Mac SSD Upgrade

[Dransk]

So my friend purchased a new macbook air in desperate need when her previous one died suddenly during a time where we had many assignments and exams. She needs money, and i need a new laptop so I wil be purchasing it off her. I havent seen the specs list but I am pretty sure it is i5 2017 edition 8gb ram 128gb ssd. The battery died and it is getting replaced and i would be purchasing it from her for $460 AUD or $320 USD, I would rly like to support her and also get a new laptop. DO you guys think it is worth it? I would be using it as a light relatively quick laptop for note writing and assignments for school, I have a workstation at home (4790k and gtx 1070). I may also want to replace the SSd in it for a quicker/bigger one, I am not sure if this ADATA one ould work (https://www.pccasegear.com/products/44315/adata-xpg-sx6000-pro-m-2-nvme-ssd-256gb) and I could chuck the mac one in my pc. Well at least I think, I love how macs work and im sick of my garbage battery, trashy performance out of my laptop which still takes up 2kgs with a trash trackpad. Mac seems like the best way to go for this, I would be buying a IfixItkit too. Anyways thank you guys so much, I am new to macs so help would be loved. Sorry for poor English I wrote this in frustration in class

[SenKa]

41 minutes ago, Dransk said:

So my friend purchased a new macbook air in desperate need when her previous one died suddenly during a time where we had many assignments and exams. She needs money, and i need a new laptop so I wil be purchasing it off her. I havent seen the specs list but I am pretty sure it is i5 2017 edition 8gb ram 128gb ssd. The battery died and it is getting replaced and i would be purchasing it from her for $460 AUD or $320 USD, I would rly like to support her and also get a new laptop. DO you guys think it is worth it? I would be using it as a light relatively quick laptop for note writing and assignments for school, I have a workstation at home (4790k and gtx 1070). I may also want to replace the SSd in it for a quicker/bigger one, I am not sure if this ADATA one ould work (https://www.pccasegear.com/products/44315/adata-xpg-sx6000-pro-m-2-nvme-ssd-256gb) and I could chuck the mac one in my pc. Well at least I think, I love how macs work and im sick of my garbage battery, trashy performance out of my laptop which still takes up 2kgs with a trash trackpad. Mac seems like the best way to go for this, I would be buying a IfixItkit too. Anyways thank you guys so much, I am new to macs so help would be loved. Sorry for poor English I wrote this in frustration in class

I am assuming you mean Macbook Pro, as that is the only Macbook with that config?

 

The 2017 MBP has soldered storage, so you are out of luck. Though, macOS is much smaller than Windows 10, so 128GB is actually quite usable. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

The macbook air doesn't use a m.2 drive, it uses a special apple drive. There are adapters to m.2, but it depends on the year. Id make sure its the 2017 model, as they look very simmilar.

 

 

[SenKa]

11 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

The macbook air doesn't use a m.2 drive, it uses a special apple drive. There are adapters to m.2, but it depends on the year. Id make sure its the 2017 model, as they look very simmilar.

 

 

 

11 minutes ago, Alexsolo said:

Unfortunately it won't. The SSD used in Macbooks are proprietary and have a different connector than the M.2 SATA or PCIe standard.

Here's an example that would be compatible with the 2017 Macbook Air: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-air/2013-2014-2015

 

They also sell adapters that can take a regular M.2 and convert it to the Apple connector, but I don't recommend that route since it's 2 things to buy, and most the adapters are made cheap and not from reputable brands. Here's an example: https://www.newegg.ca/p/2W4-00BF-000C6?Description=macbook air ssd adapter&cm_re=macbook_air_ssd_adapter-_-9SIAEMC8X60301-_-Product

He is buying a Macbook Pro, not Air. In 2017 you couldn't get 8GB of RAM in an Air.

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, SenpaiKaplan said:

 

He is buying a Macbook Pro, not Air. In 2017 you couldn't get 8GB of RAM in an Air.

why do you say macbook pro? OP said macbook air, and didnt mention the macbook air, and they made a macbook air of those specs.

[Dransk]

21 minutes ago, Alexsolo said:

Unfortunately it won't. The SSD used in Macbooks are proprietary and have a different connector than the M.2 SATA or PCIe standard.

Here's an example that would be compatible with the 2017 Macbook Air: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-air/2013-2014-2015

 

They also sell adapters that can take a regular M.2 and convert it to the Apple connector, but I don't recommend that route since it's 2 things to buy, and most the adapters are made cheap and not from reputable brands. Here's an example: https://www.newegg.ca/p/2W4-00BF-000C6?Description=macbook air ssd adapter&cm_re=macbook_air_ssd_adapter-_-9SIAEMC8X60301-_-Product

 

21 minutes ago, Alexsolo said:

Unfortunately it won't. The SSD used in Macbooks are proprietary and have a different connector than the M.2 SATA or PCIe standard.

Here's an example that would be compatible with the 2017 Macbook Air: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-air/2013-2014-2015

 

They also sell adapters that can take a regular M.2 and convert it to the Apple connector, but I don't recommend that route since it's 2 things to buy, and most the adapters are made cheap and not from reputable brands. Here's an example: https://www.newegg.ca/p/2W4-00BF-000C6?Description=macbook air ssd adapter&cm_re=macbook_air_ssd_adapter-_-9SIAEMC8X60301-_-Product

Ah maybe I described it wrong but it is a macbook, most likely this one (https://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers-tablets/laptops/apple/apple-macbook-air-13-inch-128gb/457535/) or a 2015 equivalent im not sure. I will be making sure I find out before the battery is replaced, if it isnt 2017 it is most likely 2015. Will it still be alright? especially if it is the 4gb variant, thank you everyone for the help and the schooling on macbook proprietary bs. I will steer away from storage upgrades.  

 

[Dransk]

19 minutes ago, SenpaiKaplan said:

 

 He is buying a Macbook Pro, not Air. In 2017 you couldn't get 8GB of RAM in an Air.

https://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers-tablets/laptops/apple/apple-macbook-air-13-inch-128gb/457535/ they also offered 8gb in 2015 brother, maybe it is an australia thing im not sure. I always steer clear away from apple but I admire their laptops and a good mate of mine who has similar outlook bought a air and it just works, which is all I want ( well while being quick, effecient, long lasting, strong, light aha)

[SenKa]

34 minutes ago, Dransk said:

https://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers-tablets/laptops/apple/apple-macbook-air-13-inch-128gb/457535/ they also offered 8gb in 2015 brother, maybe it is an australia thing im not sure. I always steer clear away from apple but I admire their laptops and a good mate of mine who has similar outlook bought a air and it just works, which is all I want ( well while being quick, effecient, long lasting, strong, light aha)

If it is an Air, then yes, 2015 was the only year you could IIRC.

 

A Macbook Air can very easily have its storage upgraded. It is just as easy as any NVME SSD, though it is proprietary to normal PCI-E based storage. They are quite easy to find in upgraded capacities through sites like OWC. They are the vendor I personally recommend. Heres the link to the product page you'll want. Don't bother spending the extra for the enclosure unless you want to use the old SSD like a flash drive rather than sell it off.

 

Assuming it is a Macbook Air (and it sounds like it now), you will love it. I daily a 2014 Macbook Air and even with the 4GB RAM it is an amazing machine on Mojave, is natively supported, and honestly has as much power as I need day-to-day. (Other than video encoding, it's a little slow there, but im building a server for that stuff anyways :p)

[Dransk]

20 hours ago, SenpaiKaplan said:

If it is an Air, then yes, 2015 was the only year you could IIRC.

 

A Macbook Air can very easily have its storage upgraded. It is just as easy as any NVME SSD, though it is proprietary to normal PCI-E based storage. They are quite easy to find in upgraded capacities through sites like OWC. They are the vendor I personally recommend. Heres the link to the product page you'll want. Don't bother spending the extra for the enclosure unless you want to use the old SSD like a flash drive rather than sell it off.

 

Assuming it is a Macbook Air (and it sounds like it now), you will love it. I daily a 2014 Macbook Air and even with the 4GB RAM it is an amazing machine on Mojave, is natively supported, and honestly has as much power as I need day-to-day. (Other than video encoding, it's a little slow there, but im building a server for that stuff anyways :p)

Hey bro, cheers. All i need is a light workstation so sounds great 

[Dransk]

On 6/3/2019 at 12:48 PM, SenpaiKaplan said:

If it is an Air, then yes, 2015 was the only year you could IIRC.

 

A Macbook Air can very easily have its storage upgraded. It is just as easy as any NVME SSD, though it is proprietary to normal PCI-E based storage. They are quite easy to find in upgraded capacities through sites like OWC. They are the vendor I personally recommend. Heres the link to the product page you'll want. Don't bother spending the extra for the enclosure unless you want to use the old SSD like a flash drive rather than sell it off.

 

Assuming it is a Macbook Air (and it sounds like it now), you will love it. I daily a 2014 Macbook Air and even with the 4GB RAM it is an amazing machine on Mojave, is natively supported, and honestly has as much power as I need day-to-day. (Other than video encoding, it's a little slow there, but im building a server for that stuff anyways :p)

its a 4gb 2012 one i5, would u still recommend?