(The original 2.5” and 1.8” SSD SATA connector required both a male and female plastic connector to mate the SSD to the computer). Standard SATA connector is too large for small form factorsĬard edge connectors – the part of a computer board that plugs into a computer – emerged to enable smaller designs and to further reduce manufacturing and component costs by requiring the installation of only a single female socket on the host as a receptor for the edge of the SSD’s printed circuit board. But over time the width of some SSDs became smaller than the SATA connector itself, driving the need for new connectors. In the early days of SSDs, that connector was typically the same SATA connector used with HDDs. The most important element of an SSD form factor is the interface connector, the conduit to the host computer. MO-297 with standard width (2.5”) SATA connector
#What is the form factor for macbook 2015 ssd serial#
JEDEC defined the MO-297 standard, which establishes parameters for the layout, connector locations and dimensions of 54mm x 39mm Serial ATA (SATA) SSDs, so they can use the same connector as standard 2.5” HDDs, but fit into a much smaller space. JEDEC (Joint Electronic Device Engineering Council) defines technical standards for the electronic industry including SSD form factors. The largest component of an SSD is a flash memory chip so, depending on how many flash chips are used, manufacturers have virtually limitless options in defining dimensions. SSD manufactured as a PCIe expansion card A PCIe SSD card solution resembles an add-in graphic card and installs the same way in the PCIe slot since the physical interface is PCIe. In fact some of the early SSDs slid into the high-speed PCIe slots inside the computer chassis, not into the drive bays. However, there’s no requirement for the SSD to match the shape of a typical HDD form factor. Internal circuit board of 1.8″ and 2.5″ SSD without the case The SSDs also use standard SATA connectors, but note that the SATA connector for 1.8” devices is narrower than the 2.5” devices to accommodate the smaller width. The two SSDs shown below are form factor identical twins-without the outer casing-to 1.8” and 2.5” HDDs. When solid state drives first started replacing HDDs, they had to fit into computer chassis or laptop drive bays built for HDDs, so they had to conform to HDD dimensions. Those 8” HDDs for datacenter storage and desktop PCs shed size to 5” to today’s 3.5”, and laptop HDDs, starting at 2.5”, are now as small as 1.8”. The computer industry used the platter diameter dimensions to describe the HDD form factors, and those contours shrank over the years. Over time the standard size of the magnetic patter diameter shrank, which allowed the HDD width to decrease as well. The height was dictated by the number of platters stacked on the motor (about 14 for the largest configurations). Overseeing all outbound marketing and performance analysis for the company. This is a guest post by Kent Smith, senior director of marketing for LSI’s Flash Components Division,