In general, be sure to purchase your hard drive or SSD from a vendor that has tested the storage it sells with your particular type of Mac to ensure full compatibility and ideal performance. Also, be sure always to read the complete specs page for a specific Mac as some compatibility is dependent on OS version, firmware, or other details. Testing conducted by Apple in February 2020 using pre-production 1.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7–based MacBook Air systems with Intel Iris Plus Graphics, 16GB of RAM and 2TB SSD, as well as shipping 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5–based MacBook Air systems with Intel UHD Graphics 617, 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD.
SSD (solid state drive) is a new generation of storage devices used in computers. It is better than HDD, because the speed of data transmission is higher and operations are perfectly. It works like a flesh-card. Also SSD is better, because it has not moving elements. It helps the device work faster. Minimal free space of SSD is 128 GB.
Usually, when you buy an Apple device, you can read only about free space of SSD. But sometimes you need to know not only free space, but also the type of connection, the company that made it and others. This article is about SSD which is the part of the MacBook Air.
MacBook Air made in 2010 or 2011
Apple’s SSDs were manufactured by Samsung and Toshiba. But Apple found out that Samsung drivers were faster. But they did not tell users about the company that made SSD, so customers were subject to an SSD lottery.
Users complained about it and Apple understand its mistake. Later generation of SSDs never again saw such a large distinction between the drivers of different manufacture. In the middle of 2011 MacBook Air has Samsung 860 EVO SSD. It has a special adapter to connect. Maximum free space of SSD was 6 GB.
MacBook Air made in 2012 and 2013
They continue using of SSDs of Samsung and Toshiba, but free space become bigger. Minimal free space is 128 GB. They known as Generation 2B. The 2B read and write speeds are faster than first generation of SSD. It use SATA with a M.2 connector.
MacBook Air made from 2013 to 2015
It was clear to Apple that with the Generation 2 drives that mSATA’s 600 MB/s limitation would not allow for further speed increases, so Apple’s next generation of SSD began using a PCle 2.0×2 interface, bringing the most substantial performance increases to date. The speed of working became higher. Drivers became compatible with all Apple computers.
SSD was made by:
- Samsung — маркировка 0A2.
- SanDisk — 0А4.
- Toshiba — 0А6.
The free space was 1 TB.
MacBook Air made from 2015 to 2017
Best Mac Ssd Drives
The fourth generation of SSDs have 12−16 connector. The interface become better, now it is PCle 3.0×4. It helps make speed higher. The SSDs were manufactured by Samsung. But 11 inch MacBook Air has SSD made by Toshiba.
MacBook Air made in 2017 and late
The fifth generation of SSDs have 22−34 connector. Apple starts using SSDs by Toshiba again. Another innovations:
- Support the NVMe protocol.
- Read and write speeds is about 2500 MB/s.
- SSD has an extra controller, because of that productivity became higher.
Samsung Ssd For Macbook Air 2014
It does not matter, which SSD do your MacBook Air have. You always can buy the fastest and the newest driver. If you need another connector — just buy it. They will help you to use SSD that you want with your laptop.