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I have a MacBook Air (mid-2012, MacBookAir5,2). I'm really far from terminology of this subject, I have no idea what is flash memory and don't know if all MacBook SSDs must have a flash memory supported SSD drive. I see that there are some suitable SSD upgrades for my MBA on OWC. But I want to buy an SSD from a local technology market. So exactly which specs should I look for to understand which SSDs suitable with my MacBook Air.

How can I be sure, if I buy SSD it will work with my MBA?

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Your MacBook Air (13" I presume) does not use a standard SSD drive in the 2.5" form factor that many others do. Instead it uses an SSD with a bare SATA connector on the end. It looks a bit like a standard memory DIMM.

I generally buy upgrade parts for my Macs via Other World Computing. there are others that are just as good, if you prefer, but this SSD upgrade would work for your system.

I would review the installation instructions to make sure it is something you feel comfortable doing.

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  • Hello @Steve, thank you for answer. Yes I have 13" as you said. I can't buy it from OWC because it will stuck on my country's customs and I found cheaper SSDs in local tech markets.
    – Eray
    Commented Jan 27, 2016 at 10:02
  • More expensive, cheaper, customs or whatever, the OWC Aura is your only option to get your Macbook Air upgraded. Ok, that OWC one and an SSD module you took out of another MacbookAir5,1 or 5,2. Any other SSD will not work. They might physically fit in the slot, but won't work
    – EDP
    Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 5:55
  • I'm confused. In this post they're saying Samsung SSDs will work forums.macrumors.com/threads/… . Macbook5,1 and Macbook5,2 has same specs. I was thinking about buying Samsung 840 Evo. @EDP
    – Eray
    Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 9:43
  • You stated you had an Macbook Air. The Macrumors thread is about a Macbook Pro. Don't mix up the model identifiers, they're similar but are different: Macbook5,1 is a Late 2008 Macbook Pro, the MacbookAir5,1 a Mid 2012 Macbook Air
    – EDP
    Commented Jan 28, 2016 at 14:26
  • @EDP understood, but why, exactly, won't other SSDs work, e.g. samsung.com/uk/memory-storage/970-pro-nvme-m2-ssd-/MZ-V7P1T0BW ?
    – therobyouknow
    Commented Aug 4, 2018 at 1:28
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You can upgrade the storage in your MacBook Air–but it's more difficult than your average notebook.

Your MacBook Air's SSD uses SATA with a proprietary 7+17 connector. While in theory it would be possible to adapt a standard M.2 SATA SSD to work with the MacBook Air, because of the tight space constraints, you'll need to buy special compatible storage from a company like OWC. Following this guide from iFixit you can then replace it. You'll need to store you data in some way you can reload it onto the new flash drive once your done–I personally would create a bootable volume then use Migration Assistant if you have that option.

Alternatively, if you don't want to bother with that, you can buy SD cards that fit into the form of the SD slot–it'll be slower and probably cost a little more, but it means you don't have to bother with the hassle of the above and get to keep whatever included storage comes with your machine.

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