Upgrading 2013-2015 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

[mad cow disease]

Update:
Installed a SX8200 960 GB in a 13" Macbook Pro early 2015 in early November using the Sintech C adapter.
I had a single kernel panic after I walked away from the laptop while using a specific piece of software in December but nothing since (but I have not used the software since then). I've run the MBP for 4+ days without rebooting, and it seems very stable. I gained about 600-700 MB/sec writing speed (averages 1100-1200 MB/sec) and about 200 MB sec read (1150 -> 1350-1400) speed.

In preparing to sell the stock SSD on eBay I popped it back in to format today and my bootROM was MBP121.0177.B00. I was running 10.14.0 on the original SSD and updated it to 10.14.2. The bootROM is now 180.0.0.0.0. I've run the software updates since I originally installed, so the bootROM will NOT update if updating the system using a 3rd party SSD.

Edit: I have the battery issues others have documented. Probably lost about 25% of the time, but I can squeeze 4-5 hours out of it by turning down the display brightness and other things.

 

[mfittko]

the bootROM will NOT update if updating the system using a 3rd party SSD.

That's a valuable info. Can anyone else confirm this? I would then keep my stock SSD that I only got for being able to upgrade from Sierra to Mojave after I switched to an OWC aura SSD a while ago...

I just recently upgraded to 10.14.2 on the mentioned stock SSD and I'm now also on Boot ROM 149.0.0.0.0

 

[mad cow disease]

That's a valuable info. Can anyone else confirm this? I would then keep my stock SSD that I only got for being able to upgrade from Sierra to Mojave after I switched to an OWC aura SSD a while ago...

My question is why you would keep the SSD if updating the bootROM is the only function it performs. Particularly if you have a model of 13" MBP for which there are no hibernation issues? Say the worst-case scenario, your NVMe drive fails. If you have an updated bootROM that gives support for NVMe, you just pop in a replacement and install your backup.

I also lost the SSD temperature and drive SMART status, I assume it is the use of the adapter that causes these changes. But these aren't really relevant for me so I haven't really worried about it too much. I quadrupled my storage space, got faster read/write speeds and that is what matters to me most.

 

[SloppolS]

@murrki @Audit13 thanks. My Boot-ROM-Version: 149.0.0.0.0.
Is this the lastest?

 

[Audit13]

@murrki @Audit13 thanks. My Boot-ROM-Version: 149.0.0.0.0.
Is this the lastest?

Yes, that's the latest.

 

[Jstan497]

Hi all,

I’ve been reading through this thread and want to thank everyone for all the info on upgrading Mac SSDs. I haven’t read through everything yet, so sorry if this question has been asked before, but does anyone know of an affordable option to upgrade capacity that is stable and doesn’t draw more power than original ssd?

For reference I have an i5 2015 11” MBA. And have experimented with Sintech adapter rev. C, WD black (KPs and increased power consumption), and ADATA XPG SX8200pro (no KPs but still uses significantly more power than original ssd)

 

[Audit13]

Hi all,

I’ve been reading through this thread and want to thank everyone for all the info on upgrading Mac SSDs. I haven’t read through everything yet, so sorry if this question has been asked before, but does anyone know of an affordable option to upgrade capacity that is stable and doesn’t draw more power than original ssd?

For reference I have an i5 2015 11” MBA. And have experimented with Sintech adapter rev. C, WD black (KPs and increased power consumption), and ADATA XPG SX8200pro (no KPs but still uses significantly more power than original ssd)

From everyone's feedback, there is no nvme drive that will use as little battery as the original Apple SSD.

Since your air is a 2015, you should not have an issue with kernel panics that are generated from hibernation modes.

I have an Intel 600p 256 GB in an early 2015 13" air and the battery drains about 10% faster which is fine with me. It's about the same speed as the 128 GB Apple drive it replaced which may be the reason the battery drain is not too bad.

 

[Earl Urley]

Has anyone tried to update their rMBP 2013-2014 to Mojave while using a 3rd party AHCI based SSD like the Samsung SM951? I'm going to try updating a Late 2013 rMBP from Sierra to Mojave with a 256 SM951 installed.. will report if the firmware updates or not unless someone else has tried.

If it works I'll just put back the Samsung 960 EVO I had installed with Sintech adapter prior to switching out for the SM951.

 

[Jstan497]

From everyone's feedback, there is no nvme drive that will use as little battery as the original Apple SSD.

Since your air is a 2015, you should not have an issue with kernel panics that are generated from hibernation modes.

I have an Intel 600p 256 GB in an early 2015 13" air and the battery drains about 10% faster which is fine with me. It's about the same speed as the 128 GB Apple drive it replaced which may be the reason the battery drain is not too bad.

I was afraid that might be the case. Although 10% battery loss sounds better than my current situation which is probably 30% decreased battery life or worse. Theoretically, do you think an nvme ssd even slower than the intel 600p would get better battery life? There seems to be a trend with slower ssds being more power efficient.

 

[Earl Urley]

Just wanted to report success! Was able to install Mojave 10.4.2 using a USB key and a 256 GB SM951 that previously had Sierra (10.12) on it.

The BootROM was bumped from MBP111.0142.B00 to 149.0.0.0. Yes, with the SM 951/Sintech adapter installed.

The Samsung SM951 was probably similar enough to a standard Apple OEM SSD that it passed muster with whatever method Apple uses to update BootROMs.

So I guess the FAQ should be amended to say that it's possible to upgrade the firmware if you use an AHCI 3rd party SSD like the SM951 or Kingston (if you can still find either one.)

In addition, I put back my 960 EVO with High Sierra 10.13.6 on it and it boots just fine.

 

[billythegates]

I was afraid that might be the case. Although 10% battery loss sounds better than my current situation which is probably 30% decreased battery life or worse. Theoretically, do you think an nvme ssd even slower than the intel 600p would get better battery life? There seems to be a trend with slower ssds being more power efficient.

I just compared the power draw of the three SSDs if currently have, which is for idle - full load:
Apple Stock SSD (sandisk): 0.0 - 1.0 A
OWC Aura: 1.0 A - 2.0 A
Adata SX8200 Pro: 0.2 - 1.0 A (25-39 degree Celsius)

So in general I would say that the Adata SSD performs super nicely also regarding power draw, it just does not fully deactivate during idle periods, so you must live with the additional power draw of up to 0.2A, which should not really affect your total battery life time!

Keep in mind, that you will have doubled read speeds and quadrupled write speeds after the upgrade.

 

[AleSank]

Hello to everybody!
I have read many pages, and I am trying to understand what I can do.
I have a pro 15 late 2013, and I was looking for the simplest possible solution such as consumption and heating.
I read that the model ADATA SX8200 is a good solution, but with which adapter?

You what configurations recommended? thank you for your time and sorry for my bad English

 

[dobrink]

I read that the model ADATA SX8200 is a good solution, but with which adapter?

According to Sintech original manufacturer, all the three adapters ST-NGFF2013 (black short $9), ST-NGFF2013-B (green short $11), ST-NGFF2013-C (black long $14) have the same chips and perform the exact same work. They only look different.

This what you see on ebay, Amazon, etc. under the Sintech name, they are simply reselling those same items from above.

You can of course, if you want, drop them a question yourself just to reconfirm if there are some functional differences between the three, that they may have saved me sharing.

 

[Jstan497]

I just compared the power draw of the three SSDs if currently have, which is for idle - full load:
Apple Stock SSD (sandisk): 0.0 - 1.0 A
OWC Aura: 1.0 A - 2.0 A
Adata SX8200 Pro: 0.2 - 1.0 A (25-39 degree Celsius)

So in general I would say that the Adata SSD performs super nicely also regarding power draw, it just does not fully deactivate during idle periods, so you must live with the additional power draw of up to 0.2A, which should not really affect your total battery life time!

Keep in mind, that you will have doubled read speeds and quadrupled write speeds after the upgrade.

Thanks for sharing that info I'm curious where you found that data or if you collected it from your own tests. Also, I totally agree that based on your stats, as well as posts I've read from others who have used ADATA sx8200 or 8200 pros, that the battery life shouldn't be affected much if at all when compared to the original ssd. However, I have been switching back and forth between the original ssd and the ADATA, and the battery life is noticeably worse when using the ADATA. If you did get your info from tests of your own drives, could you point me in the right direction as to how to run the tests you did on my ssds?

 

[mad cow disease]

Thanks for sharing that info I'm curious where you found that data or if you collected it from your own tests. Also, I totally agree that based on your stats, as well as posts I've read from others who have used ADATA sx8200 or 8200 pros, that the battery life shouldn't be affected much if at all when compared to the original ssd. However, I have been switching back and forth between the original ssd and the ADATA, and the battery life is noticeably worse when using the ADATA. If you did get your info from tests of your own drives, could you point me in the right direction as to how to run the tests you did on my ssds?

What posts are you reading? My battery life is considerably decreased. There is no way that the battery life would not be adversely affected, the power management of the NVMe SSD is completely different.

 

[Earl Urley]

Isn't the HP EX920 literally the same SSD as the SX8200? Physically it's just a rebadged SX8200 as far as looks go.

 

[picturepal]

Hello, just wanted to get some feedback from the community.
I have just put a Samsung 970 Evo 2TB in a Macbook Pro Mid2015, 15" Retina, using the long Sintech adapter and having Mojave 10.14.2 on the machine. No problems at all. Just some surprising results when I am running speed tests (using AJA lite): Write goes over 2500MB/s which is the expected maximum but read bizarrely is slower and never goes over 2250MB/s, way below the expected maximum for this SSD. Anybody else with the same experience? What could be the cause?
And yes - batter life drops drastically, especially if there are a lot of read and write processes running.

 

[chango-]

Hello, just wanted to get some feedback from the community.
I have just put a Samsung 970 Evo 2TB in a Macbook Pro Mid2015, 15" Retina, using the long Sintech adapter and having Mojave 10.14.2 on the machine. No problems at all. Just some surprising results when I am running speed tests (using AJA lite): Write goes over 2500MB/s which is the expected maximum but read bizarrely is slower and never goes over 2250MB/s, way below the expected maximum for this SSD. Anybody else with the same experience? What could be the cause?
And yes - batter life drops drastically, especially if there are a lot of read and write processes running.

I just got a 970 EVO 1TB. How drastic does the battery drain? That's a big worry of mine. I code and move around quite a bit so I would like a decent lasting battery. Does it last only a few hours?

 

[09872738]

I just got a 970 EVO 1TB. How drastic does the battery drain? That's a big worry of mine. I code and move around quite a bit so I would like a decent lasting battery. Does it last only a few hours?

I tried a 500 GB 970 Evo on a MBP 13 early 2015; I had it run a video (1080) in a loop, wifi on, display about 50%. The battery lasted about 6:30 hrs. Pretty much the same value the original 128 GB Apple/Samsung delivered.

I guess its not that bad really. Maybe you could measure it, but I guess you can't really tell by using unless you do very IO intensive stuff on a regular basis

 

[chango-]

I tried a 500 GB 970 Evo on a MBP 13 early 2015; I had it run a video (1080) in a loop, wifi on, display about 50%. The battery lasted about 6:30 hrs. Pretty much the same value the original 128 GB Apple/Samsung delivered.

I guess its not that bad really. Maybe you could measure it, but I guess you can't really tell by using it

That sounds pretty good honestly. ****, I'm so nervous that it'll drain the battery. I read plenty of posts of people having their batteries drained after an upgrade. Guess, some use the Macbook Air too though.

 

[09872738]

That sounds pretty good honestly. ****, I'm so nervous that it'll drain the battery. I read plenty of posts of people having their batteries drained after an upgrade. Guess, some use the Macbook Air too though.

Well - mentioned MBP is a friends' daughter's I installed the SSD in. She is using it now since new year's day and seems to be happy. Did not hear any complaints.

 

[chango-]

Well - mentioned MBP is a friends' daughter's I installed the SSD in. She is using it now since new year's day and seems to be happy. Did not hear any complaints.

Gotcha, I guess I could risk it. Not sure if 1TB will affect it more. Do know of any guides or tutorials? I found a few but they're quite dated.

 

[09872738]

There are a couple on youtube. Best advice is to follow the fixit guide: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook_Pro_13"_Retina_Display

However, no big deal: you need to unscrew 10 screws from the backplate in order to remove the bottom cover. You'll need Apple pentalobe screwdrivers - which are available e.g. from Ifixit or Amazon for about 11 bucks (in Euro)

Once the bottom cover is off you have access the SSD right away - it's fixed with 1 standard screw. Remove the original SSD, mount adapter + new SSD, put the screws back in place in reverse order.

5-10 minutes maybe.

 

[mad cow disease]

There are a couple on youtube. Best advice is to follow the fixit guide: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook_Pro_13"_Retina_Display

However, no big deal: you need to unscrew 10 screws from the backplate in order to remove the bottom cover. You'll need Apple pentalobe screwdrivers - which are available e.g. from Ifixit or Amazon for about 11 bucks (in Euro)

Once the bottom cover is off you have access the SSD right away - its fixed with 1 standard screw. Remove the original SSD, mount adapter + new SSD, put the screws back in place in reverse order.

5-10 minutes maybe.

The pentalobe screw drivers are even cheaper on eBay. You forgot the step to disconnect the battery, which granted, isn't absolutely necessary but is always a good idea.

 

[Jstan497]

What posts are you reading? My battery life is considerably decreased. There is no way that the battery life would not be adversely affected, the power management of the NVMe SSD is completely different.

Here are some of the posts I have seen that led me to believe that battery life should be at least close to the same as the original SSD. Also, when you say the power management is completely different do you mean any NVME drive or specifically non-apple NVMEs? because according to my system report, my original drive is also NVME.

I also did this upgrade last week.
ADATA SX8200 480GB. First I used the short Sintech adapter, later I changed my mind and installed with the long sintech adapter. (There was no prolonged screw dilevered with the long adapter, but luckily I had one lying around.)
They both fit and SSD is registred Nvm-e PCI-e 2.0 4 lanes, 5GT.

I also noted a pretty cold MBA, long (or even longer) battery time. Very happy with the upgrade.
I specifically did not choose the EVO 970, to avoid heat and excessive battery loss.

Paxx, do you mind downloading this app and measure your 4K write speeds..?

http://www.katsurashareware.com/pgs/adm.html

I got a feeling mine are too low, but I’m not sure what to expect, or why they are too low. If they are. Thanks.

I actually am from Canada and bought my SX8200 from www.memoryexpress.com. They had a great sale going on and I paid $130 Cnd. for the 480GB. much cheaper than Amazon. They still have that price going......at current exchange rates that makes it just over $94 US.
[doublepost=1545314711][/doublepost]Just an update on my Adata SX8200 480GB in my early 2015 MBA........... After a month of usage with this drive I am still amazed at how much cooler the MBA runs. The fan very seldom engages!! Battery life is better than with the original samsung drive and the whole computer seems to be more.......well.......snappier. Very happy with the upgrade and would not hesitate to recommend this to anyone thinking about adding life to their MBA.

These settings seem to work for me now, I finally got hibernation fully disabled. No unwanted deep sleep and black screen on wake up within the last 24 hours of lid closed... AND 0% battery drain! So the ADATA SX8200pro 1TB with sintech short adapter seems to work like a charm now on my MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) with macOS Mojave 10.14.2 (18C54). I will check once again what happens when my laptop fully loses power ^^

This is my output of pmset -g

System-wide power settings:
Currently in use:
standbydelaylow 120
standby 1
halfdim 1
hibernatefile /dev/null
powernap 1
gpuswitch 2
disksleep 1
standbydelayhigh 86400
sleep 0 (sleep prevented by nfsd, useractivityd, sharingd)
autopoweroffdelay 0
hibernatemode 0
autopoweroff 0
ttyskeepawake 1
displaysleep 5
highstandbythreshold 50
acwake 0
lidwake 1