MP 7,1 Apple SSD kit vs PCIe SSD

[jpuk81]

Hello,
I've just bought a Mac pro 2019 (7,1) with all basic specs and I've quickly run out of disk space (250GB ssd). I have only the n1 original Apple SSD and slot 2 is empty.

First Q:
What is the difference between upgrading the original Apple SSD kit and adding an additional SSD on the PCIe slots?

Second Q:
Can I buy only SSD n2 from the Apple kit? Or do I have to buy the kit of 2?

Third Q:
What would you recommend with a budget of £800?

Thank you

 

[4wdwrx]

Hi welcome!

This was from was from my initial research, I think this still holds true.

1) Only internal drives are allowed for use as boot drive, although I believe certain OWC PCIe SSDs kits can be used for Mac OS boot. PCIe drives will show as external drives. There may be a work around for this, like cloning it.

2) Putting in a second 256GB will not work, since there is no provisioning for it. The upgrade kits are always in pairs and has 1 and 2 on it. May be someday there would be a hack.

3) Depends how much storage you require. If is me, I would do 1 TB Apple SSD and 4TB M.2 with PCIe adapter.

 

[LeonPro]

This is from memory over a year ago. When I first got the 7,1 I immediately installed an SSD as a boot drive with the intention of using the Apple SSD as my editing drive. All you have to do from the Startup Security Utility is to allow booting from external media.

About Startup Security Utility on a Mac with the Apple T2 Security Chip - Apple Support

Use Startup Security Utility to make sure that your Mac always starts up from your designated startup disk, and always from a legitimate, trusted operating system.

support.apple.com

And while it worked with no issues, I didn't like the fact that I couldn't actually reformat the Apple SSD as a blank drive with no Apple OS files in there. What I learned is that the T2 security will always look for that drive. If you erase the contents, you'll hit a security snag that repeatedly asks for your set password or something like that. What I know is that I had to reset the 7,1 to install the MacOS files back again.

It's a minor snag, if you don't mind multiple MacOS files living in both drives. For me, it's wasted space. So I gave up on the idea of an external boot.

 

[MarkC426]

How would you go about re-installing (cloning) your system onto a larger pair of Apple SSD's?
Would you have to clone to a seperate drive, then install new blades and clone back.

Just researching in advance of ASmp disappointment....🤪

 

[cobra521]

Mark,

Here's the Apples-to-Apples link: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210626

Take it literally when they say "Do not proceed unless all data from the existing SSD has been backed up."

Tom

 

[flowrider]

I have ten internal SSDs in my NcMp 7,1. Only four of them are recognized as internal, one is the OEM Apple SSD and the other three are 2½ form factor mounted in an internal cage. The other six are blade SSDs on two PCIe cards. Four of the Samsung Blades have OSs installed and are bootable.

In September I ran a speed test of the OEM SSD and one of my Blades:

I have two PCIe SSD cards. An IOCreast card with two SSDs and a HighPoint SSD7103 with four SSDs (3 970 EVOs and 1 970 PRO) My Boot drive is on the 970 Pro on the HighPoint. I don't use my T2 drove for anything other as a backup in case of catastrophic failure. Both of my SSD cards were originally mounted in my cMP 5,1. I don't run these as a raid.

Below are the speeds recorded in BlackMagic Speed Test. The first is the 970 Pro on the Highpoint. The second is the T2 Drive:


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Lou