How can I know or when should I start expecting my SSD to start dying?

[Piipperi]

Been using the same 1TB Samsung SSD on my almost 8 year old MacBook, I work with pretty large files and the drive is almost always nearly full, and files get moved from a place to another often.

 

I was wondering, is there a way to know if my SSD is starting to die or not? Since I work with some kinda irreplacable files, is it possible for them to start corrupting before I can notice the drive dying by not being able to boot and such?

 

Also feel free to recommend some tools to check the health properly. Disk Utility does show that S.M.A.R.T status is verified, but since this SSD is already getting old and is probably wayyy over the rated read/write durability, who knows how long will that status last like that.

[Gorou92]

what do you fear ?

 

- losing the data on the SSD

- losing the mac installation and program settings and stuff like that

- having a non working laptop for a period if the SSD dies

 

the answer depends on which one is relevant to you

[Eigenvektor]

1 minute ago, Piipperi said:

Since I work with some kinda irreplacable files…

Backups. Backups. Backups. Since you're using a Mac, TimeMachine is the easiest way to do so.

 

S.M.A.R.T should show you how many Terabytes your drive has written. Then compare that to the value your drive is rated at. Just keep in mind that this is an average value. The drive could die much sooner or live much longer. Drive failure can be sudden and might come without warning. So please, do backup your data, especially if it is irreplaceable as you say.

[tkitch]

SSD?  CrystaldiskInfo will give you health status.

[Eigenvektor]

Just now, tkitch said:

SSD?  CrystaldiskInfo will give you health status.

OP mentioned using a MacBook, that's a Windows only tool.

[Gorou92]

1 minute ago, tkitch said:

SSD?  CrystaldiskInfo will give you health status.

he's using a mac

[manikyath]

first off:

 

you either back up your important data, or you do not have important data. these two options should be mutually exclusive. if your data is important, you should back it up, no debate.

 

back on topic:

 

aside from 'freak accidents' (controller breaking, a ceraic cap going bad, connector problems, etc.) SSD's have a fairly predictable life expectancy, i presume macOS's disk utility will warn you on time.

[BondiBlue]

Use DriveDx to check the detailed health. FWIW I have a 960GB Crucial M500 from several years ago that's been running 24/7 in my main desktop. It's still at 93% health. You should be fine. 

[Kilrah]

Note that the write-related health reported is literally "how much has been written compared to the rated life", it may either last much longer or much shorter, and most SSD failures are completely unrelated to the amount of writes but come out of the blue due to a failing controller or other component. 

 

Any storage drive should always be treated as if it might fail tomorrow. 

[clintr1974]

If you do want to check the SMART info, smartmontools is available for mac.

[Piipperi]

On 9/24/2021 at 11:48 PM, Gorou92 said:

what do you fear ?

 

- losing the data on the SSD

- losing the mac installation and program settings and stuff like that

- having a non working laptop for a period if the SSD dies

 

the answer depends on which one is relevant to you

Mainly I fear data corruption, I do have Time Machine enabled but since it could just backup corrupted files, who knows what could happen. Also since SSDs aren't very cheap (especially ones for Macs), that non-working laptop could be something to fear (but I do have some spare smaller 128 GB SSDs to use in an emergency)

[Piipperi]

On 9/24/2021 at 11:49 PM, tkitch said:

SSD?  CrystaldiskInfo will give you health status.

I did actually just check that, but it didn't give much of anything useful other than the drive status being "GOOD".

[Gorou92]

19 hours ago, Piipperi said:

Mainly I fear data corruption, I do have Time Machine enabled but since it could just backup corrupted files, who knows what could happen. Also since SSDs aren't very cheap (especially ones for Macs), that non-working laptop could be something to fear (but I do have some spare smaller 128 GB SSDs to use in an emergency)

for data corruption always backup since any drive can die at any time and also you can lose the laptop or some accident happen, so always backup what you can't afford to lose

as for the fear of having a non working laptop you said you have a spare ssd so no problem