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Home » Internal Hard Drives and SSD » OWC Neptune 6G SSDs

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We recommend 500GB Mercury Electra 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive (Mfr P/N: S3D7E6G500) from Other World Computing for $89.99 as a suitable alternative.

OWC

Neptune
500GB Solid-State Drive

Mac / PC
2.5" Serial-ATA
Speed Up Your Mac or PC
Introducing the OWC Neptune 6G SSD
Neptune 6G SSDs deliver the extra performance you need for your everyday computing tasks. Designed to bring new life to your Mac or PC, Neptune increases speed and capacity without breaking the bank. Built to the same exacting standards as all OWC SSDs, Neptune makes upgrading your computer an easy, smart decision. Get ready to love your computer again.
Life in the fast lane
From booting to browsing, launching apps and editing projects, upgrading your factory drive to a Neptune SSD puts your computer's performance back in the fast lane, with blazing fast internal speeds. Neptune SSDs are built with technologies that outperform your computer's spinning hard disk, but without a single moving part. It makes for internal storage that's not just faster, but far more rugged and reliable than your computer's hard drive today.
Ready, set, go
Upgrading your computer and migrating your data to a new Neptune SSD is easy. OWC gives you everything you need to make the upgrade a breeze, including step-by-step installation videos and a technical support team that is a live chat or call away to help if needed. Ready to make your computer feel like new? Upgrade with an OWC Neptune SSD.
Accelerate every task. Every time.
Neptune SSDs are engineered to perform your everyday computing tasks faster than you've ever experienced. Featuring top-tier TLC NAND flash with 6GB of super-fast cache, everything about your computer will feel faster.
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Highlights
  • Delivers faster boot times and program access
  • Improved performance and read/write speeds over factory installed HDD
  • Brings new life to aging computers
  • Perfect for students, home office and first time SSD users
  • 3 Year Limited Warranty

But Neptune SSDs aren’t just built for speed. Sophisticated on-board technologies like advanced error-correction and intelligent recycling mean Neptune SSDs are ultra-reliable and won’t slow down over time. For an SSD that delivers the reliability and performance you demand - for every task, every time - Neptune is the perfect choice.
Quality matters
For over 25 years, OWC has delivered innovative, high-quality upgrade and connectivity solutions to improve the performance and extend the life of computers. Each Neptune SSD undergoes comprehensive testing for quality, and is backed by OWC's award-winning U.S.-based lifetime support.

Release Candidate (RC) firmware set

There are two kinds of firmware for SSDs Mass Production (MP) and Release Candidate (RC). Prior to an MP firmware release, there are beta firmware releases and an RC firmware release. Often, the RC is the same as the MP release, however there can be small changes and bug fixes made between the two. OWC has evaluated the RC for the 6Gb/s SandForce 2281 Processor and found it to be stable with no issues reported during our testing. However, as with any evolutionary product, issues may surface as different usages and configurations are employed and it is important to understand that there will be further updates and revisions.

Since no firmware update is currently offered for the OWC Mercury EXTREME Pro 6G SSD, no update page exists. To see the typical steps involved with a self performed field firmware update, please visit our 3Gb/s product update page at: http://eshop.macsales.com/Customized_Pages/Framework.cfm?page=sf_firmware.html

It is important to note that the current firmware update tool requires the use of Windows XP/Vista/7. OWC is currently working on a Mac OS based update tool, but we do not have an exact availability date.

500GB Mercury Neptune 6G SSD Specifications:

Specifications

Controller
Silicon Motion SMI2258
NAND
3D TLC NAND Flash
Form Factor
Standard 7mm 2.5"
Interface
SATA 6Gb/s, SATA 3.0 Compliant
Capacity1
500GB
Formatted Capacity2
466GiB
RAID Support
YES
SMART Attributes
Standard attributes supported
Native Command Queuing
Up to 32 simultaneous commands
Manufacturer Model Number
S3D7N500
RoHS Compliant
Yes
Format
Unformatted (Instructions on formatting here)

Physical

Height (max)
7mm (0.3")
Width (max)
70.06mm (2.8")
Length (max)
100mm (3.9")
Weight
77 grams +/- 2 grams
0.170 lbs +/- 2.71 oz

Reliability3

Security
Chip Based Data Encryption: 256-bit AES-compliant
TRIM Support
OS Dependent

Performance

Sequential Read (Max)
Up to 494 MB/s
Sequential Write (Max)
Up to 390 MB/s

Power

Idle
∼ .05 W

Environmental (Operating)

Temperature (°F)
32°F to 158°F
Temperature (°C)
0°C to 70°C

Environmental (Non-Operating)

Temperature (°F)
−40°F to 185°F
Temperature (°C)
−40°C to 85°C

Acoustics

Idle (Typical)
0.0 bels
Seek (Typical)
0.0 bels
  1. 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending upon operating environment (typically 5-10% less). The actual total capacity will depend on your own defined file settings/preferences. 
  2. In terms of standard gigabytes, 1GiB ≈ 1.074GB and refers to the actual formatted capacity of shown under Mac OS 10.5 or earlier and Microsoft Windows OS.
  3. Specific application environments such as temperature and duty cycle will affect the overall reliability.
Manufacturer provided specifications for Other World Computing p/n S3D7N500S UPC#: 810586030397

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Customer Ratings

Write a Review 4.8 / 5 11 out of 11 (100%) reviewers would recommend this product
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Kerles Location: Brazil Age: 18-24 Experience Level: IT Professional Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 I really needed September 27, 2019 I have a MacBook Pro (13 inch, mid 2010), it was already very slow and said that the next time I would make that purchase, when I changed the apple factory hard drive for Neptune 6G and started using it, I was thrilled because my macbook pretty much got new.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from (*) 250GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: SammyJay Location: New Zealand Age: 55-65 Experience Level: Hobbiest Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Really good December 24, 2018 I used this ssd drive for a custom fusion setup along with the owc usb 3 case on my late 2012 imc 27. I did nt want to remove the screen so I thought this may be the answer to speed up the iMac without the stress ,Honestly I can say this is great The terminal instructions are at techrepublic or google 'custom fusion drive' and can be used with either Sierra and El Capitan ..

I would recommend this item to a friend! Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: EeeVee Location: Cuyahoga Falls OH Age: Over 65 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 GREAT PRODUCT October 13, 2018 Needed this as a back-up drive for an Apple Time Machine product. Worked well right out of box.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from (*) 250GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer Top 50 Contributor
Reviewer: StevenP Location: Tasmania, Australia Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 Pretty good for the price October 9, 2018 This is hardly a world beating SSD but that is by no means a criticism.

For the price, it has been an excellent addition in helping to restore a 13" 2010 MacBook Pro from being so slow to be unusable to a really good little laptop for someone wanting to browse the web, do some email, use Word, back up the photos on their iPhone and watch YouTube.

For the right use case, I can recommend this product.

I would recommend this item to a friend! Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: williamG Location: texas Age: 55-65 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 just get one September 25, 2018 just get one or ten I have 4 of these SSD Drives now and will get more when nedded.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from (*) 120GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: WayneManor Location: Boston Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Easy install. Speed increase even in an old Mac Tower August 29, 2018 I bought 2 250gb SSD's for 2 different old MacPro towers. It was a little tricky but not difficult to attach them to the drive sleds, but once attached, install takes about 2 minutes. The software install was a bit harder mainly due to my stupidity. On one machine I used restore from Recovery and then Migration Assistant. Very slow and NOT recommended. The other machine, I used Carbon Copy Cloner which is a wonderful piece of software. Basically 1 stop shopping. After the install, I rebooted into my SSD and some more stuff described next. The SSD was not big enough to handle my entire prior drive, so I did not transfer Downloads, Documents, Music and Movies. Then, when the new SSD was ready, I set up soft links to the files on my older drive. Everything works and I still have about 48gB left on my 250gb SSD,. Boot up time is way faster. I wish I could have afforded larger SSD's, but these are fine.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from (*) 250GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: donuil Location: Busselton, Australia Age: 55-65 Experience Level: IT Professional Owned Product: over 6 months
Rating: 5/5 Solid performer August 19, 2018 This meets all my expectations and performs well. This my second, as I put my first in an iMac I happened to have apart for repairs.

I would recommend this item to a friend! Customer Videos:

Reviewer: AriLeers Location: Santiago, Chile Age: 25-34 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 Very easy to install, Works Great July 20, 2018 Works perfectly on my Mac Pro (2009/2.66 Quad core)

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 500GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive (OEM 20 Pack). Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: nycmacsupport Location: Brooklyn, NY Experience Level: IT Professional Owned Product: over 6 months
Rating: 5/5 After one too many SanDisk failures, going back to OWC October 6, 2017 I buy SSDs for clients and am always trying to save them money. But what's more important than money is RELIABILITY. After two failures of SanDisk drives in one week, I'm never going back to cheap plastic encased SSDs again — too much heat. When you have to crack open an iMac not once but twice, forget it! What a terrible place to save a few dollars on production costs. OWC SSDs are properly enclosed in metal cases and are darn fast, too.

This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: RDMacBook Location: Atlanta, GA Age: 55-65 Experience Level: IT Professional Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 Great price on a Great Product September 9, 2017 Easy install, works great on my 2011 13" MacBook Pro, nice increase in performance.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: HotDoc2474 Location: Oregon Age: 45-54 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 Fantastic Upgrade! August 10, 2017 just upgraded my 2011 iMac with this SSD. Just like a new computer now. More than enough room for operating system and files. Still using old spinning drive for backups etc.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: ConvertedMacguy Location: New York City Age: 45-54 Experience Level: IT Professional Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Cant beat the price July 25, 2017 a 480 GB SSD for lless than 180 bucks you just can't go wrong. My MacBook Pro 13. crashed went online to MacSales and spoke to a service rep. We chatted a bit and decided on this SSD. What the heck its less that 180 bucks. Drove comes in installed in minutes, format the drive, I can't believe how fast this drive is compared to the original SATA drive. Its like a new laptop all over again. Thank You MacSales you won me over.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer Top 100 Contributor
Reviewer: Enkelkind Location: Tasmania, Australia Age: 45-54 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: over 6 months
Rating: 5/5 Excellent performance and quality July 2, 2017 A solid performer, fast and responsive. Easy to install. Good build quality. No hassles or issues.

This review is from (*) 240GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: RaoulDuke Location: Washington DC Age: 25-34 Experience Level: IT Professional Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 Perfect for Mid-2010 MBP June 8, 2017 This is an excellent balance of price and performance. I had previously replaced my MBP 5400RPM factory drive with a 1TB Seagate SSHD, but I got tired of the spinning beachball waiting for applications to load. I chose this over the Electra 3G because the minor boost in specs on the 3G wasn't worth the price difference to me. Sure, boots are around 40 seconds including password unlock instead of 30 seconds, but I'll keep the $65 for 10 seconds. Application switching and launching is instantaneous. The MLC NAND in the 3G will give a longer life than the TLC in the Neptune, but I'm only trying to get another 3ish years of life out of an outdated machine that doesn't have USB 3.0. By the time the Neptune fails, I'll be ready for a newer machine anyway. I'm glad OWC has this budget-friendly option!

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: TomL Location: Davis, Ca Age: Over 65 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Couldn't be any better or easier to install. March 6, 2017 The SSD drive breathed new life into an original Mac Book Pro. Installation was incredibly easy by following along the MacSales video instructions. The whole experience from having the drive ship in half the time expected to getting it installed in less than an hour couldn't have been any better.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from (*) 240GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: GMinor Location: San Diego Age: 25-34 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Incredible speed boost! February 5, 2017 This was easy to install in my early 2011 MBP. The performance gain was incredible. Everything opens extremely fast.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: DjGeorgeAlexander Location: Canton, Georgia Age: 35-44 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Awesome. January 30, 2017 It's worth it. My computers boots up in a flash. I should have upgraded sooner.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: MacNut Location: Brampton, Ontario, Canada Age: 55-65 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 Great SSD Great $$$ December 22, 2016 I installed this into a MBP 2012 9,2. I compared it to an identical MBP both with 12GB RAM with a Mercury Extreme Pro SSD same size. The boot-up time was on average 1 - 2 seconds slower. Can't see the difference in running apps though. Super fast. Super easy to install. OWC support videos are great.... I will monitor the MBP's for stability and longevity.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Sophak Location: Phnom Penh Age: 35-44 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 4/5 Working Fast and cheaper Price December 21, 2016 I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:
Verified Buyer Top 250 Contributor
Reviewer: arjay67ppp Location: Kankakee, IL Age: 45-54 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 Fast SSD, budget pricing December 21, 2016 I was surprised when OWC released the Neptune line. The specs are so very similar to the Mercury Electras but at a better price. So when I was looking to outfit my Mercury Elite Pro Dual with an SSD, this seemed like a good choice. I have had it just a few days, but already I'm pleased.

Previously I was using a Mercury Elite Pro Mini with a USB3 interface for my system drive. Since migrating to this new setup, boot and app load times have decreased significantly.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: mcyayix Location: Los Angeles, CA Age: 35-44 Experience Level: IT Professional Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 4/5 so far so good December 20, 2016 Upgraded old 2010 macbook pro 13" without any issues. Laptop seldom used and drive has only been installed <1month. 3Gbps SSD drives works fine, you're just wasting money if you use 6Gbps SSDs with this specific 2010 macbook pro.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: EeeVee Location: Cuyahoga Falls OH Age: Over 65 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: over 6 months
Rating: 5/5 Great SSD Drives December 18, 2016 I bought two 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drives for use as expansion drives. Placed them in two Seagate Expansion Portable 2.5-inch SATA HDD Enclosures, purchased earlier from OWC.

Installation was easy. After placing the drives in the enclosures, I formatted the drives using Mac OS X El Capitan. All went well. Operation of the drives and the enclosures meet my expectations. I would recommend these SSD drives and the enclosures to others.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Miggysd Location: San Diego Age: 25-34 Experience Level: IT Professional Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Made my computer run better then new. December 15, 2016 This was a great upgrade well a forced upgrade on my Macbook Pro my HDD was failing and i was already used to some increase in speed as i had an HDD that was 7500RPM that i added years ago. But it was not as close as it is on this SSD drive i know its not the fastest spec on but this makes my laptop boot in seconds and after logging in also. I should and an have always been wanting to do this upgrade. Now my battery should last a bit longer also as a SSD uses less energy and will also create almost no heat or extra sound i was different when I first booted it up as i could hear my older drive. Great upgrade especailly on an older Mac as its cant really utilize a faster SSD.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer Top 250 Contributor
Reviewer: Kagemusha Location: Los Angeles, CA Age: 55-65 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: over 6 months
Rating: 5/5 480GB SSD 2.5" HD December 4, 2016 I received the SSD fast. My IT Person installed it with no problem then transferred all my programs into it...it has been running fast and smooth the past couple of weeks...will give further comments as time goes on...I use it daily as I am a teacher and have to continually use my laptop to deliver my lessons and keep track of grades.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Hawksbill Location: Ottawa, ontario Age: 55-65 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Great SSD, great service November 14, 2016 I have now replaced my 5400rpm drive with 2 SSD's in my 2011 Mac Mini. Both drives came from OWC. Great product and the instructions were easy to follow.

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Rockstar Location: Miami Age: 35-44 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 MBP SSD Upgrade August 30, 2016 I purchased an i7 MBP for my music work. I wanted to have an ssd installed before doing any work on it so my friend recommended OWC & I was pleased with the quality & pricing. I have recommended them to others since & will use them again for other MBP upgrades. I did side by side bootups with my current setup & my other laptop and I was already starting up a program while my other laptop was just asking for a password

I would recommend this item to a friend! This review is from 480GB OWC Neptune 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive.. Customer Videos:

OWC Neptune 500GB Solid-State Drive Mfr P/N: S3D7N500S OWC SKU: OWCS3D7N500S Make everyday tasks from booting to launching apps faster with this entry-level OWC SSD. 3 Year OWC Limited Warranty
Reviews (11)
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