MBP Early 2015 13" SSD Upgrade, does it boost the device speed?

[GoztepeEge]

Hi! I currently have an "old-but-powerful enough" MBP Retina 13" Early 2015.
It has i5 processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB original SSD, etc. I would like to upgrade it a bit, the first thing is the SSD, I guess.

I now have 55GB of free space, so I do not have so much trouble with free space on this device.
However I am really curious in terms of the speed increase after an SSD upgrade is done.

On YouTube I have seen lots of videos like people are upgrading those Early 2015 devices with Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB SSDs. It seems the procedure is so easy, I just need a new SSD and an adapter, then all the process is preparing the SSD and then putting it inside the SSD slot of the computer.
But first, do we have anyone that has done this upgrade before, and can he/she leave some comments regarding this upgrade like:

Is there any disadvantage or side effect of this upgrade?
Does it make the device faster in terms of boot time, app opening, app running etc.?

 

[vince22]

Hi! I currently have an "old-but-powerful enough" MBP Retina 13" Early 2015.
It has i5 processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB original SSD, etc. I would like to upgrade it a bit, the first thing is the SSD, I guess.

I now have 55GB of free space, so I do not have so much trouble with free space on this device.
However I am really curious in terms of the speed increase after an SSD upgrade is done.

On YouTube I have seen lots of videos like people are upgrading those Early 2015 devices with Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB SSDs. It seems the procedure is so easy, I just need a new SSD and an adapter, then all the process is preparing the SSD and then putting it inside the SSD slot of the computer.
But first, do we have anyone that has done this upgrade before, and can he/she leave some comments regarding this upgrade like:

Is there any disadvantage or side effect of this upgrade?
Does it make the device faster in terms of boot time, app opening, app running etc.?

this might interest you.

Upgrading 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

This thread is about upgrading MacBook Airs & Macbook Pros (2013-2015) with new high speed and/or high capacity NVMe SSDs. This thread was one of the first to talk about MacBook Pro NVMe SSD upgrades on Macrumors, and was started by user "maxthackray", which we can thank and give tribute for...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Audit13]

The Samsung Evo Plus is compatible as long as it is running the latest firmware and the MacBook is running a High Sierra or newer boot rom. Big drawback with the Samsung is high battery drain.

 

[GoztepeEge]

The Samsung Evo Plus is compatible as long as it is running the latest firmware and the MacBook is running a High Sierra or newer boot rom. Big drawback with the Samsung is high battery drain.

These are the ones that I am running on right now. I am on the High Sierra.

How much battery does it take? Is there such big energy consumption difference between the Apple SSD and the Samsung?

 

[Audit13]

These are the ones that I am running on right now. I am on the High Sierra.

How much battery does it take? Is there such big energy consumption difference between the Apple SSD and the Samsung?

I personally used low-energy drives from the thread linked above.

I've seen posts from people who reported a drop is battery life of 25% to 40%.

The Evo is a very high performance drive and its r/w speed will be limited by the 13" Pro's PCIe 3.0 x 2 lane bus.

 

[bloomberg]

My experience after upgrading a mid 2015 MBP with a Samsung Evo 1Tb is it's significantly faster while booting, launching apps, & compiling, though battery life is also noticeably reduced - probably more so than the speed increase. If battery life is important I'd try a low energy drive like the above poster recommends. That being said I was so delighted the first few days after upgrading since it felt like a new computer.

 

[TorontoListener]

My experience after upgrading a mid 2015 MBP with a Samsung Evo 1Tb is it's significantly faster while booting, launching apps, & compiling, though battery life is also noticeably reduced - probably more so than the speed increase. If battery life is important I'd try a low energy drive like the above poster recommends. That being said I was so delighted the first few days after upgrading since it felt like a new computer.

Did you measure the before and after speed? What capacity was your stock drive?

I have experience with two Early 2015 13" Macbook Pros, one with factory 128GB SSD, and another with a factory 512GB SSD. The size of the SSD seems to make a difference with Write speed, but not Read speed with these machines:

13" Macbook Pro w/128 GB SSD:
640 MB/s Write, 1400 MB/s Read

13" Macbook Pro w/512 GB SSD:
1350 MB/s Write, 1400 MB/s Read

 

[bloomberg]

No, didn't run any benchmarks since the upgrade was primarily for the capacity increase. The speed boost was just the cherry on top, while the battery life hit was a kick to the balls. haha.

Anyways, this is for a 15" mid-2015 MBP, not a 13" if that matters.

I could run a benchmark on it now if that would help. Do you recommend a particular benchmarking app?

 

[TorontoListener]

Sure, thanks that would be interesting to see. You could try Blackmagic Disk Speed Test

 

[GoztepeEge]

Did you measure the before and after speed? What capacity was your stock drive?

I have experience with two Early 2015 13" Macbook Pros, one with factory 128GB SSD, and another with a factory 512GB SSD. The size of the SSD seems to make a difference with Write speed, but not Read speed with these machines:

13" Macbook Pro w/128 GB SSD:
640 MB/s Write, 1400 MB/s Read

13" Macbook Pro w/512 GB SSD:
1350 MB/s Write, 1400 MB/s Read

This is "not" a well-deserved upgrade in my opinion, because the Samsung SSD is able to write and read up to 3500Mb/s, however the 13" does not support these speeds, I guess.

If this is the case, I mean whatever SSD I use if I get always this result like 1400Mb/s write-read, I need to probably choose a low-power required SSD, not the Samsung 970 evo plus for example.
Am I right saying this? Because I do not want to handle with battery issues. If all SSDs are going to be limited by the 13" MBP Early 2015 capacities, up to 1400Mb/s, there is no need to use a high-power required SSD.

 

[smbu2000]

The only MBP able to take advantage of the significantly faster speeds is the 2015 15” model which has pcie 3.0 x4 lanes for faster speed. All other models 15” and 13” are limited to pcie 3.0 x2 speeds, which top out at the 1400-1500 speed range after overhead.

It’s best to go with a lower power model if you can’t take advantage of the extra speed.

Higher power models also tend to get hotter. Before I tested out my Samsung 960 Pro with the sintech adapter in a 2015 13” MBA and the bottom was hotter compared to the Apple factory drive. It was just a test though as I already owned the 960 Pro.

 

[GoztepeEge]

The only MBP able to take advantage of the significantly faster speeds is the 2015 15” model which has pcie 3.0 x4 lanes for faster speed. All other models 15” and 13” are limited to pcie 3.0 x2 speeds, which top out at the 1400-1500 speed range after overhead.

It’s best to go with a lower power model if you can’t take advantage of the extra speed.

Higher power models also tend to get hotter. Before I tested out my Samsung 960 Pro with the sintech adapter in a 2015 13” MBA and the bottom was hotter compared to the Apple factory drive. It was just a test though as I already owned the 960 Pro.

These are valuable information. Then I probably choose a lower-powered model, because of the battery and thermal issues. And my MBP 13" will also limit any SSD up to 1400MB/s, which means no need for any high-powered SSD.

Do you have any advise for a low-powered SSD model, in terms of reliability, speed, no issues/bugs, and price?

 

[TorontoListener]

The only MBP able to take advantage of the significantly faster speeds is the 2015 15” model which has pcie 3.0 x4 lanes for faster speed. All other models 15” and 13” are limited to pcie 3.0 x2 speeds, which top out at the 1400-1500 speed range after overhead.

Actually, to the best of my knowledge, the 2015 13" has PCIe 2.0 x4, while the 2014 and earlier has PCIe 2.0 x2. It's only the 15" that has PCIe 3.0. I believe that publications that publish the 2015 13" as PCIe 3.0 are in error, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

So for the 13" model, the max speed of the 2014 and earlier will be 700 MB/s, while the max speed of the 2015 is 1400 MB/s, so those facts must be taken into consideration when replacing the SSD with something "faster."

I"m not sure if the write speed of the 2014 is lower than the theoretical max if you have a tiny 128GB SSD, but it's certainly lower on the 2015. Capacity matters, up to a point.

 

[white7561]

Afaik the 2014 etc ones with 1.5GBps max throughput is PCIe Gen 2 x4 . I know because before moving to the new MacBook I upgraded my old MBA 2014 11 inch and its PCIe gen 2x4 AFAIK

 

[TorontoListener]

Afaik the 2014 etc ones with 1.5GBps max throughput is PCIe Gen 2 x4 . I know because before moving to the new MacBook I upgraded my old MBA 2014 11 inch and its PCIe gen 2x4 AFAIK

Don't know about the 11 inch...

For the 13", one of the selling points of the 2015 over the 2014 was double the bandwidth for storage. Here's a comparison, which lists the 2014 as PCIe 2.0 x2:

Differences Between Mid-2014 and Early 2015 Retina MacBook Pro: EveryMac.com

Compares and contrasts all differences between the 13-inch Mid-2014 and Early 2015 Retina Display MacBook Pro models. Architecture, graphics and more.

everymac.com

 

[smbu2000]

Actually, to the best of my knowledge, the 2015 13" has PCIe 2.0 x4, while the 2014 and earlier has PCIe 2.0 x2. It's only the 15" that has PCIe 3.0. I believe that publications that publish the 2015 13" as PCIe 3.0 are in error, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

So for the 13" model, the max speed of the 2014 and earlier will be 700 MB/s, while the max speed of the 2015 is 1400 MB/s, so those facts must be taken into consideration when replacing the SSD with something "faster."

I"m not sure if the write speed of the 2014 is lower than the theoretical max if you have a tiny 128GB SSD, but it's certainly lower on the 2015. Capacity matters, up to a point.

Ah, yes PCIe 2.0 x4! Sorry, it's been awhile since I've used one.
On the older models it was the drive itself that limited the speed. On my old late 2013 15" MBP, the original drive that it came with topped out at 700-800 MB/s. When I swapped in a 512GB drive from a 2015 MBP (SM0512G, the SSUBX model) though it was able to reach 1400-1500 MB/s speeds.

MBP about screen with drive info
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test (1346 Write/1506 Read)

 

[TorontoListener]

Ah, yes PCIe 2.0 x4! Sorry, it's been awhile since I've used one.
On the older models it was the drive itself that limited the speed. On my old late 2013 15" MBP, the original drive that it came with topped out at 700-800 MB/s. When I swapped in a 512GB drive from a 2015 MBP (SM0512G, the SSUBX model) though it was able to reach 1400-1500 MB/s speeds.

MBP about screen with drive info
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test (1346 Write/1506 Read)

I'm able to get almost that with my 2015 13" 512 GB (1300-1400 MB/s), so in your case, the drive might still be limiting the speed... the 15" should be capable of more.

 

[white7561]

Don't know about the 11 inch...

For the 13", one of the selling points of the 2015 over the 2014 was double the bandwidth for storage. Here's a comparison, which lists the 2014 as PCIe 2.0 x2:

Differences Between Mid-2014 and Early 2015 Retina MacBook Pro: EveryMac.com

Compares and contrasts all differences between the 13-inch Mid-2014 and Early 2015 Retina Display MacBook Pro models. Architecture, graphics and more.

everymac.com

Yeah on 11 inch 2014 if you use nvme it'll be gen 2x4 now so about 1.3-1.5GBps

 

[TorontoListener]

Whatever machine you use, simply going to a larger SSD improves the speed somewhat, at least for Write speed, even using the factory drives. I'm happy that's the case with my 13" for when I do some video editing while on vacation.

The higher-capacity = speed increase relationship is shown even with the new M1 Pro/Max machines. The 2TB is slightly faster than 1TB, which is slightly faster than 512 GB (which itself is blazing fast to begin with, compared to Intel machines).

 

[GoztepeEge]

Whatever machine you use, simply going to a larger SSD improves the speed somewhat, at least for Write speed, even using the factory drives. I'm happy that's the case with my 13" for when I do some video editing while on vacation.

The higher-capacity = speed increase relationship is shown even with the new M1 Pro/Max machines. The 2TB is slightly faster than 1TB, which is slightly faster than 512 GB (which itself is blazing fast to begin with, compared to Intel machines).

I did not know this information.
I am planning to purchase Adata SX8200 Pro, but I am not sure which size I should choose. I do not have a big demand in size, so 512GB and 1TB make almost no difference to me. But if you say 1TB is better than the 512GB one, I should probably do this upgrade with the 1TB one.

 

[TorontoListener]

I did not know this information.
I am planning to purchase Adata SX8200 Pro, but I am not sure which size I should choose. I do not have a big demand in size, so 512GB and 1TB make almost no difference to me. But if you say 1TB is better than the 512GB one, I should probably do this upgrade with the 1TB one.

I doubt you'd see any speed benefit going above 512GB, because the limiting factor would be the 2015 Macbook 13" PCIe 2.0 x4 limit, which is around ~1400-1500 MB/s maximum (the M1 and M1 Pro/Max have much faster SSD speeds to begin with). The stock 512GB already comes close to that maximum (though the 128GB does not, at least for Write speed).

 

[GoztepeEge]

I doubt you'd see any speed benefit going above 512GB, because the limiting factor would be the 2015 Macbook 13" PCIe 2.0 x4 limit, which is around ~1400-1500 MB/s maximum (the M1 and M1 Pro/Max have much faster SSD speeds to begin with). The stock 512GB already comes close to that maximum (though the 128GB does not, at least for Write speed).

This is definitely right, my Early 2015 MBP 13" was able to provide almost 700-800MB/s write and 1400MB/s read at the time like it was new, in 2016-2017 etc. However nowadays it is almost 500MB/s write, read speed is also decreased to 1250MB/s.

In this case I probably choose either XPG SX8200 512GB or 1TB, but my priority is of course the 1TB one.
It is not extremely important for me to be limited to 1400MB/s with the new SSD as well, but anyway I hope the computer gets faster with this upgrade.

 

[TorontoListener]

It is not extremely important for me to be limited to 1400MB/s with the new SSD as well, but anyway I hope the computer gets faster with this upgrade.

The Write speed certainly will be faster with the upgrade, and maybe a slight bump in Read speed too.

 

[GoztepeEge]

The Write speed certainly will be faster with the upgrade, and maybe a slight bump in Read speed too.

I got it, and sounds really great.
The only thing that I am concerned now is the power consumption. I do not want to ruin my newly-replaced battery.
Hence I just checked and concluded that the Adata XPG SX8200 has a balance in between the power consumption and the speed/reliability.
But however, I hope I notice no big effect on the battery.

 

[zebscy]

I got it, and sounds really great.
The only thing that I am concerned now is the power consumption. I do not want to ruin my newly-replaced battery.
Hence I just checked and concluded that the Adata XPG SX8200 has a balance in between the power consumption and the speed/reliability.
But however, I hope I notice no big effect on the battery.

Did you end up upgrading? Which drive did you get and how did it go?