Apple SSD Drive Data Transfer Gear
Getting your Mac data onto a new SSD needs some forethought before your SSD purchase Some solid-state drives based on the JMicron chipset provide the convenience of a built-in mini-USB 2.0 port that can ease data migration or be useful for testing and formatting the SSD. Be aware - often they DON'T include the mini-USB cable in the box, so you might have to scramble to roust up a cable. Alternately, an external drive enclosure with FireWire, USB and/or eSATA interfaces - or a multi-interface USB transfer cable may come in handly for your Mac's SSD upgrade process - and continue to be useful afterwards.How To Clone Mac Data Onto An SSD
Two great free utilities that can help transfer your hard drive data onto an SSD can be found at versiontracker.com -- Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!. CLONING IS CRITICAL to copy all the invisible files that make OSX work, retain the proper file permissions, and insure the volume is BOOTABLE for use as a Start Up disk. Highly recommended.Universal SATA-IDE Transfer Cable
OWC's Popular, Versatile USB Cable
2.5" 3.5" 5.25" Universal Drive Support
Laptop SATA Dual-Interface Drive Case
More versatile - and faster than a simple USB 2.0 laptop disk enclosure - This dual-interface USB + FireWire 400 bus powered portable SATA II case is worth a bit more for those who want the higher transfer speed of FireWire and it's ability to be used as a BOOTABLE external drive on pre-Intel Mac models that can't start up from USB.2.5" FW400 + USB 2.0 SATA Case
Dual-Interface Drive Enclosure
ICY-DOCK Slide-In SSD Enclosure
IcyDock Brilliant, Quick and Simple 2.5" to 3.5" SATA Adapter
Plop in a laptop SATA SSD, Mount it - and Go!
SATA Case For Your Old 3.5" Drive
This enclosure might be useful for cloning and installing during an SSD upgrade for Mac Pro towers or G5 iMacs - and repurposed afterwards as a TimeMachine or backup drive. Combine with an IcyDock 3.5" drive adapter case for mounting and testing your new SSD both in - and out of your computer. MacAlly 3.5" USB + FireWire 400 + eSATA
Triple-Interface Enclosure Aluminum Mac Pro Style
Even more convenient than dis and re-assembling an external drive enclosure - a hard drive dock can help your transition to a solid-state drive with ease:
USB & eSATA Hard Disk Docking Station
2.5" - 3.5" Drop-In Convenience for Formatting, Copying, Cloning
Mac Pro PCI-e Slot SSD Upgrades
Good - and Bad news for Wealthy Mac Pro Tower Owners: The recently announced OCZ Z-Drive PCI-e Slot SSD
drive is blowing the the roof off of SSD performance possible on a Windows PC. But OCZ has yet to qualify and list them as supported under OSX.
ATA-IDE SSD Interface Adapters
For those exploring SSD upgrades on older G4 iMac or Tower - or perhaps even something crazy-fun like putting an ATA SSD into that trusy old Slot-Load G3 iMac: Here's a cheap drive adapter to convert an IDE solid-state drive such as one of these 2.5" SSD's from Transcend to the standard 40 Pin IDE interface cable in those Macs. Combined with a set of 3.5" drive mounting brackets, its the solution.Belkin Drive Conversion Kit
ATA Interface Converter + Power + Brackets + Screws
Then add This ATA Solid-State drive:
Transcend 32GB IDE MLC SSD
SSD's For Older Parallell PATA-IDE Interface Macs
Modern computers adopted SATA interfaces to move beyond ATA 100/133 interface speed limits. SATA took over and was needed to keep up with the 150 Mbps and greater read speeds of current SLC and MLC flash drives. However, SSD drives with ATA/EIDE interfaces do exist for older G3 and G4 Macintosh systems - Most notably;
Transcend is one of the few SSD manufacturers offering ATA - IDE interface SSD laptop drives for older Macs.Super Talent PATA-IDE MasterDrive EX2 Series
MLC & SLC Versions
