TRIM is a command that allows an operating system to inform a solid-state drive (SSD) which blocks of data are no longer considered in use and can be wiped internally. SSD handles deleted data differently from a “normal” hard drive eventually “clogging up” unused space. This significantly degrades the performance of write operations on SSD. TRIM enables more efficient data garbage management, which would otherwise slow future write operations to the involved blocks.
There are different mechanisms in place to do the same job. For example, many SSDs have their own internal background garbage collection mechanisms. They work independently and successfully maintain their performance even under operating systems that do not support TRIM. However, they have few drawbacks such as increased wear of flash cells. TRIM is a more efficient function in this sense.
Supported Windows Operating Systems (OS) detect SSDs automatically in the majority of cases. Windows enables TRIM when such is detected. Windows rarely needs additional configurations and if it does it is relatively simple to do. However, Mac OS does not support this function by default with third-party SSDs. It has to be enabled manually. To make matter worse, the latest macOS Sierra stopped supporting a number of SSD models that were previously supported in El Capitan. Make sure to check your device first before making any changes to the OS, as it may lead to failure. Consult with Bits and PCs, London Mac repair service for further advice.
