If I am planning to upgrade my Macbook Pro 13" (Late 2011) with a 7200RPM Hard drive, should I get a SATA 3Gb/s or SATA 6Gb/s drive?
MacBook – Should I get a SATA 3Gb/s or 6Gb/s hard drive for the MBP
hard drivemacbook pro
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Best Answer
Short answer: it doesn't matter.
Longer version: Either will work fine. SATA is backwards compatible, so SATA 6Gb/s drives will work on SATA 3Gb/s interfaces and vice-versa. The 2011 Macbook Pros have 6Gb/s ports for the HD (some in the optical bay as well). However, no mechanical hard drive can come close to maxing out SATA 3Gb/s speed, so you'll see no difference from a 6Gb/s drive or interface. It makes a difference with SSDs, but with hard drives, it's merely marketing.