SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) has been the hard drive interface method of choice for Macintosh computers since the G5. SATA replaces the older ATA hard drive interface. To help end users keep things straight, ATA was renamed PATA (Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment).
Hard drives that use the SATA interface have distinct advantages over ones that don't. The SATA interface provides faster transfer rates, thinner and more flexible cabling, and easier plug-and-play connections. Most SATA-based hard drives don't have any jumpers that need to be set. They also don't create a master/slave relationship between drives, as other methods did. Each hard drive operates on its own independent SATA channel.
There are currently two available versions of SATA: SATA 1.5 and SATA 3. The numbers reflect each version's data transfer rate; SATA 1.5 can transfer data at up to 1.5 Gbits/s, while SATA 3 can transfer data at up to 3 Gbits/s.
SATA 1.5 and SATA 3 devices are interchangeable. You can connect a SATA 1.5 hard drive to a SATA 3 interface, and the drive will work just fine, although only at the slower 1.5 Gbits/s speed. The reverse is also true. If you connect a SATA 3 hard drive to a SATA 1.5 interface it will work, but only at the reduced speed of the SATA 1.5 interface.
SATA interfaces are primarily used on hard drives and removable media drives, such as CD and DVD writers.
