help finding SSD drive for macbook Pro

Joined
May 2, 2005
Messages
173
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Hello,
I'd like to upgrade my current hard drive in my Macbook Pro 2.53 GHZ 13" to a SSD. It seems that this will be the best option to upgrade without having to spend another $2000 on a new laptop. I think this may be the best speed upgrade option? I use it for heavy photo editing on photoshop and lightroom with 60MB Tiff photo files.
Can someone recommend a good brand/drive....a link would be amazing. I was thinking of a 320GB or 500GB size capacity depending on the price.

Also, it looks like I Have 4 GB memory cards in 2 slots...I think that this is the max memory for this model?

Thanks for the help...
Micah
 

CrimsonRequiem


Retired Staff
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
6,003
Reaction score
125
Points
63
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 2.3 Ghz 4GB RAM 860 GB SSD, iMac 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 32GB RAM, Fusion Drive 1TB
Hello,
I'd like to upgrade my current hard drive in my Macbook Pro 2.53 GHZ 13" to a SSD. It seems that this will be the best option to upgrade without having to spend another $2000 on a new laptop. I think this may be the best speed upgrade option? I use it for heavy photo editing on photoshop and lightroom with 60MB Tiff photo files.
Can someone recommend a good brand/drive....a link would be amazing. I was thinking of a 320GB or 500GB size capacity depending on the price.

Also, it looks like I Have 4 GB memory cards in 2 slots...I think that this is the max memory for this model?

Thanks for the help...
Micah

I have two SSDs in my MBP. Linky. Took out the Superdrive since I hardly ever use it.
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
25,564
Reaction score
486
Points
83
Location
Blue Mountains NSW Australia
Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
Have used OWC, Kingston, G.Skill Falcons, OCZ SSD's and recommend OWC above all of them.
 

cwa107


Retired Staff
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
27,042
Reaction score
812
Points
113
Location
Lake Mary, Florida
Your Mac's Specs
14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
I have a Crucial M4 256GB. It's been used heavily since December of 2011 and still works as good as new - the only difference between then and now is that I paid $370 for it, now it's less than $200.

I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a combination of great speeds, cost-effectiveness and rock solid stability.
 
OP
W
Joined
May 2, 2005
Messages
173
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Hello and thanks for all of the advice. It looks like that OWC is a pretty great deal at around $500 for the 480GB drive.

As mentioned, I have the macbook pro 13" 2.5 GHZ, which is like 4 years old or more I think. I saw there were two drives, the 3G and the 6G. Are they both compatible with my comp? I think I might have heard that the top speeds available on the 6G would not be usable with my older laptop. I want to get the fastest one I can, but I don't want to spend the extra money if the extra speed will be wasted on my processor. Not quite sure how this works, but any advice would be helpful.

Do you think that by putting a SSD drive into my 4 years old computer (and paying $500) that it will be almost as fast/if not faster than a brand new laptop with another regular hard drive (non SSD) for $2,000.
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
25,564
Reaction score
486
Points
83
Location
Blue Mountains NSW Australia
Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
No not faster than or as fast as new models have faster processors and bus speeds. It will certainly give it a good bump up however.
 
OP
W
Joined
May 2, 2005
Messages
173
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Hi, thanks for the advice on speeds. Will it also increase the speeds a lot for editing images in Lightroom and Photoshop a lot? I am mainly concerned with the speeds in which I can edit images.

Thought that a $500 upgrade would allow my editing to be a lot faster and approach the speeds of a newer laptop with regular HD, without spending $2,000....or would you recommend going with the newer laptop?
 
Joined
Nov 28, 2007
Messages
25,564
Reaction score
486
Points
83
Location
Blue Mountains NSW Australia
Your Mac's Specs
Silver M1 iMac 512/16/8/8 macOS 11.6
Taking this as the 2010 model, or earlier, think you may be looking at a faster laptop.
 

CrimsonRequiem


Retired Staff
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
6,003
Reaction score
125
Points
63
Your Mac's Specs
MBP 2.3 Ghz 4GB RAM 860 GB SSD, iMac 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 32GB RAM, Fusion Drive 1TB
Hi, thanks for the advice on speeds. Will it also increase the speeds a lot for editing images in Lightroom and Photoshop a lot? I am mainly concerned with the speeds in which I can edit images.

Thought that a $500 upgrade would allow my editing to be a lot faster and approach the speeds of a newer laptop with regular HD, without spending $2,000....or would you recommend going with the newer laptop?


The SSD upgrade is more like a temporary fix. The more expensive option will give you a little more longevity. Up to you on how you want to use your money though.

Editing pics in Lightroom & Photoshop would be more geared towards processing power. Although having SSDs and RAM helps too. Basically they all work together to get it done. Having a dedicated Graphics card helps immensely as well.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top