OWC's MacBook Air SSD Replacement and Benchmarks - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

OWC's MacBook Air SSD Replacement and Benchmarks

by

030938 owc aura pro compare front 500

ArsTechnica provides an extensive walkthrough and installation of the OWC MacBook Air SSD replacement kits. The OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express is the only presently available SSD replacement for the MacBook Air's new compact SSD drive.

Installation requires some disassembly of your MacBook Air as well as the lengthy backup/restore process to migrate your data. The new drive offers some performance benefit over the original Toshiba SSDs, and is about on-par with the recently shipping Samsung SSD drives.

135753 owc ssd benchmarks

The main benefit for the replacements are increased storage capacity, but it comes at a price with 180GB/240GB/360GB drives costing $499.99/$579.99/$1179.99 respectively.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Air (Neutral)
Related Forum: MacBook Air

Top Rated Comments

201 months ago
I want a 128 MB SSD. Awesome!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ciTiger Avatar
201 months ago
I'm really eager to see the MBA refresh! I know it may not happen this year but I'm hoping it does since it brings so much cash to Apple now...
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
201 months ago
Yeah, costly ... but ....

I have to disagree with some of you who seem to feel the product won't even succeed at these price-points.

I've been in this industry long enough to know that there's definitely a segment of the market out there who can afford to buy something like this -- and it's a segment somewhat likely to already own a Macbook Air.

You can compare the cost of the SSD to the cost of the whole machine and argue it's "ridiculously overpriced" from that standpoint -- but that doesn't tell the whole story. CAD designers and 3D animation people have been buying video cards that cost more than the entire rest of the computer they sit in for years and years.

For someone who really likes the lightweight, portable nature of the Air and feels that the only thing it lacks is sufficient fast storage space? They might very well say, "Sure, I'll pay another $1,000+ to have 3x the storage capacity it came with originally, and faster storage at that!"
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update — 10 a.m. Pacific Time: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and...
Apple iCloud Plus expansion hero

iCloud+ Now Includes Apple TV, Apple Arcade, and Curated Apple Music Stations in Over 100 Countries

Tuesday September 15, 2026 1:43 am PDT by
Apple today announced a new subscription initiative that turns paid iCloud+ subscriptions into a broader services bundle in more than 100 countries. In select countries, Apple says every paid iCloud+ plan, including the cheapest 50GB tier, now includes Apple TV and Apple Arcade "at no additional cost," while family sharing extends the storage, TV and Arcade access to up to five people....