Apple’s recent firmware updates were famous for preparing the company’s latest Thunderbolt-equipped Macs for the upcoming Thunderbolt Display. However, they also enabled one feature than Apple didn’t tell you: SATA 6Gbps support.
That means your new MacBook Pro or MacBook Air is now capable of SATA 6bps transfer speeds. So why didn’t Apple tell you? Surely this is something the company would want to boast about? ZDNet explains:
Apple doesn’t promote the fact that the 2011 MacBook Pros and Airs support SATA 6Gbps because it isn’t officially supported. I bet that it’s because Apple can’t get sufficient quantities of SATA 6Gbps SSD modules. Apple ships its current MacBooks with SATA 3Gbps SSDs and doesn’t want to promote itsSATA 6Gbps support until it can ship every unit with a 6Gbps SSD from the factory. What’s the point of promoting SATA 6G when shipping SATA 3G drives?
So, although your new Mac might be capable of those speeds, its SSD might not, and so Apple will keep this little feature a secret for the time being. However, Other World Computing, who first noticed the feature’s activation, does supply SATA 6Gbps solid-state drives for new Macs if you really want those speeds.
Will 6Gbps speeds persuade you to upgrade your Mac’s SSD?
[via ZDNet]
