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# Install WD Blue M.2 SSD into MacBook Air mid 2012
- URL: https://bjornsblog.nl/install-wd-blue-m-2-ssd-into-macbook-air-mid-2012/
- Published: 2016-11-14T12:59:31.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T16:02:44.000Z
- Author: Björn
- Tags: Reviews, Tips and tricks, 2012, M.2, MacBook Air, MBA, SSD, WD, #Migrated-1792765222485, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-10-23 16:20

![img_0029](https://bjornsblog.nl/content/images/2026/10/img_0029.jpg)

The MacBook Air mid 2012 is still a very capable notebook for everyday use. When my wife ordered one in 2012, we thought that a 120GB SSD would suffice, but times have changed and so has the size of IE. digital photo's. Time to upgrade the SSD!

I got my hands on a brand new [WD Blue M.2 SSD 250GB](https://www.wdc.com/nl-nl/products/solid-state-drives/wd-blue-ssd.html?ref=bjornsblog.nl#WDS250G1B0B), so I decided to use that one. Now you can't fit a M.2 SSD in a mid 2012 MacBook Air, but there is a company called [Sintech](http://www.sintech.cn/?ref=bjornsblog.nl) that is creating all kinds of SSD adapters. I ordered a MBA 2012 to M.2 SSD adapter from [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QA7Y1B6/ref=oh%5Faui%5Fdetailpage%5Fo00%5Fs00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&ref=bjornsblog.nl) and a week or so later it fell on my doormat.

![img_0031](https://bjornsblog.nl/content/images/2026/10/img_0031.jpg)

Installing the Western Digital Blue M.2 SSD on te adapter was a bit of a fiddle with what screw to use, but I got it mounted just fine. Luckily iFixit has a [full tutorial on how to swap the SSD](https://nl.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Air+13-Inch+Mid+2012+Solid-State+Drive+Replacement/10961?ref=bjornsblog.nl) (not that it is hard), so I followed their procedure and installed the SSD in the MacBook Air.

Obviously I had to reinstall MacOs, but that was easy because created a [MacOS installer USB Drive](http://www.macworld.com/article/3092900/macs/how-to-create-a-bootable-macos-sierra-installer-drive.html?ref=bjornsblog.nl) before I started and had a good Time Machine backup at hand which I made on a fast [G-Drive EV](http://www.mobile-harddisk.nl/product/7856/g-technology-g-drive-ev-raw-500gb.html?ref=bjornsblog.nl).

After installing and restoring 155GB of free space again :D

![Free space! At last!](https://bjornsblog.nl/content/images/2026/10/schermafbeelding-2016-11-12-om-16-28-23.png)

Free space! At last!

The MacBook Air 2012 isn't capable to make full use of the speed of the WD M.2 SSD (it should reach speeds of up to 545MB/sec), but it gave me a much better write speed. Reading was a little bit slower than on the original SSD but personally I think that's fine.

![](https://bjornsblog.nl/content/images/2026/10/schermafbeelding-2016-11-12-om-16-26-41.png)

![](https://bjornsblog.nl/content/images/2026/10/schermafbeelding-2016-11-12-om-13-59-20.png)