No hot cloths: SSD technology has revolutionized the data storage industry. The difference in performance between a traditional hard drive HDD and an SSD is so stark that if you install one of the latter in your old Mac or PC, it will give you the feeling that you have bought a completely new computer.
In a segment in which internal SSD drives are gradually becoming cheaper, and in which there are more and more models to choose from, making the most appropriate purchase decision can be difficult. So at iPhoneA2, we've thoroughly scoured the market for The best internal SSD hard drives for Mac and Windows –all of our selection are compatible with both operating systems–.
If, in addition, you need guidance on how to choose an ssd drive, at the bottom of this page you will find our shopping guide, in which we address issues such as how this technology works, what advantages and disadvantages it has, how to install an internal SSD in your Mac or PC and what to consider when choosing yours.
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Internal SSD for Mac and PC with the best value for money | Samsung SSD 850 EVO
Samsung is one of the companies that has invested the most in the SSD technology, and the quality of its models, together with the popularity of the Korean giant, has made it one of the leaders in the sector. His 850 EVO It is an SSD that performs at a more than remarkable level and that, in turn, has a highly competitive price, making it one of the most interesting alternatives to give your Mac or PC a second life.
With this model, the Korean brand has wanted to stand out from its competitors by introducing two interesting technologies. The first is the call 3D V-Nand, with which Samsung has achieved, with respect to its previous models, improve the performance of the unit by 20% and reduce its energy consumption by 40%. Data that is already beginning to speak clearly to us about the efficiency of the 850 EVO.
And the second is RAPID, a technology that takes advantage of your computer's available RAM memory to achieve slightly faster operating speeds. The bad news? To use RAPID, you have to activate specific Samsung software that is only compatible with Windows... so Mac users will have to settle for the "stock" speed that the unit comes with.
Speed ​​that, however, is not negligible at all: according to tests carried out by the laboratory of CNET, the 850 EVO is capable of maintaining a transfer speed of 183 MB per second when it is used as the main unit of the computer and is reading and writing data at the same time. It is not the best figure in the sector – that is reserved for the SanDisk Extreme Pro, a much more expensive model – but it is very positive and, of course, It is capable of giving soups with slingshots to any HDD hard drive.
La durability It is not something that you should worry about with this model either: in the two lower capacity versions, it is estimated at 75TB, while in the rest of the versions it reaches 150TB. What, in Christian, this means is that if you record 10GB of information on the SSD every day -and then you erase it at the rate you want-, the unit will take or more than 20 years in the Making in spoiling you –in the case of the small ones– or more than 40 years in the Making –in the big ones–. come on, what with the 850 EVO you will have an SSD drive for a while...
Additionally, for peace of mind Samsung provides a comprehensive 5 years warranty with the purchase of this model; guarantee that is above the average -which is 3 years-, so it is not bad at all.
Ultimately, the 850 EVO seems to us a very balanced alternative –probably, and considering its price, the most balanced on the market– and a good product for anyone looking for a good internal SSD drive for improve the performance of your MacBook Pro, iMac or PC. The 5 star feedback that he has received from the more than 2.000 customers who have given their opinion about him on Amazon attest to this. These are the capacities available and their approximate prices:
- 120 GB 85€
- 250 GB 95€
- 500 GB 145€
- 1 TB 295€
- 2 TB 675€
- 4 TB 1.500€
You can see more about the 850 EVO – including all its versions – and, if you wish, buy it by clicking on this link. oh! And if you like this brand and are willing to spend a little more money for superior performance – transfer speeds of 246 MB per second – and greater durability – twice that of the 850 EVO – then we recommend that you give it a try. a look, too, at Samsung's top-of-the-range model: the 850 PRO. You can see it by clicking on this link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr9Ll9tKUSUhttp://youtu.be/5H5ksi4TxFw[/su_youtube]
The fastest internal SSD for Mac and PC | SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD
If you want to maximize the performance, speed and fluidity of your Mac or PC, then your internal SSD is the Extreme PRO of the American company SanDisk. Not surprisingly, it is the unit that has achieved the best data in the tests carried out by the tech lab of CNET, with transfer speeds of 251 MB per second –when used as the main unit of the computer and performing reading and writing tasks at the same time–. An absolutely stratospheric number.
To achieve such results, SanDisk has used a technology that it has baptized with the name of nCache Pro, specially designed for optimize the performance of your SSD. The unit is also quite reliable, presenting a durability of 80TB, which, translated into the estimated number of years that it will last with normal use, gives us a figure of 22 years. Nothing bad!
The American company, in fact, is so confident in the quality of its product that it offers a impressive 10 year warranty, the highest we have seen in this sector. Come on, it is an SSD with which you can be very calm for a really long period of time.
In short, it is today the best performing internal SSD on the market, so if you don't settle for less than the most, this is the one to choose. Of course... as often happens, the highest quality has a price, and a fairly high one. This is not, of course, the cheapest SSD that you can find. Here we leave you the available capacities and their approximate prices:
- 240 GB 150€
- 480 GB 200€
- 960 GB 400€
You can see all the versions and, if you want, get one of them through this link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTnnyPWJRIohttp://youtu.be/5H5ksi4TxFw[/su_youtube]
Buy SanDisk Extreme Pro on Amazon
The best cheap SSD for Mac and PC | Transcend SSD370S
Transcend is a company that always achieves a very tight value for money in their products, and this SSD370S It is not an exception to the rule; No, this isn't the fastest SSD in the world, but it may be able to greatly increase the performance of an older Mac or PC, and more importantly, it does it for money that – especially on the older lower capacity models – is not as prohibitive as that necessary to get hold of other models.
And we are talking about a cheaper SSD than usual –the version of 128 GB, for example, barely exceeds €50– and also very durable: with the 500 GB version, for example, Transcend has achieved a estimated durability of 550TB, much higher than usual in the sector and which, a priori, means that, with normal use, it would hold more than 100 years without spoiling. Obviously, in practice we don't think it will go that far... but come on, it's an SSD with a rope for a while.
The Chinese company, however, does not get as wet as SanDisk when it comes to offering guarantees: the SSD370S only comes with a 3-year warranty, industry standard figure. If we take into account its price, the truth is that it is something that does not surprise us. After all, it is difficult to give a 10-year guarantee when your product is the cheapest, don't you think?
We said a few lines above that the SSD370S is not the fastest SSD drive... and we refer to the tests. Specifically, those carried out by CNET, which place its transfer speed – when used as the main unit of the computer and performing reading and writing tasks at the same time – at 151 MB per second. A figure that, if we compare it with those thrown by other internal SSDs, is discreet, but that will be more than enough for you to notice a abysmal performance improvement compared to that contributed by any traditional hard drive HDD.
Here are the available capacities and approximate prices for the Transcend SSD370S:
- 32 GB 35€
- 64 GB 45€
- 128 GB 50€
- 256 GB 90€
- 512 GB 170€
- 1 TB 370€
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0E-oCZaXeghttp://youtu.be/5H5ksi4TxFw[/su_youtube]
Buy Transcend SSD370S on Amazon
Excellent alternative in value for money | Crucial MX200 SSD
Crucial is another of the brands that are giving more war in the sector of internal SSD drives, and their models are some of the most reputable on the market. He MX200 that concerns us is a good ssd hard drive that can give your old Mac or PC a second life, so it is also interesting to consider.
For starters, this is a pretty durable unit; the version of 250GB has a durability of 80TB, a figure that doubles to 160TB in the version of 500GB and that reaches the 320TB in the version of 1TB. Speaking in Christian, what this means is that the 250GB version has an estimated life, with normal use, of about 22 years in the Making, the 500GB would reach 44 years in the Making and the 1TB one, in theory, should last 80+ years without breaking down.
We say "in theory", obviously, because later in day-to-day use many things can happen that cause you to break down before... but come on, it should last long enough so that you don't feel like you've wasted money on it. Crucial offers a 3 years warranty with his MX200, somewhat lower than we would have liked, but which is in the industry average.
As for its performance, the transfer speeds that this internal SSD has achieved in the tests of CNET reach the 190 MB per second –when using it as the main unit of the computer and performing reading and writing tasks at the same time–, a really good figure, slightly higher than that shown by the Samsung 850 EVO in these same tests, so You can expect a big performance boost on an older Mac by installing this SSD on it..
These are the capacities and approximate prices in which you can find the Crucial MX200:
- 250 GB 100€
- 500 GB 170€
- 1 TB 325€
You can see all the versions, and get one if you wish, through this link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2WDn5_u0Pkhttp://youtu.be/5H5ksi4TxFw[/su_youtube]
Buy Crucial MX200 SSD on Amazon
Toshiba's alternative: the OCZ Vector 180
We close our selection of internal SSD drives for Mac with the alternative of the Japanese brand Toshiba, which, with the sub-brand OCZ, is trying to get a good chunk of the market. His Vector 180 It is an interesting option for anyone looking to increase the performance of their equipment, although it may be a step below its main competitors.
Its durability, however, is not bad at all: 90TB, which means that, with normal use, it would take about 25 years to break down. Toshiba also provides 5 year warranty with the purchase of its OCZ Vector 180, a figure higher than those offered by Crucial and Transcend and similar to that provided by Samsung, so the Japanese company shows its chest here and shows confidence in its product.
In what seems to us the OCZ Vector 180 is a step below some competitors is in its performance-price ratio: it is a unit that has not achieved the best results in the tests carried out by the laboratory of CNET, staying at a transfer speed of 175 MB per second -Being used as the main unit of the computer and performing reading and writing tasks at the same time-, which is not really bad at all, but the fact is that the prices for this unit are somewhat higher than average...
Ultimately, an internal SSD that can satisfy users who get hold of it, and that in fact has deserved to be among the "top-5" of the market, but that is, perhaps, a little less interesting than the other models on our list. Here you have the different capacities available and their approximate price –by clicking on the links, you will be able to see more information about each of the versions, and buy them if you wish–:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmapNI65-pchttp://youtu.be/5H5ksi4TxFw[/su_youtube]
Buy OCZ Vector 180 SSD on Amazon
Buying Guide: Tips for Choosing an Internal SSD
If you need one more point of guidance to choose the right internal SSD for you, or answer questions about how this technology works, how to install an SSD in your Mac or what specifications are most important, keep reading: below we solve all those doubts in our shopping guide.
Let's start at the beginning… What is SSD storage?
SSD drives work in a completely different way than traditional HDD hard drives.. While the latter have a mechanical disk inside, in which all the data is stored, and to access which the presence of a needle is necessary that moves until it lands at the point where the data is located. information that is being sought, SSDs are simply made up of flash memory blocks.
This type of memory is, to give you an idea, very similar to the type of flash drives that we usually carry in our pockets and that we connect to our computers via USB. Therefore, SSD drives do not actually have any disks inside, although they are often called "SSD hard drives", because of our association of the term "hard drive" with the storage drives in our computers.
And does one work better? SSD than a HDD?
In two words: much better. The first thing you'll notice if you install an SSD in your Mac is a dramatic speed increase; not in vain, SSDs are up to 5 times faster than HDDs, something that is clearly perceived in the fluidity with which the operating system works, the alacrity with which the system boots and the lightness with which the different files are opened and/or transmitted. And, believe us, when we say that "it is clearly perceived" it means that a real barbarity is noticed -in the iPhoneA2 writing we have already experienced it with several teams-.
And the advantages do not end there: SSD drives are vastly quieter than HDDs – what's more, you barely notice any type of noise while they work -, They take a lot more blows or wiggles that can be carried –something motivated by the fact that they do not have mechanical parts inside–, they have a much lower power consumption and keep the temperature at lower levels, thus making it more difficult for them to overheat.
In short, it does not seem unreasonable to say that we are talking about the technology that is destined to become, in a very short time, the standard as far as storage units are concerned. As of today, the only two drawbacks that SSDs have are their less storage capacity compared to HDDs –although there are already some models on the market that reach up to 2TB, and even 4TB– and its price, still quite high –much more than HDDs, although luckily, little by little, they are beginning to become somewhat more affordable–.
And how do I install an SSD hard drive on my Mac or PC? Will I be able to do it easily?
Well, the truth is that it is little less than a piece of cake: in 10 minutes you can have it ready. You can see how simple it is in the following video of the youtuber Pakkorro, in which he explains how to install an SSD drive step by step on a MacBook Pro. Of course, the difficulty of installation is not an issue that should put you off buying your SSD!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jo4RSVRKnohttp://youtu.be/5H5ksi4TxFw[/su_youtube]
Ok, I want to buy an SSD for my Mac or PC… what should I look for?
Basically, you have to take into account 5 aspects:
Capacity
Right now in the market you can find SSD hard drives that range from 32GB of capacity up to 2TB. Think carefully about the storage that you really need for the day-to-day use of your Mac, perhaps you can store your multimedia files on an external drive and thus save a little money – keep in mind that SSD memory, today, is still quite expensive. In the following link you can see our selection of the best external hard drives for Mac, in case you decide, too, to get one.
Speed
As we have mentioned a few lines above, SSD drives are vastly faster than HDD hard drives lifelong; but, as you can imagine, some models are faster than others.
This is a specification that we think is important to check, and sometimes it is not easy to do so, since manufacturers tend to "disguise" the figures as much as possible to make them look more spectacular - something similar to what car manufacturers do when they tell you that their latest model consumes 3 liters of gasoline per 100 km… and then it is practically impossible to achieve those figures, since they have been taken under very specific conditions–.
Don't worry though: we we will give you real usage data, those taken by the test laboratory of the renowned technology site CNET. In the models that we recommend, we will tell you the information that interests us the most: its transfer speed when used as the primary drive of the Mac and is reading and writing data at the same time. This will be the figure that we use as a reference to determine the performance of the SSD disks that we are talking about.
Durability
obviously no one wants buy an SSD hard drive so that it spoils at the first change. That is why it is important to look at the durability of the unit: yes, there is a specification with which you can get an idea of ​​​​the time that the SSD can last before breaking down.
It is what the Anglo-Saxons call "endurance", and it tells you the amount of data you can write to the SSD until it becomes unusable. For example, if the model you are interested in has a durability or endurance of 60TB, that will mean that it will not break before you record that amount of data on it.
As this is a figure that probably doesn't tell you much either, when we talk to you about the products we will "translate" it into number of years that the SSD drive would last you writing 10GB each day on it –a use that could be considered as standard pulling to intense–.
Warranty
There are big differences between the years of guarantee that some brands offer you with respect to those that others give you; to give you an idea, we are talking about a margin that goes from 3 to 10 years warranty. Obviously, it should be a factor to take into account in your decision, since a longer warranty period provides not inconsiderable peace of mind.
Price
Obviously, this is an aspect that is usually linked to the other four: the more capacity, speed, durability and warranty, the higher the price tends to be. However, taking into account that we are talking about a fairly expensive product, it does not hurt that you set a maximum budget and, once that is done, choose which of the other aspects is the highest priority for you, and thus choose the model that really fulfills what is most essential to you.
And here is our review of the best internal SSDs on the market! We hope we have helped you in your choice and that you enjoy the increased speed on your Mac once you have installed your drive. If you have one of the SSDs that we recommend and you want to tell us your opinion about it, or in the event that you want to recommend another one, do not hesitate to leave us a comment.