Transcend Debuts JetDrive SSD Upgrade Kits Up to 960GB for MacBook Air, Retina Macbook Pro

Transcend has introduced new JetDrive SSD upgrade kits designed for the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro with Retina display. The upgrade kits offer up to 960GB of internal storage capacity and come with both installation tools and instructions.

JetDrive kits also ship with an aluminum USB 3.0 enclosure, which allows upgraders to reuse their original SSD, and all kits include a five year warranty.

Stop shuffling around your files and fretting about storage space. Transcend's JetDrive SSD upgrade kits offer up to 960GB of storage capacity. Upgrading your Mac to a JetDrive SSD ensures you'll have plenty of space for all your favorite music, videos, and photos.

The JetDrive SSDs are able to take advantage of JetDrive Toolbox monitoring software, which keeps track of the health of the drive and enables TRIM support for optimum write speeds and SSD life. JetDrive SSDs also have maximum read speeds of 495MB/s and maximum write speeds of 495MB/s.

The company has three separate products for early MacBook Airs, mid–2012 MacBook Airs, and mid-2012 Retina Macbook Pros, in multiple capacities. While mid–2012 MacBook Airs and Retina MacBook Pros can be upgraded with 240, 480, or 960 GB of storage space, earlier MacBook Airs (late 2010 and mid–2011) are limited to 240 or 480 GB. Transcend's JetDrive kits are not PCIe and are not compatible with the most recently released 2013 MacBook Airs and Retina MacBook Pros.

Transcend's JetDrives can be found on Amazon.com, with prices ranging from $190 for the lower end upgrade to $600 for the higher end upgrade. Ordering information and specific links can be accessed on Transcend's website, but the 960 GB SSDs have yet to make their way to Amazon.

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
maxresdefault

Here's How the iOS 26.1 Transparency Toggle Changes Liquid Glass

Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
m4 macbook air blue

M5 MacBook Air Coming Spring 2026 With M5 Mac Studio and Mac Mini in Development

Thursday October 16, 2025 3:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year. Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...

Top Rated Comments

TranscendInfo Avatar
150 months ago
Hello Everyone!
This is Transcend's Official MacRumors account. We'd love to answer any questions you might have!
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TranscendInfo Avatar
150 months ago
“ JetDrive SSDs deliver the performance you need.”


They're not PCIe and the don't really deliver performance...
Hi treichert,
You'll be pleasantly surprised that our JetDrive SSDs are significantly faster than OEM Apple SSDs. For example, our 480GB JetDrive 520 installed in a 128GB Mid 2012 MacBook Air boosted sequential read speeds from 403 MB/s to 490 MB/s and sequential write speeds from 150 MB/s to 422 MB/s*. We'll be providing samples to various media for third party testing to substantiate our claims as well.

*Tested with Blackmagic Disk Speed Test
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maflynn Avatar
150 months ago
“ JetDrive SSDs deliver the performance you need.”


They're not PCIe and the don't really deliver performance...

My SATAIII SSDs is quite fast so while you may not be pleased with that. I'd say a SATA SSD is going to be faster then a SATA HD. So in a sense they are delivering performance. Just not to your liking.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Binarymix Avatar
150 months ago
So NOT for the 2013 Macbook Air :(


They need to get 3rd party SSD's for the 2013 models!!!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TranscendInfo Avatar
149 months ago
Everything has been tried. It was inserted properly and retried several times. If you look at the stock Apple drive, there's plenty of room for it to fit. That is not the case with your drive, as is quite evident in the side-by-side shot.

I've already requested the return to Amazon. Shipping back tomorrow. Don't see the point of discussing this matter further. This was the first time I've purchased a product made by Transcend. "One chance to make the right impression." G'luck with that.
Hello endlessct9a,
Thank you for your feedback on this issue. Again, we would like to apologize for the inconvenience we have caused you. We take such matters very seriously here at Transcend, and we’d like to take some time to explain our findings after thoroughly investigating this issue.

What we’ve found:

1. 13” Retina MacBook Pros are not affected by this issue since the SSD is located in it’s own plastic tray beneath the trackpad. Transcend’s JetDrive 720 is fully compatible with the 13” MacBook Pro with Retina display.

2. JetDrive 500 and 520 are not affected by this issue.

3. We have found that on some 15” Retina MacBook Pros, Apple’s assembly tolerances may allow for the motherboard to be shifted slightly to the right, decreasing the clearance between the speaker and the back of the SSD. The reduced clearance caused by the shifted motherboard will prevent our JetDrive 720 from seating correctly since it is 0.5mm longer than the stock SSD. We are therefore announcing that our JetDrive 720 is currently incompatible with the 15” MacBook Pro with Retina display.

Our next steps:
1. We will change all Amazon listings and our own website to reflect this issue.
2. We will redesign our JetDrive 720 PCB to be the exact length as the stock SSD, making it fully compatible with both the 13” and 15” MacBook Pro with Retina display.

We have attached a few photos to illustrate the above issues. (imgur link (http://transcendinfo.imgur.com/all/))

13" MacBook Pro with Retina display

Stock SSD
transcend jetdrive ssd upgrade kits image

Transcend JetDrive
transcend jetdrive ssd upgrade kits image

15" MacBook Pro with Retina display

Stock SSD
transcend jetdrive ssd upgrade kits image

Transcend JetDrive
transcend jetdrive ssd upgrade kits image

Stock SSD
transcend jetdrive ssd upgrade kits image

Transcend JetDrive
transcend jetdrive ssd upgrade kits image
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jakesaunders27 Avatar
150 months ago
YAY!!! Finally can stop living with 64GB!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)