OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express SATA 3.0 SSDs doubles your (MacBook) Airspeed velocity
It's MacWorld, which means those providers of Apple gear are busting out wares for aftermarket insertion into your objects of desire. Other World Computing's latest offering is a slender solid-state drive ready to be crow-barred into last year's MacBook Airs. The bombastically named OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G SSD is a SATA Rev. 3.0 drive with a promised 6Gb/s data speed at sizes of up to a staggering 480GB. Since the stock drives are limited to the 3Gb/s SATA Rev. 2.0 (but the controllers run 3.0), you should find a significant performance bump when swapping in the new unit. The toggle-synchronous NAND drives come in a variety of sizes, starting at 120GB ($260), but it's the brand new and quite beastly 480GB model that has us excited. Sure, $1,150 is a lot to ask for less than half a terrabyte of storage, but you'll get a three-year warranty for all that cash. We may never give you our money, nor our funny pages, but you can have the press release that's after the break.
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New OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G 480GB SSD Offers Up to 3x Faster Performance and 8x More Storage Capacity for Apple MacBook Air
Industry's Only Performance Upgrade and Aftermarket Solid State Drive for MacBook Air
Unlocks Latest MacBook Air's Faster Processor and SATA 3.0 (6Gb/s) Capabilities
January 26, 2012, San Francisco - Other World Computing (OWC®) http://www.macsales.com, a leading zero emissions Mac® and PC technology company, confirmed at Macworld today its OWC Mercury Aura™ Pro Express 6G SSD is now available in a 480GB model size for the latest Apple® MacBook® Air 11.1" and 13.3" models which incorporate 6G (6Gb/s) data rate capabilities. The new Mercury Aura Pro Express 480GB model combines award-winning SandForce® technologies and Tier 1/Grade A Toggle Synchronous NAND to deliver data rates up to 3x faster than factory 3G (3Gb/s) options and up to 8x the storage capacity of the factory's base 64GB SSD model. The new, built-in-the-USA Mercury Aura Pro Express SSD and other OWC Mercury SSDs will be shown in Other World Computing's booth #513, Moscone Centerl, at Macworld held in San Francisco this week.
Only Performance Upgrade Available for MacBook Air
Joining two previously released Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G capacity models-120GB and 240GB-the new 6Gb/s SATA Revision 3.0 480GB model continues OWC's position as the only alternative to factory SSD options for the MacBook Air models. 3G speed Mercury SSDs from OWC are also available in capacities up to 480GB. OWC offers an easy online guide to assist consumers in selecting the correct Mercury Aura Pro Express SSD for any of Apple's MacBook Air models from 2008 to current.
OWC 6G SSD Unlocks MacBook Air Performance Potential
The Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G offers the latest MacBook Air owners a cost-effective SSD upgrade path that delivers higher performance, functionality, and reliability over the factory installed SSD. Because the Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G SSD is SATA Revision 3.0 (6Gb/s) compatible, it can take advantage of the MacBook Air's faster processors and built-in 6Gb/s SATA data bus to deliver peak, sustained data rates over 500MB/s, versus the factory installed SSDs, which are limited by SATA Revision 2.0 (3Gb/s) capability.
No Slow-down with Repeated Use
While ordinary SSDs initially offer fast read/write performance; they experience significant write speed degradation over repeated usage. Independent simulation tests conducted by leading drive performance experts like MacPerformanceGuide confirm OWC Mercury SSD's ultra-efficient Block Management & Wear Leveling technologies are able to eliminate virtually any reduction in data transfer speeds over heavy, long-term usage without dependency on less-than-effective OS TRIM management.
"Our initial 120GB and 240GB 6G models were wildly successful as they enabled current model MacBook Air owners to experience the true capabilities of their machine," said Larry O'Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing. "However, we continually received requests to duplicate the 480GB capacity offered in our 3G SSD line for the MacBook Air. Our new 6G 480GB model truly enables owners of 6G capable MacBook Air machines to have the best of both worlds: highest capacity and highest performance versus factory options."
Pricing, Availability
Compatible with current 11.1" and 13.3" MacBook Air models, the Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G 480GB model has a MSRP of $1,149.00 and is available from OWC. All Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G models include 7 percent over provisioning, Toggle Synchronous NAND, and a three-year warranty. For more information on the OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G SSD for the MacBook Air line, including reseller inquires, visit: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Aura_Pro_Express
