An Apple SSD Vs. a Hard Drive
Apple offers a solid-state drive option for some of its computers, notably the MacBook Air and Mac Pro. Unlike traditional hard drives, which store data on spinning metal disks, an SSD has no moving parts. Though more expensive than spinning disk drives, solid-state units read data many times faster, are more rugged and operate silently.
Other People Are Reading
-
Speed
-
A traditional hard disk locates data by moving a read/write mechanism just above the spinning metal disk. Typically, it takes about a hundredth of a second to find a piece of data. The SSD has no moving parts, so it locates data many times faster. Though SSDs read data faster than disk drives, they rate about the same for writing data. For many tasks, however, such as system booting and launching programs, solid-state drives are much faster than conventional drives.
Capacity
-
Though the capacities of solid-state drives have been increasing, hard disks still hold an edge in the amount of data they hold, as of 2011. The largest disk drive Apple offers for the MacBook Pro, for example, has a 750GB capacity; the largest solid-state drive for that model holds 512GB. In place of a magnetic disk, an SSD uses flash memory chips like the ones in a USB flash drive. A hard drive’s magnetic disk has a higher storage density than the flash chips in an SSD.
-
Cost
-
SSDs cost more than conventional hard disks. As of September 2011, the standard hard drive on the MacBook Pro is a 500GB model, and it's included in the computer’s $1,799 price. Substituting the 512GB SSD runs an additional $1,200; even the smallest solid-state drive, a 128GB unit, adds $200 to the base price. By contrast, retail prices for a 1TB standard disk drive are in the $100 range.
Power Consumption and Noise
-
The flash memory technology used in solid-state drives consumes less power than a hard disk. A hard disk needs some power to keep the disk spinning as long as the computer is powered on, even if the drive isn't in active use. An SDD needs no power until it reads or writes data. SDDs make no noise. Though disk drives are relatively quiet, the mechanism makes some noise. Older drives can suffer from worn-out bearings, which make whining and scraping sounds.
-
References
- Photo Credit Ablestock.com/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
