14 DAY TRIAL // MacBook Pro users trying to install third-party 6.0 Gb/s SATA 3.0 solid-state drives will no longer run into issues if they download and install the latest firmware update from Apple, according to Other World Computing.
OWC, who is now selling a hot new SATA 6.0 Gbps SSD upgrade kit for MacBook Airs, has found that performance issues related to interference between cables inside the MacBook Pro can be easily resolved by installing a fresh firmware update.
Macbook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.2, released earlier this week by Apple to enable Internet Recovery on 2011 systems, “appears to be the answer,” says OWC.
“Nearly seven months after these machines first became available, all indications are that we can now reliably count on taking full advantage of the 6Gb/s capability provided,” the hardware vendor states.
OWC claims to have conducted thorough testing internally on multiple models of the 2011 MacBook Pro laptops using “the highest performing OWC Mercury EXTREME Pro 6G and Mercury Electra 6G SSDs.”
“From this testing, we are confident today that Apple has now, by and large, resolved the issues with 6Gb/s drives where issues were being experienced with said drives in the Main Bay/standard drive location,” reads their blog post.
They also have some important points to make concerning the optical bay.
According to the computer electronics seller, “if your MacBook Pro 2011 model currently has SATA 2.0 3Gb/s reported for your optical bay max link speed, this EFI update does not change that to SATA 3.0 6Gb/s.”
Finally, MacBook Pro 15″ or 17″ models with SATA 3.0 6Gb/s capabilities will not see enhanced reliability when using a 6Gb/s drive in the optical bay, as a result of applying the new firmware update, says OWC.