SATA Drive recommendation for Mid 2012 Mac Pro running Lion

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Level 1

8 points

SATA Drive recommendation for Mid 2012 Mac Pro running Lion

I would like to add a new SATA hard drive to the last empty internal drive bay of my Mid 2012 Mac Pro (3.33GHz, 6 core), still running OSX 10.7.5 'Lion' and Adobe CS6 suite - the same hardware and software as from new.

I can find no info on the internet as to what make and models of hard drives will run safely on OSX Lion: Would a current model of SATA drive be compatible or should I try to find a drive of near contemporary age to that of the computer (two of the bays have Seagate Constellation ES.2 2TB drives in them)?

My Mac Pro tower is used for HD video editing and is switched off each night (so I know to avoid NAS and Enterprise class drives). I was considering 6 - 8TB drives (I have an OWC hard drive bracket for the differing screw hole positioning).

Recommendations of specific makes and models of drives would be very handy if I need to trace them down on the internet.

Mac Pro

Posted on May 14, 2020 3:39 AM

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Answer 1

keith358 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 16, 2020 7:15 AM in response to BDAqua

Thank you both for your replies to my query.

So, the SATA hard disc drive manufacturers have not added anything to their design specification which requires a newer operating system? (i.e. All current 3.5 inch SATA HDD are backward compatible to run on Mac OSX 10.4.6 'Tiger', dated 2006, or later operating systems?)

I'm a little confused as OWC, who specialise in upgrades for older Macs, only offer a limited range of SATA drives as being compatible with my model of Mac Pro tower.

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Answer 2

May 16, 2020 8:27 AM in response to keith358

You headed off the other "boiler-plate" about them moving the mounting holes on larger drives -- by saying you had that issue covered.

A few years ago, the switch to "perpendicular" (i.e., standing up instead of lying down end-to-end) magnetic regions changed the speed at which bits flew by the read/write heads. This meant EVERY drive was obsolete, and all manufacturers responded by re-tooling, consolidating, or going out of business. There are now no more than four actual rotating magnetic drive-makers.

OWC prides itself on its support. Any drive that is trouble-prone means it costs them more to support, and it is quickly eliminated from their offerings.

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Answer 3

keith358 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 19, 2020 3:21 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thank you for your reply.

I did a quick Google search and see the switch to 'perpendicular' was in 2006/7 so thankfully it shouldn't affect my 2012 Mac Pro (even though it is horizontal).

I'm in the UK so buying from OWC could be problematical, but perhaps finding in Britain one of the particular SATA drives models they recommend for my Mac Pro on their website is the way forward.

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Answer 4

keith358 Author

Level 1

8 points

May 21, 2020 4:29 AM in response to BDAqua

Thank you for the information, I didn't know that. I found a OWCshop website which lists resellers in continental Europe but nothing for the British Isles. I did eventually find somewhere in Ireland where I bought the OWC hard drive bracket.

Unfortunately, Megamac.com do not stock any 3.5 inch SATA HDD (just SSD). But I'll hang onto the web address for future use.

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Answer 5

May 21, 2020 6:34 AM in response to keith358

The way I sometimes shop is to look at a well-supported seller's site, and find equipment known to work.

If not possible to buy from them, take the spec for that same device and find a local supplier that has a liberal returns policy, and buy the same drive from them.

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Answer 6

Jun 2, 2020 7:27 AM in response to dejon196

If you have a Mac Pro from the later 2009 thru 2012 series, OWC Mount-Pro can be used to install a 2.5in form-factor drive in a drive bay.

For the 2006 thru 2008 models, internal solutions are more complex.

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Answer 7

May 14, 2020 7:16 AM in response to keith358

The "excitement" in disk drives (support for extremely large drives and drives with 4K physical blocks) was updated in MacOS 10.4, so you are good to go with any SATA drive available today.

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