SSD upgrade MacBook Pro 15' mid 2012 NON- retina

[insonias]

Hi everyone!

I want to replace my SSD that I bought from origin to a new one because the space is an issue (I only have 128gb LOL). What do you think about replacing it for a Samsung EVO 860 sata III? It it a good choice?

Thanks in advance

 

[keysofanxiety]

I have the same laptop. Practically any SATA SSD will work fine. Your choice is perfect.

 

[insonias]

I have the same laptop. Practically any SATA SSD will work fine. Your choice is perfect.

Yeah but not all the SSD are the same as you know! There could be a better one for the same price.

 

[Fishrrman]

I'd suggest either a Crucial or a Sandisk drive.
I've had good luck with both.

I suggest that you buy an adapter like this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011M8YACM/ref=nosim/macintouchcom-20?&tag=macintouchcom-20

You can use it to "prep and test" the new SSD BEFORE you open up the MBP.
Once you have it all set up, THEN open the back and do the drive swap.
This saves you from problems if you put a new (NOT setup) drive in, and then run into problems.

 

[insonias]

I'd suggest either a Crucial or a Sandisk drive.
I've had good luck with both.

I suggest that you buy an adapter like this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011M8YACM/ref=nosim/macintouchcom-20?&tag=macintouchcom-20

You can use it to "prep and test" the new SSD BEFORE you open up the MBP.
Once you have it all set up, THEN open the back and do the drive swap.
This saves you from problems if you put a new (NOT setup) drive in, and then run into problems.

Since I already have a SSD (the one that I'm going to replace) I'll buy a case to still use it as an external drive.

 

[Stephen.R]

Yeah but not all the SSD are the same as you know! There could be a better one for the same price.

In a 2012 model the chances you’d notice any speed difference is minimal.

Don’t forget you can also get an adapter to put another sata drive in the optical bay (it’s considerably more work though), however you may not get fantastic speed on it - in the 2011 models the optical bay sata port was only 3Gbps (the main drive port is 6Gbps).

 

[insonias]

In a 2012 model the chances you’d notice any speed difference is minimal.

Don’t forget you can also get an adapter to put another sata drive in the optical bay (it’s considerably more work though), however you may not get fantastic speed on it - in the 2011 models the optical bay sata port was only 3Gbps (the main drive port is 6Gbps).

I think that my sata port is also 6Gbps since that consulting the specs I find that the link speed is 6Gbps but the negotiable link speed is 1.5Gbps. Can you confirm if it is indeed a sata 3 port?

 

[Stephen.R]

I think that my sata port is also 6Gbps since that consulting the specs I find that the link speed is 6Gbps but the negotiable link speed is 1.5Gbps. Can you confirm if it is indeed a sata 3 port?

So I’m not 100% sure on the 2012s (ifixit should have info) but in the 2011s the factory ssd was the bottleneck (ie a sata 3Gbps drive on a 6Gbps port), so you got an instant boost just getting a drive that could fully utilise the port speed.

On the optical drive it’ll say it’s negotiated lower because the drive itself only supports sata 1 because it has no reason to need a faster port - the bottleneck is the optical media.
[doublepost=1556394982][/doublepost]At the very least the optical should be 3Gbps, but it may be 6 too.

 

[treekram]

I think that my sata port is also 6Gbps since that consulting the specs I find that the link speed is 6Gbps but the negotiable link speed is 1.5Gbps. Can you confirm if it is indeed a sata 3 port?

The optical bay may show 1.5Gbps if the optical drive is still there because the device probably couldn't pump out data any faster anyway.

On my mid-2012 13" non-Retina, the optical port does 6Gbps and it has done so reliably (at least I haven't noticed any difference) since I got it in 2015 (they produced the 13" mid-2012's until early 2016). I just checked again and both ports (Evo 850's on both) have a negotiated speed of 6Gbps. OWC originally said the 2012's optical got 6Gbps (2011's mostly didn't) but then added a warning later. I don't recall anybody saying they couldn't get 6Gbps on the optical port on this forum.

My opinion is that changing the drive in the optical port was easier than changing the HDD. YMMV.

There are problems with the HDD cable on this model. It may work with a HDD but not with a SSD. You should replace the cable at the same time. The bracket that is used to fit a 2.5" disk into the optical port has electronics. If you go this route, you can buy a more expensive one like the OWC Data Doubler or buy a cheaper one from a place that has a good return policy - it seems that with the cheaper ones, if you get one that works (chances are good that it will) - it will work consistently after that.

 

[mikzn]

I also have the exact same MBP (mid 2012 i7) - put a 500g samsung evo 850 in it a few years ago and it runs like a top.

the 860's are a great deal and less than half the price i paid for the 850

If i was doing it over I would get the evo 860 1TB rather than the 500g and move my media storage (Music and Photos) back on the internal drive

 

[insonias]

My opinion is that changing the drive in the optical port was easier than changing the HDD. YMMV.

As I said in the beginning, I already have a SSD (original one) that came with the computer when I bought it. I thought about replacing the optical drive for a second SSD but since I'm not feeling confident in doing it myself, I'll just replace the existing SSD. I sent an email to 2 official shops in Portugal (we don't have apple stores) asking how much would they charge me to do the job and the price was almost diabolic and the SSDs were overpriced (double the amount).

the 860's are a great deal and less than half the price i paid for the 850

That's something that I can't understand ... the most recent model can be cheaper than the previous one. It doesn't make sense, I guess. I'll go for a 500gb one (it's enough for me; i have an external drive for backups and storage).

 

[DookSucks]

In a 2012 model the chances you’d notice any speed difference is minimal.

Not true. I upgraded my mid 2012 non-retina from HDD to SSD, and I experienced noticeable differences. It was faster than ever.

 

[Stephen.R]

Not true. I upgraded my mid 2012 non-retina from HDD to SSD, and I experienced noticeable differences. It was faster than ever.

I was specifically replying to a question about which brand/model ssd to get, not whether to get an ssd at all.

 

[DookSucks]

I was specifically replying to a question about which brand/model ssd to get, not whether to get an ssd at all.

Apologies

 

[smirking]

That's something that I can't understand ... the most recent model can be cheaper than the previous one. It doesn't make sense, I guess. I'll go for a 500gb one (it's enough for me; i have an external drive for backups and storage).

Yeah, that baffles me too.

Anyway, I have a 2012 Unibody with a 1TB 850 EVO in it as a secondary laptop for me. Works wonderfully!