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

[nightindale]

Hello guys,
I've just upgraded my MBP 15" mid-2015 (MacBookPro11,4) with SX8200Pro and I have couple of questions:
- I have long SinTech adapter, obtained via Amazon.de, and it comes with foam on which disk can lie + metal connectors are covered by some material that SinTech installed. My questions are how tight should be disk tighten? It bends a little and this scares me. Another thing is that SX8200Pro comes with small radiator so should I install it? Would be there any space for it?

- Disk Utility claims my drive is not supporting SMART, while DriveDx (for which I have to pay for) is reading all attributes without any issues. Is this normal with PCI-E Drives?

- To upgrade FW in the future I should have bootcamped Windows, don't I?

 

[Chris.J]

Quick question, guys:

I don't have any standby issues, but I decided to set hibernatemode = 25 and standby = 0, mainly because I actually prefer the laptop to go into hibernate immediately when I close the lid. I tested this and it only takes 3-4 seconds to wake since the SSD is now so fast.

One thing that crossed my mind, however, is whether this unnecessarily wears out the SSD, since closing the lid of the laptop every day now writes the contents of the RAM to disk. Is that still a thing, even with these new drives?

 

[Audit13]

Quick question, guys:

I don't have any standby issues, but I decided to set hibernatemode = 25 and standby = 0, mainly because I actually prefer the laptop to go into hibernate immediately when I close the lid. I tested this and it only takes 3-4 seconds to wake since the SSD is now so fast.

One thing that crossed my mind, however, is whether this unnecessarily wears out the SSD, since closing the lid of the laptop every day now writes the contents of the RAM to disk. Is that still a thing, even with these new drives?

What model do you have?

Taking only 3-4 seconds to wake sounds to me like the MacBook may not be entering full hibernation mode whereby ram contents are written to the SSD and then completely powered off.

Modern SSDs are fairly durable so I would not worry about the number or reads and writes. The MacBook may fail before the drive.

 

[SophieLa]

First page of this thread has power consumption for drives.

But yes, generally, a PCI-E drive will draw more power than an AHCI drive, regardless of manufacturer, mostly as the chipset needs to do more work, at least on the motherboard side.
For the drive itself, power usage will be determined by the type of flash in use. The samsungs, er apple drives use 3d V-Nand in the NVME drives.

Let me rephrase my question. Has anybody actually swapped a SSUBX drive in a MBP 15" mid 2015 in favor for an Apple SSPolaris drive (e.g Model KKW1T00) and can comment on their experience regarding power consumption, battery running time etc.?

 

[zzzhqtzzz]

Hi everyone,
I'm using macbook pro mid 2014. i have upgraded to 970 pro and everything is perfect. but when checking the read and write speed, it is only 1300/1400. I have read the comments, do I use the 2.0 pcie port?
Sorry my english is not good.

 

[Chris.J]

What model do you have?

Taking only 3-4 seconds to wake sounds to me like the MacBook may not be entering full hibernation mode whereby ram contents are written to the SSD and then completely powered off.

Modern SSDs are fairly durable so I would not worry about the number or reads and writes. The MacBook may fail before the drive.

I have rMBP mid-2015. When waking power saving state, I see a dark grey screen with white loading bars at the bottom. Before I changed the pmset settings, I only saw immediately the lock screen. I am pretty sure that it's waking from hibernation, but to me, it's much faster than I expected.

 

[Audit13]

I have rMBP mid-2015. When waking power saving state, I see a dark grey screen with white loading bars at the bottom. Before I changed the pmset settings, I only saw immediately the lock screen. I am pretty sure that it's waking from hibernation, but to me, it's much faster than I expected.

Yes, seeing the loading bar means the MacBook is being restored using information from the SSD. Depending on the number of programs and documents that were open at the time the MacBook went into hibernation, waking can be very quick.

 

[Chris.J]

You're right. I did a test to see what would happen if Bootcamp was booted via a virtual machine (Parallels Desktop). This normally puts about 90-95% pressure on the available system memory. This time, to wake from hibernate took more like 15 seconds. I actually thought Windows would probably crash, but surprisingly, it didn't. Parallels handled it well.

My last test would be to see how Windows 10, when booted natively, handles the whole sleep / wake situation. Then I could safely say I'm satisfied with the upgrade, to the point I may even sell the Apple SSD.

 

[pappapeep]

I have a 2015 13" MBPr, and I just upgraded via Sintech adapter (small black) and a 660p 2tb.

Im having crashes only when the laptop is completely dead and trying to wait. It just kind of freezes at the loading screen.

I thought that 2015 models didn't have hibernation issues. Any advice?

 

[Audit13]

I have a 2015 13" MBPr, and I just upgraded via Sintech adapter (small black) and a 660p 2tb.

Im having crashes only when the laptop is completely dead and trying to wait. It just kind of freezes at the loading screen.

I thought that 2015 models didn't have hibernation issues. Any advice?

Was the MacBook running the latest bootrom before the SSD swap?

Which os is running on the nvme drive?

Did you perform a clean install or restore from a backup?

What do you mean by "completely dead"?

Answers to these questions may help find a solution.

 

[pappapeep]

Was the MacBook running the latest bootrom before the SSD swap?

Which os is running on the nvme drive?

Did you perform a clean install or restore from a backup?

What do you mean by "completely dead"?

Answers to these questions may help find a solution.

I didn’t check the bottom before (I know I’m dumb)

I restored from a clone.

Mojave’s running on my drive now

By completely dead, I mean if I were to use my laptop until the battery is dead, close the shell, and plug it in, when I try to wake from sleep/hibernation it freezes and I have to force a reboot.

 

[TokMok3]

Hello guys,
I've just upgraded my MBP 15" mid-2015 (MacBookPro11,4) with SX8200Pro and I have couple of questions:
- I have long SinTech adapter, obtained via Amazon.de, and it comes with foam on which disk can lie + metal connectors are covered by some material that SinTech installed. My questions are how tight should be disk tighten? It bends a little and this scares me. Another thing is that SX8200Pro comes with small radiator so should I install it? Would be there any space for it?

- Disk Utility claims my drive is not supporting SMART, while DriveDx (for which I have to pay for) is reading all attributes without any issues. Is this normal with PCI-E Drives?

- To upgrade FW in the future I should have bootcamped Windows, don't I?

Hi, what are your reading and writing speed?

Thank you!

 

[Audit13]

I didn’t check the bottom before (I know I’m dumb)

I restored from a clone.

Mojave’s running on my drive now

By completely dead, I mean if I were to use my laptop until the battery is dead, close the shell, and plug it in, when I try to wake from sleep/hibernation it freezes and I have to force a reboot.

If the battery's does while using the MacBook, it may not have completed writing the hibernation file to the SSD which may explain the freezing and the need for a forced reboot.

Does this happen when you close the lid with plenty of power left in the battery?

 

[pappapeep]

If the battery's does while using the MacBook, it may not have completed writing the hibernation file to the SSD which may explain the freezing and the need for a forced reboot.

Does this happen when you close the lid with plenty of power left in the battery?

I’m pretty certain that yes, this happens even when I close the lid with a bit of power left.

 

[Audit13]

I’m pretty certain that yes, this happens even when I close the lid with a bit of power left.

Maybe try hibernation with a clean os install?

I have a 2015 and 2017 Air and both have a nvme drive with no hibernation issues.

 

[nightindale]

Hi, what are your reading and writing speed?

Thank you!

I have achieved ~2000MB/s write and 3000MB/s read BUT it is probably due to SLC cache. Let me what tests you are interested in and I could provide something

 

[pappapeep]

Maybe try hibernation with a clean os install?

I have a 2015 and 2017 Air and both have a nvme drive with no hibernation issues.

Okay, that's a good idea...

wait... do you mean fresh install and then check to see if the issue persists? Or fresh install and type the hibernation fix commands...

Thanks in advance, Audit, for the prompt help and clarification...

 

[Colin0317]

I just upgraded my 13” MacBook Pro mid 2014 with a 512GB SX8200PRO. I’m a little confused as to what terminal command I need to type for the hibernation issue. I tried 25, but it locks up after I type my credentials...

Any help would be appreciated.

On a side note, does the MacBook hibernate when on ac power? I use mine plugged in almost exclusively.

Thanks!!

 

[Audit13]

Okay, that's a good idea...

wait... do you mean fresh install and then check to see if the issue persists? Or fresh install and type the hibernation fix commands...

Thanks in advance, Audit, for the prompt help and clarification...

Yes, perform a clean installation of Mojave by deleting all partitions first and then installing.

 

[pappapeep]

Yes, perform a clean installation of Mojave by deleting all partitions first and then installing.

Can I use internet recovery mode? Right? Thanks I’m going to try this tonight...

 

[Audit13]

Can I use internet recovery mode? Right? Thanks I’m going to try this tonight...

Yes, internet recovery should work.

 

[djangoreinhardt442]

Let me rephrase my question. Has anybody actually swapped a SSUBX drive in a MBP 15" mid 2015 in favor for an Apple SSPolaris drive (e.g Model KKW1T00) and can comment on their experience regarding power consumption, battery running time etc.?

I have not SEEN anyone doing this for the last 40 pages, but you might want to search through this thread and see.
I suspect the reason that is the case is because of cost.
A 1TB OEM Apple polaris SSD costs 800 plus, and the 2 TB is 1500
From what I have read, the "polaris" drives are basically samsung 960 pros specially made for apple.
I would assume they consume more energy than AHCI counterparts
[doublepost=1556510666][/doublepost]

Hi everyone,
I'm using macbook pro mid 2014. i have upgraded to 970 pro and everything is perfect. but when checking the read and write speed, it is only 1300/1400. I have read the comments, do I use the 2.0 pcie port?
Sorry my english is not good.

Your 2014 macbook pro computer uses a 2.0 pcie interface which limits how fast your ssd can go
There is nothing wrong with your results or your ssd. It is just a limit of the pcie 2.0 interface.
1300/1400 is plenty fast (a SATA III SSD tops out at 450-500MB/s sequential read and write speeds, so you are still 2.5x-almost 3x faster than a SATA drive).
Don't get too hung up on the speeds.

 

[djangoreinhardt442]

Adata SX8200 PRO on sale for 138.54 USD

https://www.massgenie.com/xpg-sx820...ternal-solid-state-drive-ssd-b4b061796c07991e

 

[Technoirx]

Hello,

I have a Macbook Pro Mid 2015 15" on Mojave 10.4.4 and I'm using a Samsung 970 Pro with the short Sintech adapter from Amazon.

I'm getting kernel panic crashes after waking from sleep which I thought weren't supposed to happen on this model of mac. I ordered the long Sintech adapter in case it was just the adapter I'm using currently and it should be here tomorrow. Could the adapter be the cause or something else? I've gone through this thread as thoroughly as a I could and was unable to find an answer to my situation.


*** Panic Report ***
panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff7fa09c8a6e): nvme: "Fatal error occurred. CSTS=0xffffffff US[1]=0x0 US[0]=0xa VID/DID=0xffffffff
. FW Revision=1B2QEXP7\n"@/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/IONVMeFamily/IONVMeFamily-387.250.10/IONVMeController.cpp:5327
Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff920d583a10 : 0xffffff801cfaf82d
0xffffff920d583a60 : 0xffffff801d0eb795
0xffffff920d583aa0 : 0xffffff801d0dcf4a
0xffffff920d583b10 : 0xffffff801cf5cae0
0xffffff920d583b30 : 0xffffff801cfaf247
0xffffff920d583c50 : 0xffffff801cfaf093
0xffffff920d583cc0 : 0xffffff7fa09c8a6e
0xffffff920d583e20 : 0xffffff801d65fa77
0xffffff920d583e90 : 0xffffff801d65f999
0xffffff920d583ec0 : 0xffffff801cfee265
0xffffff920d583f40 : 0xffffff801cfede05
0xffffff920d583fa0 : 0xffffff801cf5c0ce
Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
com.apple.iokit.IONVMeFamily(2.1)[991B73D6-1E64-36C6-AC16-E6D852CC3400]@0xffffff7fa09b4000->0xffffff7fa09f2fff
dependency: com.apple.driver.AppleMobileFileIntegrity(1.0.5)[F3F09078-2CDE-3D01-A96C-CB38E035E1D5]@0xffffff7f9dd87000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.9)[54C3F778-4B95-3093-A51D-D761607C96CB]@0xffffff7f9d895000
dependency: com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM(2.1)[B73CD2FB-BD72-3C92-BF4A-D8960F59F64B]@0xffffff7f9df5b000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily(2.1)[C322B8D1-C27F-3EFA-8A45-D7035ACC8D07]@0xffffff7f9db7e000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOReportFamily(47)[86DDD149-2800-3D3E-9914-3556918455F1]@0xffffff7f9e0aa000

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task

Mac OS version:
18E227

 

[jackqueenking]

I have not SEEN anyone doing this for the last 40 pages, but you might want to search through this thread and see.
I suspect the reason that is the case is because of cost.
A 1TB OEM Apple polaris SSD costs 800 plus, and the 2 TB is 1500
From what I have read, the "polaris" drives are basically samsung 960 pros specially made for apple.
I would assume they consume more energy than AHCI counterparts
[doublepost=1556510666][/doublepost]

Your 2014 macbook pro computer uses a 2.0 pcie interface which limits how fast your ssd can go
There is nothing wrong with your results or your ssd. It is just a limit of the pcie 2.0 interface.
1300/1400 is plenty fast (a SATA III SSD tops out at 450-500MB/s sequential read and write speeds, so you are still 2.5x-almost 3x faster than a SATA drive).
Don't get too hung up on the speeds.

Its most definitely because of the cost, I looked them up online and they're wicked expensive for what they give. They would certainly consume more battery power but then again the Macs that were designed to use these drives take that into consideration when attempting to output 10hrs+ of usage on a single change. I don't think they would be any more efficient than something like an 8200 pro or intel 760p since these already use 0.6W at idle and are some of the lowest powered drives on the market. You will however get hibernate issues on pre 2015 models even with the polaris SSD since the problem at hand is the NVME protocol support so no it sure as hell isn't worth it to blow that kind of money on a polaris drive. Even for someone who has a 2016-2017 MBP with an SSD that isn't soldered to the motherboard it would be more beneficial for them to upgrade using an aftermarket drive, they have NVME support and the battery capacity to handle it.