The good news: You can now snag up to a 480GB solid-state drive for your MacBook Air.
The bad part: It ain’t cheap.
Per Electronista, Other World Computing has released a 480GB version of its Mercury Aura Pro Express. The new solid-state drive doubles the storage of its SATA3-based, 6Gbps model line. As with other SSDs, more capacity doesn’t mean a sacrifice in speed, and it can deliver as much as 500MB per second in peak transfer speeds.
Apple’s stock SSDs in current-generation Airs usually stop at around half the maximum speed. OWC gets to the faster speed by using a modern SandForce memory controller. Although it doesn’t officially support the TRIM command to optimize the drive, it’s touted as having its own data block management techniques to keep the SSD fast throughout its lifespan.
The drive works with either size of MacBook Air and has a cost roughly in line with other 480GB SSDs at about US$1,079. Users have to install the drive themselves, but they’re given instructions and a three-year warranty in case the drive itself is faulty. OWC has begun shipping the new drives, which are immediately available.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
One reply on “OWC releases 480GB Aura Pro Express SSD for MacBook Air”
They will be $100 in a year. 🙂