MC Express 1TB PCIe SSD compatibility with early 2015 MBPro 13"

[MBPro_Rookie]

I've recently purchased a used early 2015 13" Retina MB Pro with 8GB Ram and 128GB SSD. I've been doing a lot of research and am beginning to get a hint of the complexities in my question.

1. Will the new MCE Technologies 1TB PCIe SSD work in my machine?
http://store.mcetech.com/mm/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=MTOS&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=1TBPCIESSD-2015

2. If so, is there a need for a heat sink?
I've been reading about various SSDs that have them.

3. Can a newbie perform this? It sounds pretty easy from what I've read. And I love learning to do new things.

4. If yes to 3, how do I need a special cable and/or software to transfer the data?

 

[Audit13]

If it's a straight replacement, it's very easy to replace. It looks to be compatible as the site specifically includes your Macbook in the description.

There is no space to add a heatsink.

There are no cables involved.

You will need the appropriate screwdriver to remove the bottom screws and the single screw holding in the current ssd.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Retina+Display+Early+2015+SSD+Replacement/38520

 

[MBPro_Rookie]

If it's a straight replacement, it's very easy to replace. It looks to be compatible as the site specifically includes your Macbook in the description.

There is no space to add a heatsink.

There are no cables involved.

You will need the appropriate screwdriver to remove the bottom screws and the single screw holding in the current ssd.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Retina+Display+Early+2015+SSD+Replacement/38520

Thanks for the reply. Sounds great. However, I don't understand how I'll work out the following:

1. Format the new drive
2. Get an Apple OS up and running on it
3. Get my stuff from my 128 GB SSD onto it (haven't done any Time Machine stuff, as I'm intending to use what is in 4. below)
4. Restore my original MB Pro 2011 from it's last Time Machine backup.

It seems like no.s 1, 2, and 3 above will require me connecting an external SSD to my new MB Pro to do the stuff I need to do.

Can you (or someone else) help me figure this out?

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[Audit13]

Here is what I have done:

1) update everything and use an external drive to create Time Machine backup;
2) swap out the ssd;
3) connect the external drive and boot from it;
4) open disk utility, create partition(s) and format with GUID partition map;
4) close disk utility and select to restore from Time Machine backup.

 

[ZapNZs]

Alternatively, you could:

1. Update your 2011 to either El Cap or Sierra (if not already updated to one of these OS') [but not high Sierra if your 2011 has a HDD still - the HFS on HDDs and APFS on SSDs could potentially cause an issue)
2. Connect an empty HDD to your 2011
3. Use Carbon Copy Cloner to make a bootable copy of your 2011's hard drive (or, in lui of step 2 and 3, you could install CCC on your 2011 and then remove your 2011's hard drive from the Mac and place it in a USB enclosure)
4. Install the new SSD in the 2015 MBP
5. Connect the external USB hard drive to the 2015 MBP when powered off
6. Hold 'option' at power on, and then boot into the external drive
7. Use CCC to clone the external hard drive onto the 2015 MBP

There are some reasons to favor the fresh install (eg, no carryover of previous issues), and others to favor the clone (eg, entire Apps and many licenses transfer without issue). If you ultimately plan to run High Sierra, I would personally favor the fresh install where you create a bootable USB installer, install the new SSD, boot into the USB installer, and fresh install High Sierra onto the 2015 MBP with the new SSD.