The SSD is actually the only user-serviceable part inside this notebook that can even be upgraded. Note the custom battery and soldered on memory. Two sizes of these screwdrivers are needed the smaller one for the ten bottom cover screws, and the larger one for a single screw that holds in the SSD.Īfter removing the screws, the bottom cover lifts off revealing the neatly laid-out interior of the Macbook Air.
The screws are of custom Apple design, which are similar to Torx but not compatible with Torx screwdrivers. OWC is kind enough to include the custom screwdrivers needed to dismantle the Apple MacBook Air. The connector also makes this drive very difficult to benchmark through our standard methods, since at the time of this review no adapter readily existed to convert the connection to standard SATA.īuyers interested in this SSD don’t have to worry about tracking down the proper tools for the job. The connector on the Aura Express SSD looks very similar to the mSATA interface until you realize it’s about 2/3 as wide. This SSD was designed with one goal in mind… making it as small and compact as possible to slot easily into the MacBook Air. The design itself is very compact down to the PCB itself, which is extremely thin. Similar to how the Intel SSD 310 is designed, the Express SSD has no case or external features besides the circuit board its made up of. The Aura Express SSD has a very basic “skin and bones” appearance.
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And in considering OWC’s drive buyers will balance the capacity options, ease of upgrade and of course performance.
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So MacBook Air owners are pretty much limited to buying whatever Apple has to sell them – or now they can consider the Mercury Aura Pro Express SSD. PhotoFast announced a replacement SSD too, but never got the product to market, likely due to intellectual property infringement. But so far they remain an OEM product only, leaving MacBook Air owners with few self-help options. You also have to consider this product is also geared toward a niche audience, where there are few alternatives. Toshiba, whose X-Blade Gale SSDs are what live inside a new MacBook Air, announced the slim SSDs would be available to other manufacturers.
That means for the 360GB model for instance, OWC has to use 64GB NAND, where a standard 2.5″ drive would use smaller capacity (and cheaper) NAND.
OWC had to create an entirely new form factor to suit the MacBook Air and is limited by the number of NAND chips they could use (maximum of eight). Part of the premium is the cost of being unique. While not a tremendous difference, the second reason to buy is that the Mercury Aura Pro Express comes in capacities of 180GB, 240GB and 360GB, while the current MacBook Air SSD offerings top out at 256GB.īeing on the cutting edge has a price though, OWC’s MacBook Air SSDs carry a premium. First, the OWC MAPE (is that any better?) uses a SandForce SF-1200 processor to deliver speeds that are purportedly 22% faster than the stock SSD. While saying OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express several times in a row is certain to lead to a tired tongue, MacBook Air owners should be excited about two things. While Apple likes to control their computing environments the best they can, MacBook Air owners at least now have an option when it comes to replacing or upgrading their SSDs, the OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express. Apple is also not so great – because an SSD shaped like a stick of gum with its own specialized interface connector, isn’t readily available as a replacement should you need to replace it. Apple also puts in the latest tech features, like an elongated stick of gum shaped SSD.
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Apple is great – they make products people want to buy, like their very cool and very portable 2010 MacBook Air that comes with an 11″ or 13.3″ display.
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