Upgrading MacBook Air to SSD

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Dec 3, 2009 | 02:10 PM

Ara

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Upgrading MacBook Air to SSD

I have an original Macbook Air that came with an 80gb hd and i'm thinking about upgrading to a 256gb SSD. Any What brands do you guys recommend? I assume I can just install a new one, install Snow Leopard and restore the machine from a Time Machine back-up. Anything else to consider? I assume I will lose my Apple Care if I do this? Thanks.

Dec 3, 2009 | 02:24 PM

Josh

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That machine requires a special low profile 1.8" drive (not all 1.8s will work in it). Standard laptop drives are 2.5". You can forget about finding 256 GB in that size. I think 120GB is the largest.

Dec 3, 2009 | 02:53 PM

SoCal

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SoCal is an unknown quantity at this point

Yeah, your best bet would be to sell that Air and get a new 13" Pro. You would still have a warranty, and the laptop is nearly as small as the Air. I just priced it online and their base model was just over $2k with the 256GB SSD. Good luck bro. I am sure Simba can give you much better advice than any of us.

Dec 3, 2009 | 02:57 PM

Simba

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The Air does indeed need a 1.8" drive. However, there are more than a few of them on the market already, with a 320GB coming from Toshiba pretty soon.

There are a few 256G, and several 128G offerings available currently.

Dec 3, 2009 | 02:58 PM

SoCal

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^As promised.

Dec 3, 2009 | 03:02 PM

Ara

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Thanks for the info guys. Can you direct me to a 256 Simba? Given that mine is one of the earlier models, does that mean mine is not SATA and is the other type of connector?

Dec 3, 2009 | 04:30 PM

stuka

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Simba

What are some good SSD's in this size?

And aren't they still like 5, 6 hundred bucks?

Dec 3, 2009 | 05:13 PM

Ara

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I guess it doesn't really have to be an SSD, i'm really just looking for more storage space since i've used up most of the 80gb already. Swapping to SSD would just be bonus. I was thinking about picking up a netbook to run windows but figured I can just switch to a bigger HD in the Air and install Windows on a boot camp partition.