We tend to know as “hard disk” any storage disk that carries a computer such as Macs. However, to be as precise as possible, this name refers to HDDs , which come to be the classic mechanical disks. On the other hand we have the SSDs that refer to the flash drives that are used today and surpass the previous ones. But why? We will tell you.
If you have an older Mac, keep this in mind
This article does not pretend to be a guide in which to explain all the details of storage disks, but we want that after reading this you can have clear conclusions about the reason why changing the disk of a MacBook for an SSD can be a great option if you want to revive your old computer.
HDDs, whose acronym in English refer to Hard Drive Disk , were the storage units par excellence a few years ago for any computer. However, SSDs, short for Solid State Drive , offer many more advantages today and are more recommended for any computer, Mac included. Some of the most important are these:
- Greater speed when it comes to reading and writing data, making the computer more efficient in the end.
- Smaller size that allows manufacturers to save space inside the device to add other components such as more battery or make the equipment lighter (especially notable in laptops).
- Greater long-term durability, since HDDs tend to wear out much sooner and sometimes with a simple hit your data could be corrupted, the SSD being more resistant.
- In external models, the choice of an SSD is also decisive due to size and portability, being in this case also the best option to choose if you want to have an external drive in which to save data apart from the Mac.
And although it must also be said that SSDs are more expensive, in the end it may pay off. Apple greatly limits the repairs or replacement of parts of its equipment, but if you have an old iMac or MacBook, you can give it a completely new life as we told you before. Logically, you will not be able to continue updating to new versions of macOS because the rest of the pieces may have become obsolete, but at least it will be a useful emergency or secondary use kit.
A dilemma that is no longer in the new Macs
It must be said that all this that we have been commenting on in the article is no longer a problem if you are going to buy a new Mac . The entire current range of Apple computers already offers this type of storage disk as standard, so you will not find yourself in the dilemma of having to choose one or the other. However, we must remember that until not long ago, we continued to find the option of HDD hard drives.
This was not the case with the MacBook, but if the iMac. The 21.5-inch model launched in 2019 was in force until just a few months ago (when the iMac M1 arrived) and that team offered Fusion Drive , which is a mix between HDD and SSD that really did not end up satisfying everyone, since much of the storage that it used was in the mechanical disk and this made them tremendously slow.
