Macbook Pro Retina Clone
Macbook Pro Retina Clone
50pcs For Macbook SSD Adapter NVMe PCIe M.2 M Key SSD for Macbook Air 2013 2014 2015 Expansion Card For Macbook Pro Retina A1398 Model #: AN7N 14807 Item #: 9SIAN7NBR27877. Replace the MacBook cover and screw in the ten tiny screws. Switch on your MacBook Pro, go to System Preferences Startup Disk and make sure the SSD is selected. Restart your computer. See, we told you it was easy! Enjoy a faster, smoother MacBook Pro. A new SSD drive for your Mac will make an instant impact.
(Note: while some portions of this user tip can be used when installing a new hard drive in your MacBook Pro, it is intended only for those upgrading to a SSD.)
There are, with most MacBook Pros (exclusive of the Retina display models) only two modifications that you can make without voiding your Apple warranty or AppleCare extended warranty – upgrading the RAM and upgrading the drive in the hard drive bay. If you’ve already upgraded your RAM and simply want more speed, you may want to consider upgrading your old hard drive with a SSD (Solid State Drive). Many people come to the MacBook Pro forum asking about SSD upgrades, so this user tip is applicable to those, primarily, who have already made the decision to upgrade. Note that I only recommend using a SSD in 2009 and later MacBook Pros with a 3.0Gbps to 6.0Gbps interface speed – and I recommend buying a 6.0Gbps SSD regardless of the fact that models with a SATA II interface won’t be able to use the full-negotiated speed of 6.0Gbps. Why? Because you may want to upgrade your Mac sometime in the future… although you'd likely be upgrading to a Retina model these days. But you may still want to use the SSD in an enclosure or in another machine.
Before you buy…
Before you purchase a SSD, there are a few questions that you need to ask:
What capacity do you need?
It’s just my opinion, but the bigger the better. Now you may want to install a 120-128GB SSD and simply use it as a boot device and as a place to store your most frequently used applications. This is certainly the least expensive approach. But most people will want to store much more than that on an internal drive save, perhaps, for large iTunes libraries and large photo/movie libraries. There are numerous advantages to a larger drive, however. If you do photo or video editing, the SSD makes a super-fast scratch/working drive for individual projects. You can always store your hefty data on an external drive, of course, but for working projects I recommend using your fast internal SSD. Currently, SSDs come in basically three usable sizes: 120-128GB, 240-256GB and 480-512GB. But Crucial is now shipping a 960GB M500 drive that sells for under $600. So decide, first, how much storage you can actually utilize before making any buying decisions. And Samsung now has a 1 Terabyte EVO drive - priced at about $800+ but which can be found for under $650. Decisions, decisions! See here for an excellent review of the Samsung 840 EVO 1TB drive. Crucial also has two high-capacity SSDs - the older 960GB M500 and the recently released 1 Terabyte M550, which sports faster speeds than the M500 series but is still available at a reasonable price. I would recommend any of these three drives, now, for those wanting the higher capacity. See a review of the M550 series here.
Which drive should I buy?
Unfortunately, there are no Consumer Reports articles out for SSDs on MacBook Pros. There is, however, a very good “information and buyers guide” website - Sean’s SSD Buyer’s Guide and Information Thread. It’s chock-full of information about how SSDs work, what technology individual manufacturers employ, and includes not only a ‘buyer’s guide’ but an almost endless thread containing users experiences. Beware, though, as it is primarily geared towards Windows users. Still, that shouldn’t stop you from reading much of the information there. One thing that I always look for in an SSD, too, is the “Mac-friendliness” of the drive – e.g., can the firmware be upgraded using a Mac or must it be upgraded on a Windows machine? Unfortunately, the majority of SSDs fall in the latter category. That, alone, may not be a showstopper for you in determining which brand of SSD to purchase, but it should at least give you pause.
Getting everything in place…
Before you begin your MacBook Pro surgery, here is a checklist of things you should have on hand:
- SSD of choice
- Enclosure for external drive (can be found at Amazon or OWC, prices range from $8-20, usually, for a USB 2.0 kit will all cables)
- Toolkit that includes a Phillips #00 screwdriver, a Torx T6 screwdriver, and, possibly, a spudger – I recommend this kit - http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/TOOLKIT11/ - from OWC
- Carbon Copy Cloner (we’ll get into how to use this in a moment)
Start the process…
There are two ways to go about getting the data from your old drive to your SSD. The first is to install the SSD into your enclosure and make your clone before installing the SSD. The second is simply to install the SSD into your hard drive bay and your old hard drive into your enclosure and boot from the enclosure. No one way is better than the other. We’ll examine both ways here:
Install the SSD into your USB enclosure and plug it up. Use Disk Utility (Applications>Utilities folder) to format the SSD, erasing it and formatting as “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” with a single GUID partition. Then use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your hard drive to the SSD. If you are running Lion or Mountain Lion, choose the option to copy the Recovery Partition to the SSD. After the clone is complete, restart your computer whilst holding down the option key and select the SSD as the boot drive. You’ll know in a few seconds if your clone was successful.
Alternately, you can just go ahead and install your SSD into your MacBook Pro (endless number of DIY videos online – see OWC’s Installation Videos - http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/) and put your hard drive into the USB enclosure and boot from it. Then just boot from the enclosed drive and use Disk Utility to format the SSD and clone the contents of your hard drive onto your SSD as noted above.
Either method should work just fine. Be sure to visit the OWC video installation page, or the numerous videos on YouTube, about installing the drive into your MacBook Pro.
You’re almost finished…
Now that you have your cloned SSD in your hard drive bay, you should be able to hold down the option key and boot from the SSD. The first thing you’ll want to do is to go to System Preferences>Startup Disk and select your new SSD as your startup drive.
I would also recommend using Trim Enabler to enable TRIM on your new SSD. Not sure what TRIM does? See this Wikipedia article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIM. Note that with every .1 upgrade to OS X you will have to enable TRIM once again. I just make it a habit when I update my system. Some may ask of TRIM is necessary these days since most SSDs use proprietary garbage collection. I can only say that I still enable TRIM just in case... and Apple's SSDs utilize TRIM as well.
Up and running…
You should be up and running now, enjoying the many benefits of a SSD – particularly speed. You shouldn’t have any problems if you’ve followed these instructions.
The only problem that some people have run into, in my experience, has been with a faulty SATA cable (affecting 2009 models more than any other). If you’re having problems such a ‘beachballing,’ slow speeds, etc., look at replacing your SATA cable first – it’s the most likely culprit. You’ll also want to make certain that you stay up to date with SSD firmware updates – these cannot only eliminate ‘bugs’ in the firmware, but may also make your SSD operate more efficiently.
Retina model?
The newest MacBook Pros, of course - the Retina models - already come with a SSD installed. Until recently, though, you really couldn't upgrade your flash storage. Now, on certain models, you can upgrade the flash storage (although you'll void your warranty if you crack the case, so buyer beware). Both Other World Computing and Transcend produce flash storage modules so that you can upgrade your storage to up to 1 terabyte. Note that both the OWC and the Transcend modules will only work with 'older' Retina models or MacBook Pro Airs - not the newer models that have a PCIe interface. Still, having these options available is more than you could have hoped for previously. Will there ever be PCIe based flash storage available? Only time will tell. Not much else to say about Retina models.
Final note…
I do not recommend placing your SSD into the optical bay of your MacBook Pro – your start-up drive is meant to be in the hard drive bay and that’s where you want to install your SSD. Installing another SSD or a hard drive into your optical bay is beyond the scope of this user tip. And also note that this tip covers only one method – my preferred method – for getting your data to your SSD.
The Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display has one annoying flaw: Not enough storage. Many shipped with a paltry 128GB of built-in flash storage while most shipped with just 256GB. The question now is, “How can I upgrade my Retina MacBook Pro with more SSD storage?” The best storage solution is upgrading to a larger built-in SSD drive, which means you’ll need to open up your case and install the new drive. This is pretty easy these days, but if you’re worried, there are two easier options. Instead of installing a new internal flash-based SSD drive, you can use tiny flash-based drives in the shape of camera memory cards. They plug into the SDXC card slot on your MacBook Pro.
The TarDisk Pear system is a tiny drive that you can combine with your built-in drive to create a single “fused” storage system on your MacBook Air or Pro.
For all intents and purposes, the Transcend JetDrive Lite acts like a little USB thumb drive — but it fits flush into the SDXC card slot instead of a USB port. When installed, it appears on your Mac like an external drive that is always on, always available. It appears as a separate storage option to your Mac’s operating system yet remains assessable because you don’t have to worry about plugging it in since you leave it installed. It’s quite handy but you have to pay attention to where you’re storing things — on your built-in storage drive or on the JetDrive Lite. The TarDisk Pear system, on the other hand, also uses the SDXC card slot, but when you install it with an included software program, it combines with your built-in storage to form a single “fused” drive. If you want a near-permanent — but easy storage solution for your Retina MacBook Pro — the TarDisk Pear system might be your best bet. Are there any downsides to these two solutions? The SDXC card slot storage drives are not as fast as a dedicated internal drive, and they basically mean you won’t be transferring your photos using that slot anymore (if you do at all). Moving on, let’s get back to replacing your drive: If you need more storage space on your Retina MacBook Pro — up to a whopping 1TB — two companies have upgrade kits that can help you do it.
The MacBook Pro with Retina Display Storage Upgrade
While the MacBook Pro seems to be a sealed case, you can open it up to upgrade the solid-state flash storage with a new, larger solid-state drive. Is it hard? Yes and no. If you’re moderately handy, you can do it. Here’s how to do it in 5 steps:
1. Identify Your MacBook Pro with Retina Display
Not all MacBook Pro with Retina display MacBooks contain the same flash storage system, and you have to match your MacBook Pro to the kits that it is compatible with. Right now, you can get upgrade kits from Transcend or OWC if you have the “Mid 2012,” “Late 2012,” and “Early 2013” MacBook Pro 13-inch and 15-inch with Retina display models. If you have a “Late 2013,” “2014,” or “2015” model MacBook Pro, the only company that produces internal SSD upgrade kits that I’m aware of and recommend is OWC. (Apple didn’t make upgrading these new MacBook Pro models easy, but OWC figured out how to create an option for us, which we appreciate.) How do you figure out which MacBook Pro model number you have? You can go to the upper left Apple menu on your screen and select “About This Mac.” The popup window will have the basic model description and year description of release in it. If you have any trouble with this, Apple has a support page that will help you identify your MacBook Pro model number, along with the serial number, etc. The description has wording like “15-inch, Mid 2012″ or “13-inch, Early 2013.”
2. Find the SSD Storage to Fit Your MacBook Pro with Retina Display
Basically, you have two great choices of manufacturers, OWC and Transcend. You can buy direct from OWC or get Transcend’s kits from Amazon. Transcend’s new JetDrive 720 MacBook Pro with Retina display SSD upgrade kits come with the tools you need, including a handy enclosure for your old drive. OWC’s Aura Pro + Envoy Pro is also a kit that includes the SSD storage module, the correct screwdrivers, plus a cable and case to help transfer your data to the new drive. Here’s the kit links for both options, but as I mentioned above, only OWC offers kits for older Retina MacBooks as well as the newer “Late 2013” up to “2015” MacBook Pro with Retina display models. Transcend only offers models that fit Mid 2012, Late 2012, and Early 2013 MacBook Pros with Retina displays in 13-inch or 15-inch models:
- OWC Aura Pro + Envoy Pro — the kit comes in 240GB, 480GB, and 1TB options
- Transcend JetDrive 720 — the kit comes in 240GB, 480GB, or 960GB options
3. Clone or Transfer Your Data to the New SSD Drive
While I use Carbon Copy Cloner, which is a third-party app that lets you make complete clones of your drives or create ongoing backups, you can also use Apple’s Time Machine or boot into recovery mode and use Apple’s built-in Disk Utility to get the job done. Transcend, it turns out, recommends that you use Apple’s Disk Utility, which is a fairly simple way to go (see step 4).
Note: The MacBook Pro SSD drives are exposed modules that are more fragile than a fully enclosed hard drive. Before you crack the case and handle the modules, you might want to have a separate backup of your important data. There are a lot of ways you can back up your data, but the easiest way is to choose an external hard drive and use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your entire drive as a bootable backup to your external drive. Alternately, you can just copy your important photos, videos, and documents. (Bonus: The key benefit of an external drive is that you can store it somewhere that is not your home — for example, if there’s a fire, your important family photos will be safe.)
4. Check Out Video Walkthroughs and Online Guides
OWC provides excellent video guides on its website, but I also like the Transcend video walkthrough, which is fast and clear:
After you watch the guides, if all this seems too risky for your skills, find a buddy who has done it before — or have your local computer store do it for you.5. Perform Your Retina MacBook Pro Storage Upgrade
The data cloning process might take a couple of hours, but the actual installation should take less than half an hour. You want to do the installation in a clean place with enough free time without distractions to complete the process end-to-end. You may also want to consider buying an anti-static mat. Personally, I’ve never bothered, but I’ve been willing to take my chances. Proceed at your own risk. Finally, don’t rush through it. Pay attention and put all the tiny screws in a bowl so they don’t roll off your desk and get lost in your carpet. I’ve known some guys to set the screws on a tray in the relative position that they removed them — just to make sure they put the right screw in the right spot during reassembly.
Macbook Pro Retina Screen Repair
What’s Next?
Keep taking photos, making movies, and fill up your new drive! At the very least, you can always use the handy external portable hard drive from your kit to store content that doesn’t absolutely have to be on your MacBook Pro with Retina display. . . making it even easier to have enough storage for your Mac.
Get the Gear:
Replace Retina Screen Macbook Pro
- OWC Aura Pro + Envoy Pro — in 240GB, 480GB, or 1TB
- Transcend JetDrive 720 — in 240GB, 480GB, or 960GB
Macbook Pro Retina Clone