Transcend JetDrive 820 PCI-E SSD line announced for 2013 and newer MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac Pro
Mike Wuerthele
Flash and memory company Transcend has announced the JetDrive 820 PCI Express PCIe Generation 3.0 solid-state drive for certain Mac models — but in some cases it will be slower than the stock drive in the machine.
Transcend's JetDrive 820, announced on Tuesday, utilizes the PCIe Gen 3.0 x2 interface to deliver read and write speeds of up to 950MB/s according to the manufacturer. The drive will come, with 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB capacities shipping soon.
Compatibility is limited to the the mid 2013 through mid 2015 MacBook Pro, the 2014 Mac mini, the mid 2013 and later MacBook Air, and the 2013 Mac Pro.
The JetDrive 820 will be faster than the 2014 Mac mini's drive, if one is installed at all. Additionally, the 2014 MacBook Air, or 2013 MacBook Pro will see a small speed boost with the third-party drive.
The 2015 13-inch MacBook Air has write speeds of 630MB/sec, with read speeds of 1.3GB/sec. Transcend's drive hits 700MB/sec read and write according to the company's own benchmarks.
The 2013 Mac Pro also has 1.3GB/sec read speeds, but write speeds in excess of 900MB/sec with the factory drive. The Transcend 820 said to be around 650MB/sec.
The 2015 MacBook Pro has write speeds of 1.2GB/sec, with over 2GB/sec read speed. The 2014 model has write speeds of 900MB/s, with read speeds of around 1.2GB/s.
Pricing and availability are not yet known. All of the tools necessary for installation will be included.
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