What SSD can I put in MacBook Air?
Four R method: Time Machine Show
The easiest way to upgrade to a new SSD is to use Time Machine. All you need are tools and the SSD! You can either restore a whole back up, which includes macOS or you can migrate using the Time Machine after installing a new macOS. Our Four R method is a proven easy way to upgrade to a bigger and faster SSD. 1 REPLACERemove the old drive, and install the new SSD. We provide detailed printed instructions when you order an SSD, if you type your Macbook Air model into the customer notes at checkout. 2 RESTARTPlug Time Machine into the USB port. Restart your Mac holding down the Option key. This loads Boot Manager and will show Time Machine, double click to boot from Time Machine. If the Time Machine does not show then restart hold own Option + Command + R keys (this is Internet Recovery Mode). Both of these methods will show on screen the MacOS Utilities page. 3 READYThe drive is shipped to you formatted, and ready to use. To check open Disk Utility. If it is unformatted, choose format type (must use APFS for Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave or High Sierra, earlier versions use Mac Extended Journaled) and a name, you can use Macintosh SSD or get creative and give it a person's name like Oscar. Click apply and this will format the SSD. 4 RESTOREGo to Restore from Time Machine Backup (on of the option on MacOS Utilities). Choose the latest back up, and follow the steps. Time Machine will now start restoring onto the new SSD. If it can not restore the OS it will ask you to install MacOS first and then use Time Machine to restore data. Software and tools you needThe great thing about a Time Machine restore is you only need the SSD and tools to open the Macbook Air. • The tools you require are included in our SSD upgrade kits. Four R method: CloningFrom 2010 the Macbook Air used a M.2 (card) shaped SSD that was non standard. These cloning instructions are for the 2013 Macbook Air to the 2017 Macbook Air. Basically you are cloning Mac onto the new SSD using the clone case. Both the OWC Envoy case and the Transcend case can be used with Apple,OWC or Transcend SSDs. There is no longer any incompatibility. We recommend using SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy cloner to clone your SSD. 1 READYWe ship the SSD already initialised and checked. All you have to do is clone your old SSD onto the new SSD. Put new SSD into the clone case. Install SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner and clone from old SSD to new SSD. 2 REPLACEShut down the mac and replace old SSD with the newly clone SSD. 3 RESTARTPower on the Mac and check the clone was successful. 4 RESTOREGo to System Preferences then Start Up Disk, select the new SSD and the system will reboot. This tells the Mac that the new SSD is the one to boot from. Four R method: Jetdrive 855 Cloning (2013-2015)The fastest and easiest upgrade is cloning with the Jetdrive 855 SSD and Thunderbolt 2 external case. The upside is you can reuse the Apple SSD in the Thunderbolt 2 case or any compatible SSD from Apple, OWC or Transcend! These cases are awesome: fast, portable, sleek. If you were James Bond, this is the device you would need to transfer data from the bad dude's computer and casually rejoin the party in your tuxedo like nothing happened. This cloning method we recommend using SuperDuper! (free) or Carbon Copy Cloner (30 day trial) software. 1 READYConnect the Jetdrive 855 case into the Thunderbolt 2 port 2 RESTARTRestart your Mac. Do not allow macOS to turn it into a Time Machine drive. 3 RESTOREDownload and Install SuperDuper! (free) or Carbon Copy Cloner software (30 day free trial ). The SSD is shipped to you initialised, so it is ready to be cloned. 4 REPLACEWhen cloning is complete, power off your Mac and replace the SSD with the newly cloned Jetdrive SSD. We ship detailed printed instructions with your SSD order Software and tools you needCloning is an excellent way to quickly copy your current drive onto a new SSD. Everything you need is in the Jetdrive kit, even the Jetdrive SSD without the Thunderbolt 2 case ships with tools. • SuperDuper! download by Shirt Pocket (Free). Four R method: External Boot CloneThis is one of our most recommended cloning methods, and the one OWC (Macsales) recommends. This method works for both the Aura SSD with the Apple SSD in the Envoy enclosure and also the Jetdrive 855 and it's Thunderbolt 2 case. Although there are lots of ways to get the data back onto a new SSD, this is still one of the most popular methods. This clone method relies on third party cloning software. We recommend SuperDuper! (free) or Carbon Copy Cloner (30 day trial). 1 READYDownload and Install on your current drive the cloning software you will use (links are below in the green box). 2 REPLACEPower off your Mac and replace the original Apple SSD with the new SSD. We ship detailed printed instructions with your SSD. All the tools you need are included. Install the Apple SSD into the external case. 3 RESTARTPlug external case into Mac and restart your Mac holding down the Option key. Your original drive should appear on screen, click on it to boot off that drive. 4 RESTOREClone your original SSD using software. When it has finished, unplug the external case and boot your Mac from the new SSD. Software and tools you needFour R method: Fresh macOSSometimes a Mac needs a fresh start. Apple makes it easy to reinstall macOS. MacOS can be installed via Recovery Mode or via a macOS USB. We have previously recommended USB installers but Apple has updated and improved Recovery install. Restarting the Mac holding down Option - Command - R will give you the latest MacOS that can be installed. More detailed info is in our How to install macOS section. 1 READYThis method takes a little bit of planning. OSX or macOS (as it is now called) can be installed on an empty SSD via Recovery Mode or installing off media such as a USB. If you are installing from USB, you need to make that macOS USB before you start. Recovery Mode is installing the macOS from a Time Machine or a Mac drive recovery partition or Internet Recovery (Option + Command + R). 2 RESTARTShut down your Mac. 3 REPLACEInstall the new SSD. 4
RESTOREIf you are installing macOS from USB, then insert macOS USB, hold down option key and restart Mac. To use Internet Recovery mode and get the latest MacOS, restart the Mac holding down the Option + Command + R keys. The Mac will create the macOS Utilities page, go to Install new macOS and follow the prompts. Software and tools you needThere are many options when starting fresh. You can install the current version of macOS or a later version that is more compatible with your apps and programs. You can put the latest macOS on your new SSD then use the Migration Assistant to copy over data and programs. You do not have to connect to another Mac, you can connect to a Time Machine or external startup disk to transfer files! • Familar with how to Internet Recovery macOS or have an macOS USB drive. • Choose an SSD drive here all tools and instructions include in the SSD kit. The Upgradeable Team is here to help. If you want advice or check with an expert, please call, chat or email. Choose a SSD cloning KIT for your Macbook AirThese are complete kits, including SSD, that include everything you need to do any type of clone or restore on your Macbook Air. If you are not sure, please contact us for an obligation free discussion. The
individual blades are listed further down the page 1. Find your model Choose a SSD BLADE for your Macbook AirThese are SSD blades only. They do not include the clone kit. We can include a macOS installer USB for free with a blade purchase, just type
which macOS version you would like in the customer notes at checkout. How to install macOSNote: Updated October 2022: Apple has changed the way you can reinstall MacOS. Via Internet Recovery you can get the latest MacOS or the current version of MacOS on the Mac. To get the version of MacOS on your system, restart holding down Command + R keys. This usually gives you the wrong OS and is not recommended. What format to initialise the new SSD? To install Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, Ventura: initialise the SSD as APFS. To install High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite and earlier: initialise the drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) How to get the latest macOS on a new SSD? Command-⌘-RReinstall the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac. Option-⌘-RThis will upgrade to the latest OS compatible with your Mac. (recommended) Shift-Option-⌘-RReinstall the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version that's still available. How to use Migration AssistantApple includes an awesome app called Migration Assistant that we have used to help customers start over with a fresh macOS but keep all their data and applications. Apple allows a lot of different installation and migration options. We will discuss the main ones here, but if this does not answer your migration question, please contact us for more specific information about the upgrade you are planning. What is Migration Assistant...why should I use it? If you just want a new macOS, start fresh with no legacy upgrade data, then you can use Migration Assistant to reinstall all your data and apps, and you will have the benefit of a new macOS with all the apps and data from your old drive. How to use Migration Assistant If you have installed a new SSD, you can use either your old SSD in the Envoy enclosure or a Time Machine back up as a source for Migration Assistant. The example in the image below, a Time Machine disk is connected and to be used Select the machine you want to restore from in Time Machine Then select the type of data you want to migrate That is it! You should have a new macOS with all your applications and data restored back on the system. Limitations of Migration Assistant Time Machine: why you should use itTime Machine has many features that can make your life easier when upgrading to an SSD. You should be backing up on a regular basis and Time Machine is Apple's built in back up software that is easy to use. To create backups with Time Machine, all you need is an external storage device. After you connect the device and select it as your backup disk, Time Machine automatically makes hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month and weekly backups for all previous months. The oldest backups are deleted when your backup disk is full. If you connect a new external drive to your mac you should see this window pop on the screen If you dont get the pop up you can go to Time Machine app and select disk or add Disk. The software will set up automated back ups. If you periodically connect the Time Machine, if it does not automatically start you can start a backup manually, choose Back Up Now from the Time Machine. First the most asked question we get: Does Time Machine back up the operating system or macOS? Restore on a
new SSD and the Double Clone The Double Clone Rebooting off Time Machine How to create a macOS USBThere are a lot of options to create bootable USB to install macOS. We have recommended Diskmaker X in the past but the method we outline here is the
recommended method from Apple. 1 Download VenturaGo to the App Store, search for macOS Ventura and download. After it has downloaded it should appear in your Applications as "Installer MacOS". If you have already downloaded and upgraded, you will need to download the MacOS again (Apple deletes installer once it has been used). 2 16GB USBYou need at least an 16GB USB drive. For best results use a USB 3.0. You can use an external hard drive (note: any data on the drive will be lost as it gets formatted). Go into Disk Utilities and rename the USB to "upgradeable". You can erase and rename. The MacOS creation method will reformat the drive, so it does not need to be any specific format type like Fat32 or Mac Journaled. What is important is the name of the drive, as it is used in the code below. 3 Using TerminalWe are going to use the command line app called Terminal to create the MacOS drive. Don't worry if you have never used it, it is very easy, not that scary. Open Terminal, it is found in the Utilities folder in Applications. 4 Copy this codesudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Ventura.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/upgradeable 5 Paste the codePaste the code you copied into Terminal and hit enter. It will ask for your system password (usually the one you log on with at start up). Type Y 6 How to use the USBWhen the USB or external drive is plugged in, restart the Mac holding down the Option key. The USB will appear on screen as Install MacOS. Select and hit return. You do not need to select a network. If you are installing the macOS on a new SSD it will need to be initialised. Go into Disk Utility, Erase and name. Proceed to install macOS. Other macOS codes How to initialise a SSDWhen you get your new SSD it might be uninitialised. It needs to be initialised before use. In the PC world they call this formatting the drive. In the Mac World it is called Erase and it is a function of Disk Utilities Disk Utilities is a tool included in many places. It is found in the Utilities directory in Applications. It is included in any macOS install drive. It is found in the recovery partition on a drive when a Mac is restart holding down the keys Command + R. It is also a part of the Internet Recovery boot up. There are many reasons why you would want to erase a drive, this guide is focused on initialising a new SSD, however for readers who are looking at general
information we have added the following warning... 1 Open Disk UtilityWhen you start Disk Utility, in the sidebar are the drives attached 2 Erase buttonClick on the Erase button. If there is no erase button select the drive again. 3 OptionsThere are two to three fields that need to be selected. 4 ERASEClick the Erase button and the SSD will be ready to use. How to clone with SuperSuper!Please note: this process cannot be used to clone a Windows partition created by Boot Camp. We recommend WinClone by Twocanoes Software. It is commercial software requiring a license to use, however it is not affiliate with our company and that is not an affiliate link. Before cloning, the SSD needs to be initialised, if that has not been done, please follow our instructions above. The process is really only two steps...download and run. Superduper! is very simple but powerful piece of software. 1 Download and installSuperDuper! software by Shirt Pocket (free download). When the download is complete, install in your Applications folder. Double click on the SuperDuper! icon to run 2 CloneChoose your source (Macintosh HDD) and destination (Macintosh SSD) drives. Click Copy Now to begin. You will be notified when it is complete. Simple Questions answeredCan I use any SSD to upgrade my Macbook Air? Does the Macbook Air use a standard M.2 SSD blade? Are the OWC SSD drives faster than the Apple original SSD? Do I need a bracket to install the SSD? Can I do this install myself? Do I need any
special tools? Does the original SSD and the new SSD have to be the same size to clone? What size SSD should I buy? Can SuperDuper! clone a windows partition? Can you use any SSD in a MacBook Air?For MacBook Air expand storage use, you need to choose an SSD that has larger capacity compared with the original MacBook Air SSD. Usually, the alternative SSD comes with installation tools. However, if there are no such kinds of tools, you also need to purchase them together.
Which SSD is best for MacBook Air?With this in mind, here are the best external SSD drives for Mac of 2022.. Samsung T7 Portable SSD 2TB. ... . Samsung X5 Portable SSD. ... . LaCie Portable SSD. ... . WD 4TB My Passport For Mac SSD Portable. ... . SanDisk 4TB Extreme Pro Gen 2. ... . Seagate One Touch SSD.. Is any SSD compatible with Mac?There are many brands available. Toshiba, OWC, Crucial, Samsung, Transcend, Sandisk. Technically any SSD drive will work on a Macintosh computer. So any of the above brands should work.
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