This ruled out most SSDs for this machine, including Intels, Samsungs and SanDisks. Also, one of the most popular and reliable drives, the Samsung 840, was reported as having compatibility issues as well. However, the Mac mini has the Nvidia MCP79 controller, and after extensive googling I found out I couldn’t use the Kingston or other Sandforce SSD’s, at least not at maximum speed. See for your machine’s specs. The Kingston is a top-value Sandforce drive. The Kingston SSDNow V300 I chose for the White MacBook 4,1 has the SF-2281, but since the MacBook doesn’t have the MCP79 and doesn’t support 3Gbps SATA in the first place, there’s no issue. In short: Nvidia MCP79 + Sandforce SF-2281 = no good. SSD’s that have the Sandforce SF-2281 controller are most problematic, and the SF-2281 happens to be one of the most common ones. Here, you’ll also see the negotiated SATA link speed. You can check if you have the MCP79 by going to the upper left hand corner Apple menu, choosing About This Mac, More Info, System Report and the SATA section.

Even if you can’t get 6Gbps like modern machines, you’re still much better off with 3Gbps than 1.5Gbps if you have a choice.

The bad combination might give you other issues as well. Those Macs will not work with their full 3Gbps link speed with a lot of current SSD’s, instead falling back to 1.5Gbps only. You need to be careful when choosing your brand, since many Macs built around 2007–2011 come with the buggy Nvidia MCP79 SATA controller. Just one catch: Not all SSDs will always work as fast as you’d want. It makes a big difference in daily use for fairly low cost. To identify your exact model of Mac, go to .įirst of all: It’s worth it if your Mac is around five or six years old.Upgrading a 2009 (pre-Unibody) Mac mini 3,1 (Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz 4GB RAM) with a Crucial M500 SSD.Upgrading a 2008 White (pre-Unibody) Macbook 4,1 (Core 2 Duo 2.1GHz 1GB RAM) with a Kingston SSDNow V300 SSD and 4GB RAM.This is written after the following updates: SSDs (solid-state drives) are much faster than old-school hard drives, making it possible to get a few more years of life out of an old, slow computer by upgrading it to a faster drive.

Solid state drive for macbook pro 2009