OK, I just ordered the 1 TB SSD from OWC for my MBA. I’m using the settlement check I received today.
BTW, what is the best way to destroy the old SSD?
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In the case of an older MBA, the easiest is to turn on File Vault. That way anything on there is encrypted and once you remove it from your MBA, without your password as the key to decrypt its contents, that data is scrambled nonsense forever. That’s the elegant way.
Of course that requires the system to be bootable. If you have to boot it externally, you can still use Disk Utility to write garbage onto the entire SSD. Problem is, that’s by no means as certain to render the desired result as it was back in the HDD days — we’ve already had several threads here on this can of worms. So while that can be made to work, you need to know what you’re doing if you want to be 100% certain.
Then there’s brute force ways. You can put the SSD in a solid bag and treat with a hammer until all you’re left with is e-waste sand in a bag. Some folks prefer to take a firearm to obliterate the flash chips. No matter what you choose, as long as those chips are destroyed, your old data will be safe from prying eyes. These brute-force methods are also what you should be considering if the SSD can no longer be accessed (eg. hardware issue) through the OS or other software.
Well, as part of my testing I tried to reformat the SSD but it stalled trying to create a new APFS on it even when I let it run for over 24 hours. If I was still living on my rural 10 acres, I could try using 9mm, 5.56mm, or .410 but I now live in town and they would frown on that.
If you can still write to it, Apple’s secure erase utility (diskutil secureErase) using one of the single-pass mechanisms (zeros or random data) should work fine. Your old data will be completely inaccessible via software.
It might be possible to access overwritten data by removing the chips from the module or by installing hacked firmware into the SSD controller, but I think it’s unlikely anybody with the ability to do that will bother unless they believe in advance that there’s data sensitive enough to be worth their while. If you think you might be in this situation, then you should resort to physical destruction (see below).
If the SSD can’t be written, then you can’t overwrite anything. Physical destruction would be best. A powerful shredder can make short work of an m.2 module. Or you can just snap the board in a few places.
If you think there’s something so sensitive that somebody may try and scavenge data from the raw chips, then make sure the chips themselves are destroyed. Power tools can be good for that. But use caution - you don’t want shards going into your eye and you don’t want to inhale chip-dust.
A home power or even hand drill can also work before to recycle electronics
Or a hammer. I just disposed ofd 2 Seagate Backup+ 2.5 inch external USB drives that failed. Luckily, most drives that size actually have glass platters instead of metal so put them on the concrete garage floor, a couple whacks with a hammer; and one can hear the busted platters rattling around inside the case.
Problem solved.
That is what I was considering. I have several “stepper” drill bits to choose from.
BTW I was just notified by USPS my new SSD will be delayed due to weather in Illinois.
Would suggest starrt with an 1/8 prox drill bit in several places- then use a 1/4 drill thru same hole. most cases are aluminum
and two or three holes will be more than adequate
The SSD is not in a case but on a PC board with the chips exposed. I’ll just drill through each chip on the board.
Most of my work done on a Mac is now stored on an external Thunderbolt drive.
Solidering SSD-discs to motherboards is not a sustainable and eco-friendly thing to do in the long run.
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