Transcend JetDrive 825, give a new life to your Mac with this SSD memory

I've been using my iMac for a little over a week Transcend JetDrive 825 SSD, and I can say that I was really surprised by the data transfer speed. I know it is something typical that is said, but the change is very noticeable when you use an HDD hard drive and go to an SSD.

In this case, the Transcend JetDrive 825 memory is prepared for use as an external and internal SSD, thanks to the connection kit that it has inside and therefore we can use it as we create, both with the connection of the Thunderbolt 2 PCIe port that is included as directly inside the Mac. 

As we saw at the time of its launch, the disk is inside a JetDrive 820 PCIe Gen3.0 unit and uses the same connector with the same dimensions in physical memory size as those carried by Macs as of 2013. This is the same connector and has more of the same dimensions as the reports produced since 2013Therefore, the computers in which this report can be inserted are from that year onwards.

Compatible equipment indoors

The list of compatible equipment with this JetDrive is long, but we already announced that it is equipment from 2013 onwards so it will be useful in MacBook Air, Mac mini, MacBook Pro and Mac Pro manufactured during this year or later. These are the compatible equipment that Trasncend shows us on its website:

• MacBook Air 11 ″ Mid 2013 (MacBook Air 6,1)
• MacBook Air 13 ″ Mid 2013 (MacBook Air 6,1)
• MacBook Air 11 ″ Early 2014 (MacBook Air 6,1)
• MacBook Air 13 ″ Early 2014 (MacBook Air 6,2)
• MacBook Air 11 ″ Early 2015 (MacBook Air 7,2)
• MacBook Air 13 ″ Early 2015 (MacBook Air 7,2)
• MacBook Air 13 ″ 2017 (MacBook Air 7,2)
• MacBook Pro Retina 13 ″ Late 2013 (MacBook Pro 11,1)
• MacBook Pro Retina 15 ″ Late 2013 (MacBook Pro 11,2 / 11,3)
• MacBook Pro Retina 13 ″ Mid 2014 (MacBook Pro 11,1)
• MacBook Pro Retina 15 ″ Mid 2014 (MacBook Pro 11,2 / 11,3)
• MacBook Pro Retina 13 ″ Early 2015 (MacBook Pro 12,1)
• MacBook Pro Retina 15 ″ Mid 2015 (MacBook Pro 11,4 / 11,5)
• Mac mini Late 2014 (Mac mini 7,1)
• Mac Pro Late 2013 (MacPro 6,1)

The installation in them is quite simple and in the SSD itself the necessary tools are added to be able to carry it out. You don't need to be an expert to do this and this video made by Transcend itself shows the installing this unit inside a compatible Mac:

Obviously any Mac with a Thunderbolt port will be able to use the SSD memory, in my case the iMac from 2012 has not had any problem with it. Obviously the connection with an external cable can give speeds somewhat lower than if we use it inside the Mac directly connected to the plate, but in my case and in the case of this review it has not been the case so speed results are based on Thunderbolt PCIe connection.

What's in the box

In this equipment everything necessary is added to be able to make the connection both inside our Mac and obviously from the Thunderbolt port, so there is no excuse not to do it. In addition to the Transcend JetDrive 825 drive, it adds:

• A T5 Torx screwdriver
• A P5 screwdriver
• The installation guide
• A rubber base to add in case you use it inside the Mac

Clarify that initially the format of the disk is ExFat, so we recommend that you perform a formatting using disk utility to mac OS Plus with registry to be able to use it without problems on your Mac computer if you want to install macOS.

Manufacturing materials and design

In this case we have a silver-colored external aluminum casing with the company logo silkscreened in the lower right corner. Add a blue LED The aluminum casing completely protects the internal unit, the downside is that to dissipate the heat it gets a bit hot but nothing alarming.

The Thunderbolt connection cable could be a bit longerIn any case, the reduced design and the benefits offered by this flash memory go above any other negative point. If you are thinking of buying an SSD flash memory, this can be a very good option.

Major cJetDrive 825 features

In this case, many will wonder the reason for using the Thunderbold 2 connection instead of Thunderbold 3, this is intended to be used in somewhat older equipment and in a greater variety of these.

• 3D NAND JetDrive Flash Memory 825
• Three capacities available: 240GB, 480GB and 960GB
• Dimensions and weight: 120mm x 31,5mm x 18,2mm and 88 grams
• Speeds up to * 950MB / s read and 950MB / s write for PCIe 3.0 compliant equipment. The speed on Mac with PCIe 2.0 will be a maximum of 750 MB / s read and 650 MB / s write
• 10Gb / s Aluminum Thunderbolt Enclosure
• Software to monitor the status of your SSD
• TRIM support on macOS
• 5 years warranty

Speed ​​test via Thunderbolt connection

In this case, as I comment, we have made the tests with the Thunderbolt cable and external case. In the tests carried out, the maximum reading and writing speed is more than enough for most users and for a sample I leave you with the capture:

Editor's opinion