Intel's S3700 controller however provides a new optimization point for SSDs. Samsung's latest MDX controller, used in the 840 Pro, will likely make its way to Apple's lineup next year. Samsung's PM830 was the controller of choice when the 15-inch rMBP hit, however now there are some interesting options available on the market. Performance of the PM830 based solution is quite good:Īs expected, you get the same performance from the storage solution in the 13-inch rMBP as you would from the 15-inch model. So far, all of the 128GB 13-inch rMBPs I've encountered use Samsung based drives.Īs always, the easiest way to tell who makes the controller on your drive is to run a system report and look at the prefix on the drive itself: SM for Samsung and TS for Toshiba. if you're going to enable FileVault), this could be undesirable. The 13-inch rMBP starts at 128GB however, which means there could be a chance you'll end up with a Toshiba/SandForce based solution in your Mac. In the past Apple has used Samsung PM830 based SSDs for any drives larger than 128GB (so 256GB, 512GB and 768GB), which meant all of the 15-inch rMBPs got Samsung drives. The 13-inch rMBP goes one step further and uses the same physical SSD module that Apple uses in the 15-inch model. The standard 2012 MacBook Pro still uses a 2.5' SATA SSD as it needs to easily swap positions with a mechanical hard drive depending on what the customer orders.ġ3-inch rMBP SSD module, image courtesy iFixit The 2012 iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pros all use the same custom SATA+power connector on their SSDs.

There has been at least some standardization within the Apple camp this past year. Until NGFF gains traction in the market, SSDs with a custom physical design are going to be the norm in any system that aggressively prioritizes form factor.

Samsung ssd for 13 inch mac book 2012