MacBook Pro 15" 8,2 - HD upgrade with data doubler - Need Clarity!

wheelerb · Nov 16th, 2016, 06:50 PM

Hey guys,

I'm going to be doing some work on my MBP 8,2 15" next month including:

Swapping primary drive to SSD
Removing optical drive and adding a HDD via data doubler
New Battery

I have been reading that SATA III 6G drives are not supported/ stable / or generally don't work but what I can't tell from all of that is whether or not the drives will work, just at the 3G speeds or if they actually fail is some way.

I'm asking because the availability of 1TB HD that are 7200 rpm and SATA 3G are very limited and there are tons of options in the newer SATA 6G. If the drive work just not at top speed then I'll just get one of those but I don't want to have drives failing on me.

Does anyone have experience with this?

Thanks!

gwillikers · Nov 16th, 2016, 11:34 PM

Try going to macsales.com and click the "My Upgrades" link at the top of the page, enter your MBP specs, and see what comes up.

I'm thinking that they wouldn't recommend drives for a given model that would invoke a warranty return.

pm-r · Nov 17th, 2016, 05:48 PM

Also goto Lookup Mac Specs By Serial Number, Order, Model & EMC Number, Model ID @ EveryMac.com
and select your specific model.

They include links and info about upgrades in the specs. Some may even link to those that gwillikers mentioned.

EDIT:

It seems you MBPro fully supports the 6.0 Gb/s (3.0) spec.
How to Upgrade MacBook Pro Hard Drive (Unibody, 2009-2012) @ EveryMac.com

CanadaRAM · Dec 4th, 2016, 02:50 AM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by wheelerb
	I have been reading that SATA III 6G drives are not supported/ stable / or generally don't work but what I can't tell from all of that is whether or not the drives will work, just at the 3G speeds or if they actually fail is some way. I'm asking because the availability of 1TB HD that are 7200 rpm and SATA 3G are very limited and there are tons of options in the newer SATA 6G. If the drive work just not at top speed then I'll just get one of those but I don't want to have drives failing on me.

Late to the party but:

SATA III 6Gbps is backwards compatible with SATA II 3Gbps.

The issue you have read about is specifically regarding MacBook Pros in the 2009-2010 era which used a particular nVidia SATA chipset, and that chipset messed up in setting SATA III drives back to SATA II . Most of the incompatible SATA III drives were SSDs built using the LSI Sandforce SSD controllers. SSDs with Marvell and Samsung controllers didn't have the problem, which is why Crucial and Samsung and *most* SanDisk drives are fine in those machines because these use compatible controllers. OWCs solution with their LSI based SSDs was to lock the drive in firmware to SATA II.

However I have never heard of the similar problem with spinning hard drives.

Also to keep this in perspective, only the fastest, densest modern spinning hard drives can deliver data fast enough to saturate even a SATA I (1.5Gbps) bus, so the distinction between the SATA levels is largely academic for spinning drives.

pm-r · Dec 4th, 2016, 01:28 PM

	Quote:
	Also to keep this in perspective, only the fastest, densest modern spinning hard drives can deliver data fast enough to saturate even a SATA I (1.5Gbps) bus, so the distinction between the SATA levels is largely academic for spinning drives.

That is something that has fascinated me for a long time yet seldom mentioned for some strange reason.

polywog · Dec 4th, 2016, 04:47 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by pm-r
	That is something that has fascinated me for a long time yet seldom mentioned for some strange reason.

I would posit that the benefit is in delivering to, not from the drive, or in non-single drive configurations e.g. RAID 5?

gwillikers · Dec 4th, 2016, 10:44 PM

Weird how many threads are vacated by the OP after asking for assistance in a detailed post.

pm-r · Dec 4th, 2016, 10:54 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by gwillikers
	Weird how many threads are vacated by the OP after asking for assistance in a detailed post.

And it seems to be becoming quite common, not only here but at other Mac sites as well, and even some posting the same type of comment.

Maybe I'm of and from an older generation where courtesy, manners and communication and feedback were expected.

pm-r · Dec 4th, 2016, 11:41 PM

	Quote:
	Also to keep this in perspective, only the fastest, densest modern spinning hard drives can deliver data fast enough to saturate even a SATA I (1.5Gbps) bus, so the distinction between the SATA levels is largely academic for spinning drives.

I came across this today that helps explains a lot of the often confusing info a bit better for the average user to maybe understand a bit better:

Why Storage Drive Speeds Don't Hit Their Theoretical Limits

Why Storage Drive Speeds Don't Hit Their Theoretical Limits - Tested

rgray · Dec 5th, 2016, 09:13 AM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by gwillikers
	Weird how many threads are vacated by the OP after asking for assistance in a detailed post.

Damned annoying!!

No 'thanks'!!

And more importantly, no feedback as to what worked..... and what did not.....

Downright inconsiderate!!