ZenBook SSD and MacBookAir SSD Are Not Compatible with mSATA

It’s a very good thing that mobile computers are starting to ship with integrated SSD drives next to the traditional HDDs or just SSDs altogether.  We’d rather each notebook came with two 2.5” bays, so that the user can choose whatever configuration he desires.

On very small systems like Apple’s MacBookAir and ASUS’ ZenBook, there isn’t room for two 2.5” bays and it’s understandable why the manufacturer would go for only one mSATA SSD, like Apple did, or for a combination between an mSATA SSD and a normal HDD like in the ZenBook. We’ll underline again that we prefer ASUS’s implementation, as it offers good storage capacity, next to the SSD’s speed and short access times. If the user desires greater speed or lower power consumption along with a lighter weight, he’d be able to remove the HDD and replace it with a low-profile SSD.

The problem is that notebook manufacturers seem to be on a customization streak and reportedly ASUS’ SSD is physically incompatible with Apple’s SSD option. There might be a way to force the drives in a certain connector in a certain position, but there’s no guarantee that the pins are also electrically compatible. The thing is that this customization trend is exactly what users do not desire. The user needs the possibility to upgrade and, while there are companies offering mSATA SSDs with SLC NAND, why wouldn’t the notebook manufacturers adhere to the mSATA standard? Is there any technical advantage in using such custom interfaces?

Notebooks having two 2.5” bays provide the best performing mobile storage solution these days. Also, we must mention MSI’s GT70 laptop with its RAID 0 SSD configuration along with the extra HDD. We believe MSI’s solution to be the fastest of the lot and that it provides the best speed to capacity ratio. For more pictures, make sure you check out Anand’s very useful article.

ASUS's ZenBook SSD and Apple's MacBookAir SSD

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