interface and SuperDrive connector? What is the speed of both? Is it better to put SSD on SuperDrive's place or on it's regular place?

Thanks.
 
robeddie

robeddie

Suspended
Jul 21, 2003
1,777
1,731
Atlanta
The samsung 850 evos have always been my choice. Around $300 for a 1TB one now. The 1Tb crucials are even less expensive. I have installed several of each and they both work great
 
ZapNZs

ZapNZs

macrumors 68020
Jan 23, 2017
2,310
1,158
BlueDev said:
Hello guys,

I want to upgrade my old friend MacBook Pro 13inch (Mid2010 7,1) to SSD, but I'm not sure which one is the best choice for me. I have a chance to get some Patriot (Blaze or Blast) 240GB, Kingston and Transcend SSD for really low price, but I'm not sure which one should work the best. I've read on a lot of forums that older MBs with SATA2.0 interface may have some issues with SATA3.0 SSDs, so I need to choose SSD carefully.

Please give me some recommendations or your experience with listed or some other SSDs.
-Also, what is the cheapest enclosure/adapter to put my current HDD instead of SuperDrive? What is the difference between hard drive SATA interface and SuperDrive connector? What is the speed of both? Is it better to put SSD on SuperDrive's place or on it's regular place?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

The Transcend 370 is IMO the finest budget SSD you can find and it is a superior product IMO. It uses 2-bit MLC NAND (the flash inside that actually stores data via electronic impulses), where as many other SSDs in its price range use 3-bit MLC NAND (also called TLC NAND). 2-bit is often superior in speed, reliability, and sometimes error-correction capability. The Transcend also uses a brand name NAND supplier that is one of the best in the business. The drive is fast, reliable, and durable.

In theory, putting a SATA 3 SSD into a SATA 2 computer should simply result in the SSD running at the SATA 2 speeds via what is called "Negotiated Link Speed." However, as you have noted, some Users have had some problems. Someone with your friend's exact system is probably the best to comment on how well it works in that specific machine. I have installed SATA 3 SSDs in my SATA 2 iMacs and have not had any issues at all...BUT, that's just my experience with two machines.

The SSD should be installed in the main bay, in my opinion. You can find some decent bay adapters on Amazon. I would argue that the OWC Data Doubler is arguably one of the best in terms of value & quality.

The SuperDrive uses a SATA interface in addition to the hard drive. However, you will want to verify that the SATA revision for the SuperDrive bay is the same as the revision for the hard drive. You can do this by going to ABOUT MY COMPUTER---SYSTEM REPORT---SATA/SATA EXPRESS---and then checking to see what is listed under "Link Speed" (it should be '3 gigabit')

Finally, if the MBP is a 2010, the current HDD is old and its service life is likely coming to an end. Instead of using it as the secondary hard drive, a 500GB Western Digital Black can be purchased for $50, and it is both faster and more reliable than the OEM hard drive you have now.
 
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R

Resist

macrumors 68040
Jan 15, 2008
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I'm also trying to figure out which SSD to upgrade my Mid 2010 13" MacBook Pro with. I also have to replace the OEM battery, but there seem to be a lot of choices out there. And I'm kind of on the fence about upgrading my 8GB of RAM to 16GB.
 
R

Resist

macrumors 68040
Jan 15, 2008
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Can anyone provide me with the step by step process of copying all the data from my OEM HD to a new SSD. Someone in another thread mentioned using a Time Machine backup, but I don't know how exactly to do this.
 
robvas

robvas

macrumors 68040
Mar 29, 2009
3,240
630
USA
Resist said:
Can anyone provide me with the step by step process of copying all the data from my OEM HD to a new SSD. Someone in another thread mentioned using a Time Machine backup, but I don't know how exactly to do this.
Click to expand...
Download the free version of Carbon Copy Cloner
 
R

Resist

macrumors 68040
Jan 15, 2008
3,003
93
robvas said:
Download the free version of Carbon Copy Cloner
Click to expand...
And then what? I can't install the new SSD until it has everything copied or my MB won't start up. How do I copy everything to it? Do I need special cables or what?
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,463
16,160
California
Resist said:
Can anyone provide me with the step by step process of copying all the data from my OEM HD to a new SSD. Someone in another thread mentioned using a Time Machine backup, but I don't know how exactly to do this.
Click to expand...
Are you on Sierra on the TM backup?

If so, attach the drive then hold the option key when you boot. Select the TM drive as the boot drive and that will take you to a recovery screen. From there use Disk Util to erase the new drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Then quit Disk Util and click restore. That will move the OS and everything over to the new drive.
 
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Clete2

Clete2

macrumors 65816
Sep 20, 2008
1,080
30
USA
tubeexperience said:
Crucial MX300

Samsung's is overpriced.
Click to expand...

I second this. Your Mid 2010 MBP only has SATA II, so just about any SSD will max out the bandwidth. Both the SuperDrive and Hard Drive slots are SATA II. On the 2011, the Hard Drive slot was SATA III while the SuperDrive slot was still SATA II. That is not the case for your 2010.

Just buy a cheap drive, Crucial MX300 fits the bill. I have one and it works great as a Fusion Drive.
[doublepost=1498751271][/doublepost]
Resist said:
I'm also trying to figure out which SSD to upgrade my Mid 2010 13" MacBook Pro with. I also have to replace the OEM battery, but there seem to be a lot of choices out there. And I'm kind of on the fence about upgrading my 8GB of RAM to 16GB.
Click to expand...


2010 cannot support 16GB of RAM. It is the 2011 which has the unofficial capability to upgrade to 16GB.
 
R

Resist

macrumors 68040
Jan 15, 2008
3,003
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Clete2 said:
2010 cannot support 16GB of RAM. It is the 2011 which has the unofficial capability to upgrade to 16GB.
Click to expand...

You are incorrect. Many have discovered that the Mid 2010 MBP does support 16GB of RAM. In fact, even OWC says this and sells 16GB RAM for it.
[doublepost=1498753635][/doublepost]
Weaselboy said:
If so, attach the drive then hold the option key when you boot. Select the TM drive as the boot drive and that will take you to a recovery screen. From there use Disk Util to erase the new drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Then quit Disk Util and click restore. That will move the OS and everything over to the new drive.
Click to expand...

How can I get to the TM drive if it's all saved on the old HD? When I install the SSD where is it going to get the TM backup from?
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,463
16,160
California
Resist said:
How can I get to the TM drive if it's all saved on the old HD? When I install the SSD where is it going to get the TM backup from?
Click to expand...

If I understand you, you have a Time Machine backup on an external hard drive from before you swapped the drives yes? You can install the new SSD, the option key boot to the Time Machine backup as I described, then format and restore.
 
R

Resist

macrumors 68040
Jan 15, 2008
3,003
93
I just ordered everything I need from OWC Macsales.com, their 480GB SSD, 16GB of RAM and a NuPower 65 watt hour battery. They have all the repair videos on the site. Not sure how much more life I'll get out of my Mid 2010 MBP but hoping for at least a year maybe two before Apple stops OS upgrades for it. I like this laptop and felt it was worth upgrading components over buying a new computer. Thanks for all your help!
 
praterkeith

praterkeith

macrumors 6502
Oct 30, 2005
417
111
Montgomery, AL
Resist said:
I just ordered everything I need from OWC Macsales.com, their 480GB SSD, 16GB of RAM and a NuPower 65 watt hour battery. They have all the repair videos on the site. Not sure how much more life I'll get out of my Mid 2010 MBP but hoping for at least a year maybe two before Apple stops OS upgrades for it. I like this laptop and felt it was worth upgrading components over buying a new computer. Thanks for all your help!
Click to expand...

After you've gotten a chance to get everything installed and running give us an update on it's performance.
 
R

Resist

macrumors 68040
Jan 15, 2008
3,003
93
Just finished installing everything. I got the enclosure kit with the SSD and turns out I really didn't need it, the Time Machine backup to the installed new SSD was easy. Oh well, it was only $1 more with the kit due to an OWC sale. Guess I could probably use it with my old HD as an alternate backup drive. There were no issues recognizing the 16GB of RAM. The battery install was straight forward and easy. The only hard part was waiting on the data transfer to the SSD, took around 4 hours.

My Mid 2010 MacBook Pro feels quicker for sure, well worth the $435 total. Siri used to be very slow, but now she's fast! It's nice to have a faster HD with more storage space, my old drive was almost full with years of data.

And I have to thank OWC, they we're extremely helpful with any questions I had and their prices are very competitive.
 
Last edited:
R

Resist

macrumors 68040
Jan 15, 2008
3,003
93
Have some issues. All of a sudden all my desktop icons are gone and everything in my Documents folder is gone, WTH?

And I can't figure out how to restore it all back from Time Machine.
 
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