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OWC

1.0TB Aura 6G SSD / Flash Internal Drive Upgrade
for 2012 to Early 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina display

Upgrade Kit with Drive, Install Tools, + Envoy Pro
for Easy Data Transfer/Original Drive Reuse
The 1TB Aura SSD features a suite of industry leading controller technologies for performance and reliability.
  • Global wear leveling algorithm automatically distributes data evenly and manages program/erase count, maximizing SSD lifespan.
  • StaticDataRefresh technology manages free space, gradually refreshing data across the SSD over time, enhancing data integrity.
  • Hardware BCH ECC corrects errors up to 66-bit/1KB for superior data retention and drive health.
  • Best-in-class power consumption
  • Advanced security protocols support AES 128/256-bit full-drive encryption
The Only Complete 2-in-1 Upgrade Solution:
  • Upgrade your rMBP's factory installed SSD with greater performance and capacity via the Aura.
  • Retask the replaced factory SSD as a bus-powered*, pocket-sized external storage solution via the Envoy Pro.
First and Only Complete Storage Upgrade
Once again, OWC provides Mac users the only upgrade solution that delivers higher performance, functionality, and reliability! When first introduced, the MacBook Pro with Retina display base model offered a 256GB SSD configuration with no upgrade option. Current base models start from 128GB to 256GB. Now, instead of being "factory locked", the OWC Aura 6G gives you the freedom to upgrade your capacity to meet your storage needs. Just like other OWC upgrades, we include the installation tools you need plus a free 'how-to' video to make this an easy and money-saving DIY upgrade.
Ultra-portable, bus-powered external storage solution designed to complement the MacBook Pro with Retina display
The OWC Envoy Pro combines elegance and functionality into a sleek, portable external storage solution that complements the design and finish of the MacBook® Pro with Retina display. Its anodized aluminum body protects your drive and data, while its minimal size allows for simple stowing in coat pockets, backpacks or briefcases.

The USB 3.0 interface offers speedy transfer rates of up to 500MB/s and the Envoy Pro requires no AC power.
Better by Design
"Mean Time To Failure" – We all know that nothing lasts forever, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't get the most out of your investment. The 1TB Aura 6G SSD is designed and built using tier-1 NAND flash. Utilizing a suite of industry-leading controller technologies and backed by a 3-year warranty, OWC SSD's are engineered to keep working reliably at max performance long into the future.

This adds up to a MTTF that is higher than most enterprise class hard drives and SSDs on the market today.

OWC Note: Compatible with the Flash SSD module used in 2012-2013 13" and 15" MacBook Pro with Retina Display models. If you would prefer a prebuilt solution, please see OWC's line of Envoy Pro EX portables.
The Aura™ is compatible with... Learn how to find your Mac's model ID
MacBook Pro Retina
MacBook Pro (15-inch Retina Display 2013)
(January, 2013)
Model ID: MacBookPro10,1
2.4GHz, 2.7GHz, 2.8GHz
MacBook Pro Retina
MacBook Pro (13-inch Retina Display 2013)
(January, 2013)
Model ID: MacBookPro10,2
2.5GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.9GHz, 3.0GHz
MacBook Pro Retina
MacBook Pro (15-inch Retina Display 2012)
(June, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookPro10,1
2.3GHz, 2.6GHz, 2.7GHz
MacBook Pro Retina
MacBook Pro (13-inch Retina Display 2012-2013)
(October, 2012)
Model ID: MacBookPro10,2
2.5GHz, 2.9GHz
Not for use with Late 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina Display with model ID: MacBookPro11,x

Includes

Aura 6G Solid State Drive includes
  • OWC Aura 6G SSD
  • OWC Envoy Pro USB 3.0 bus-powered* storage solution
  • Carrying case
  • High-quality double-shielded connecting cable:
    • USB 3.0 (Micro-B to Standard-A)
  • Pentalobe compatible driver
  • Torx T6S security driver
  • Torx T-5 Screwdriver

Gallery

1.0TB Aura™ SSD 6G Specifications:

Specifications

Capacity1
960GB useable capacity
Total Flash Memory Components – 1024GB
64GB allocated to real-time data redundancy & error correction
Formatted Capacity2
894GiB
DRAM Cache
1GB DDR3
NAND
Tier 1 Major Multi-Level Cell (MLC) High-Performance Sync-NAND Flash
Controller
Silicon Motion SM2246EN Processor with 7% Over Provisioning
SMART Attributes
Standard
Native Command Queuing
up to 32 commands
Manufacturer Model Number
OWCSSDA12R960
RoHS Compliant
Yes
Format

Reliability3

Data Reliability
Built-in BCH ECC: Up to 66 bits correctable per 1024 bytes
Security
Chip Based Data Encryption: 256-bit AES-compliant
TRIM Support
OS Dependent
Nonrecoverable Read Errors
Less than 1 sector per 1016 bits read
Warranty
3 Year OWC SSD
Limited Warranty

(Standard return policy applies.)

Performance

Sustained
Reads (up to)
560MB/s
Sustained
Writes (up to)
460MB/s
Random 4K Read
Up to 74,000 IOPS
Random 4K Write
Up to 73,000 IOPS
Read Latency
less than 0.1ms
Write Latency
less than 0.1ms

Power

Active Power
2 Watts
Idle Power
.7 Watts
Power Nap compatible

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 rates.



OWC Envoy Pro Specifications:

Chipset

  • High-performance ASMedia 1053e chipset

Interfaces Supported

  • USB 3.0 interface

Port Configuration

  • USB 3.0 interface (Micro-B port)

Max Data Transfer Rate

  • One Micro-B USB 3.0 port, up to 500MB/s

Features

  • Bus-powered* via USB 3.0 port (no AC adapter required)
  • Complements rMBP design, anodized aluminum finish
  • Super-quiet, fanless operation
  • Non-skid rubber feet

System Requirements

  • Mac® Requirements: Mac OS 10.3 or later and an available and supported USB 3.0 port.
  • PC Requirements: Windows XP or later and an available and supported USB 3.0 port.
  • Linux® Requirements: Linux OS versions and an available and supported USB 3.0 port.

UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol) Compliant

  • Yes

Cooling

  • Silent, fanless operation

Power Supply

  • Bus-powered* via USB port (no AC adapter required)

Drive Requirements

  • Compatible with the stock Apple Flash SSD module for the 13" or 15" MacBook Pro Retina model.

External Case Dimensions

  • 2.125 in (W) x 4.5 in (D) x .4375 in (H)
  • 53.98 mm (W) x 114.3 mm (D) x 11.11mm (H)

Enclosure Weight (no accessories)

  • 3.4 ounces (empty case, no drive installed)

Product Manual

Operating Environment:

Temperature

  • Dependent on mechanism installed

Relative Humidity

  • Dependent on mechanism installed

Shock

  • Dependent on mechanism installed

Vibration

  • Dependent on mechanism installed

Warranty

1 Year OWC Solution Limited Warranty

The best warranty is one you never have to use, but should the need occur – OWC is proud to provide a superior level of support and warranty coverage to our customers. Even when not used, we understand the peace of mind afforded by a longer warranty period. OWC's industry leading coverage is a testament to our confidence in the reliability of the solutions that we offer. OWC solutions are engineered to demanding quality standards in order to deliver the most reliable, highest performance available on the market in each storage category.

View more information about the 1 Year OWC Solution Limited Warranty

IMPORTANT NOTE: The OWC Envoy Pro enclosure has been specifically designed for use ONLY with the factory SSD found installed in 2012-Early 2013 Apple MacBook Pro with Retina™ display models. Do NOT attempt to install or use the OWC Aura SSD in the Envoy as you can damage the Aura drive, the Envoy enclosure or both and such damage is not covered under warranty. To transfer data from the Apple SSD in the Envoy to the Aura SSD in the computer, please click here.
Manufacturer provided specifications for Other World Computing p/n SSDA12K960 UPC#: 812437020762
       

Reviews

Customer Ratings

Write a Review 4.9 / 5 37 out of 37 (100%) reviewers would recommend this product
1 2
Verified Buyer
Reviewer: dRailer
Rating: 5/5 Excellent Experience August 30, 2016 Overall, loved this. So nice to have a back-up of your whole system sitting there while you're tinkering to get the new one in place. Strongly recommend doing transfer up-front.

If I could give one piece of advice to anybody doing this it would be this: Double-Sided Sticky Tape. The hardest part of this process is keeping track of screws. Grab some double-sided sticky tape, make a small rectangle that represents your laptop, off to one side of your work surface... and for every screw you remove, push it (head first, not point, of course) down into the tape where it would go on the laptop. Made it absolutely foolproof.

By the way, the newest versions of OSX allow TRIM through terminal, from what I understand. Don't quote me direct, but I think it is "sudo trimforce enable"

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

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Ricavataro Age: 45-54 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 SSD Performs like a charm August 22, 2016 The SSD was delivered as promissed and all the needed tools were provided. The instruction video was clear and easy to follow.

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

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: GregL Location: Midwest Age: 45-54 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 Great kit August 11, 2016 I purchased a 1T SSD to upgrade my Macbook Pro from 250GB. The instructions provided by OWC guided me through the process flawlessly. I also received a call and email from a MacSales representative offering assistance with my purchase. He provided links to OWC instructional videos and step-by-step install instructions.

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

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Cayman Islands Age: 25-34 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Purchased 1 TB SSD Drive - Extremely Fast and Efficient - Works Great! July 16, 2016 I purchased this 1 TB SSD + External closure kit for my late 2012 Macbook pro retina 13 inch to upgrade it from 128 GB of ram to 1 TB and I have had no complaints so far. I received the package in a quick and timely fashion and the installation was quick and easy. I find Mac Sales to be incredible when it comes to assistance and support as well as providing a great deal of information for all steps during any of the installation processes. I find the entire company to be very organized and their products to be of the highest quality. I would recommend this product to anybody looking to increase the size of their SSD hard drive from the stock standard.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: ontario, canada Age: 55-65 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: over 6 months
Rating: 5/5 It works like a charm July 2, 2016 Installation with your video was easy and also I have got an extra Hard Drive. Great improvement.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Austin, TX Age: 55-65 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: 3-4 months
Rating: 5/5 Machine feels like new! :-) June 20, 2016 After 4 years the SSD was getting noticiably slower. This upgrade gave me more space and faster access. It was very easy to install and well worth the price. Easily extends my machine for at least another 3 years.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Sydney, Australia Age: 25-34 Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Easy to switch and outstanding performance June 9, 2016 Couldn't ask for anything more. Followed the instructions and not long after I 4x my hard disk and use the other as a media drive for running Adobe Premiere Pro projects. Everyone wins.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: São Paulo, Brazil Age: 35-44 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Awesome June 6, 2016 So easy to install that I thought I was doing something wrong. Enclosure bundled is really nice.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer Top 250 Contributor
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Murrells Inlet, SC Age: Over 65 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Excellent upgrade May 30, 2016 The SSD replacement for my MacPro Laptop is excellent and as advertised. I was able to install it myself with the available video instructions. I upgraded my "hard drive" from 750GB to ~1TB and placed the old drive into the OWC enclosure to use as an additional fast drive.

The product is excellent quality and, as I said, exactly as advertised. I await OWC engineers designing both higher capacity SSDs and memory modifications that will let me install more than 16GB memory in my MacBook Pro Laptop (early 2013, MacBookPro10,1).

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Kentucky Age: 45-54 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 Great Drive, Be Wary of the Pentalobe Driver April 9, 2016 The upgrade process was easy: 1. New driver into external enclosure 2. Carbon Copy Cloner: old drive -> new 3. Shutdown 4. Swap Drives 5. Reboot 6. Chameleon SSD Optimizer to enable TRIM You will be up and running in minutes after cloning the drive PROVIDING you can get the screws out. Unfortunately, the pentalobe driver OWC shipped was damaged and I didn't realize it at first and stripped a couple of screws. I had to drill them out. Nothing like an expensive laptop on a drill press, but it worked. (I was impatient - don't do it.) I called tech support and they overnighted another driver. However, it was also damaged. They must have had a bad batch, so be wary. With a good driver, it should take 15 minutes to swap drives. Also, keep track of the different types of screws. The online video has a still image showing the different sizes, but with all the problems, I lost track. Even with a magnifying glass, I could hardly tell any difference. Overall, I still like OWC a lot. They went the extra mile to help me even if it didn't work out.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Australia Age: Over 65 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Installation guides great March 17, 2016 My main concern was recreating my laptop software after installing the SSD. But I needn't have worried. The guides were comprehensive clear and easy to follow, and recreation of my laptop worked perfectly.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Israel Age: 45-54 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 Very pleased with the SSD and ordering process February 28, 2016 This was my first time ordering from OWC. I had the SSD shipped abroad, and it arrived within just under a week of placing the order (including the few days it took the package to clear customs), so it arrived very fast. The SSD itself is now installed and working perfectly, as is the original SSD in the enclosure included in the kit. Very pleased with everything!

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 45-54 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Given my MacBook Pro a new lease on life! February 16, 2016 I'm extremely happy with this product. Easy to install and the extra space is so useful. This really has given my MacBook Pro a new lease on life! Friendly customer service who are more than happy to offer advice. Thanks MacSales!

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer Top 100 Contributor
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Rockville, MD Experience Level: IT Professional Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Really improved my MacBookPro 15 2013 January 18, 2016 Installation video was easy to follow. This swap out was easy. The external Envoy Pro worked immediately. I like products like this! Highly recommended as the only SSD of 1 TB for my model.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer Top 100 Contributor
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Palm Bay, FL Age: 55-65 Experience Level: IT Professional Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Great product wish I could install 1 in my Imac too! December 31, 2015 This unit has been working flawlessly since I received it. The external USB3 case is also working great and I have been booting my old OS from it as necessary with no noticeable difference in speed once its booted.

I would not hesitate to recommend this to anyone that needs to replace a failing internal SSD or needs more space than they have now. I do not know about you but when I purchased my MacBook I was leary about the space the internal drive had and was under the impression that it was fixed and could not be updated. I was happy to hear that it was in fact replaceable by a FASTER and larger SSD.

Speaking of FASTER, this unit is noticeably faster in every way, booting and compiling my large apps. Not to mention it even seems that my battery lasts longer now...

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Reviewer: Anonymous Age: 45-54 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 10 min to double my storage December 21, 2015 I was rapidly running our of space on my MacbookPro 10.1, but other than that it's a great machine. I figured it was time for a new one until I came across the OWC solution. Now my trusty MBP is not only faster, but I have > 400 GB free to work with! I cloned my machine onto the new drive using the slick USB 3 enclosure (took less than 2 hrs for 480 GB), then opened up the laptop using the enclosed Torx driver, removed the original SSD and popped in the new one in about 5 min. Everything started up as usual and after some synching with my Box and Dropbox folders, things are better than new.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Age: 35-44 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: 3-4 months
Rating: 4/5 Good Drive December 14, 2015 I have not yet notice any significant performance difference over my previous apple drive, but I can say it's stable and appears to be reliable. I will know more in a year or so. In the process of transferring from my old apple drive to this one I did sadly loose my microsoft package because it was not transferred properly. This fault may be due to a problem with the Time Machine package produced by Apple and NOT because of OWC's drive.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Rural Nebraska Age: 55-65 Experience Level: IT Professional Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 A good solid upgrade December 7, 2015 Hardware installation was easy. Installed Mac OX and Boot Camp, then Migration Assistant to restore user accounts and applications. All in all a very uneventful process. This new SSD is very speedy in my 2012 15" MacBook Pro Retina with 16 GB RAM. Initially I was hesitant to invest in a larger SSD but I'm glad I did. The external drive housing for the pulled 500 GB SSD was a welcome addition too.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Philadelphia, PA Age: 55-65 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 WOW, 4x the storage on my rMBP! November 17, 2015 Bought my 2013 rMBP with a 256 SSD. Lately I've been struggling to keep 10G of free space. UGH, those small drives fill up so fast. The Aura 1TB SSD was the perfect, simple, elegant solution. It's well designed, fast, bundled with everything I needed and a breeze to install thanks to OWC's excellent videos and instructions online. I couldn't be happier.

The only thing I did differently than suggested was to put the Aura 1TB into the Envoy enclosure first, set it up, format it and migrate my data to it before putting it in the Mac. Since the rMPB wasn't really designed with user serviceability in mind and has a bunch of small screws you could lose with a sneeze, I didn't want to risk making a mistake and having to open the Mac twice. Turned out everything went right the first time, and I only wasted about 10 minutes putting the Aura in the enclosure and taking it back out when it was time to put it in the Mac. Maybe I'm just a bit timid, but I felt more comfortable doing it that way and it worked perfectly. Don't know it there is a downside to this method, but everything seems to work just fine.

Thanks again OWC for another great product. You have long been my go-to vendor for all things Macintosh.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Atlanta, GA Age: 35-44 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: over 6 months
Rating: 5/5 Easy, Painless, Seamless - Thank You! November 10, 2015 I'm very happy to write this review and highly recommend this product. Initially I was nervous to even consider opening my MacBook Pro. After watching the installation videos provided I realized that it was just too easy to pass up the opportunity to upgrade the HD. I placed the order shortly thereafter for the 1TB SSD for my 15" Retina. I cannot believe how easy and quick the DIY process was. Truly unbelievable that now I have 1TB of disk space on this laptop so I will not need to purchase a new computer for many many years to come thanks to OWC. Thank you for making this process simple, for developing such a high quality product, and for making my tech life so much better!

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Chilliwack, BC, Canada Age: 35-44 Experience Level: Power User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 Great kit, fast drive! October 29, 2015 This whole kit is great and easy to use for the upgrade. The external drive case it nice. The only improvement would be a more flexible USB 3.0 cable - the once it comes with is short and not very flexible.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous
Rating: 5/5 a breeze to install and now I have space July 5, 2015 I run fusion on my Mac so now I have disk space for both OSX and Windows.. also very easy to install thanks to OWC's video

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Perth Age: 45-54 Experience Level: IT Professional Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 Wish I'd done this ages ago July 3, 2015 This upgrade is so easy with the OWC kit that you'll wish you had done it years ago. I was always struggling with space on my SSD and kept buying external drives etc. that never really worked well because they were hard disk based or used USB making them much slower than the internal drive. The process of installing this drive is so easy - with the supplied screwdrivers take 10 screws out of the bottom of the case, one out internally, replace the SSD and put it all back together. Even OSX makes it easy to boot from the old drive and copy the data to the new one, hey presto internal SSD space doubled and a free external drive to boot. Hard to go wrong, the only I thing that could be improved is if the external drive was thunderbolt rather than USB3 but this is minor.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Reviewer: Anonymous Location: NH Age: 35-44 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: less than a month
Rating: 5/5 Very Nice July 1, 2015 I ordered the 1 TB drive with Envoy and tool kit.

The install was easy (video provided was excellent). I was up and running in about 15-20 minutes. I chose to do a clean install rather than backup from Time Machine.

The external housing was a great addition. I now have a very fast external drive I use for quick backups. The quality seems top notch. Very happy thus far.

I would recommend this item to a friend!

Verified Buyer
Reviewer: Anonymous Location: Manhattan Beach, Ca Age: 45-54 Experience Level: Home User Owned Product: 1-3 months
Rating: 5/5 No brainier! June 14, 2015 Excellent customer service on phone Easy transaction Fast shipping Fantastic step by step video instructions on upgrade Super-fast SSD works as advertised

I would recommend this item to a friend!

*Requires USB 3.0 standard powered port. USB 2.0 use not supported or recommended.