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

[erkoolio]

Hi!

I have a 13" mid 2014 rmbp running High Sierra. I just bought a Sabrent Rocket 512 GB because based on the consumption charts from the first post seems to offer decent speeds and low power consumption.

I am also planning on applying the bootrom patch to enjoy hibernation. Will I be able to update to Mojave or Catalina after applying the patch? Should I update my OS before?

As per the SPI to J6100 adapter, any suggestion? All I can find is a 50€ adapter on ebay and another one for $150 on aliexpress, which to me, both seem way too expensive.

Hey,
I have the exact same model with OWC ssd. I'd upgrade first to Mojave with original ssd to get the latest bootrom and file system updated. I ordered the same adapter that was in the link somewhere near the instructions, though I'm not sure if rebelsim or easyflash has the same adapter. It looked like those could work, and rebelsim was like 20€ if I remember correctly.

 

[BombKilla]

I i don't need more capacity, is the sabrent the best option and decent stable?

I see this table with the specifications (from the sabrent web) and the 512 power consumption it's great.
View attachment 843468

The Sabrent specs in the image are probably worst-case/100% loaded numbers, based on my recent tests with the 2TB unit and with Apple SSUBX AHCI SSDs. These definitely aren't idle power usage values (which are <<1W for almost all SSDs).

Sabrent NVMe vs. Apple SSUBX AHCI: Sabrents are more available, faster, less expensive, and have had zero percent of their lifespan consumed by previous users. Apple SSUBX AHCIs don't need additional parts/troubleshooting, don't occasionally crash for no apparent reason, and use less power.

As fun as the Subrent 2TB is in my mid-2015 rMBP 15", it's general-use performance isn't dramatically better than my Apple 1TB SSUBX. The Subrent draws more power at idle and makes the processor run harder at times, so I'm not yet convinced it's a net gain for the laptop use case. I may keep my Apple SSUBX in the laptop and run the Sabrent as the Boot drive in my desktop machine (where increased idle current draw and processor impact are both irrelevant).

Subrent's aren't the only decent aftermarket choice. Page 1 of this thread has a comparison of a lot of the options. The Adata SX8200 is a great drive. The WD Black V.2 has some proponents here, and the HP ex920 and Intel 760p are contenders, too. The Samsung NVMe are players, but don't dominate the laptop world because of their cost/performance and power draw. There's literally 186 pages of people who have researched and answered the same question for themselves in this thread; there's not one right answer. Dig in and weigh the variables for yourself!
[doublepost=1560883711][/doublepost]

MacBook Pro Retina 15-inch (Mid 2015) ...Sabrent Rocket 1TB NVMe PCIe M.2 2280...Coupled with a Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter Card but am I right in thinking that this is all that is required?

Yes; that's literally all you will need. Your proposed assemblage is functionally identical to what I installed in the same model of laptop:

 

[Allistah]

Great advice BombKilla! As I mentioned in an earlier post, I bought three other "short adapters" to try with the Sabrent 2TB drive just to see if there are any difference in performance at all. I'll be posting the results so people will know. I just need to wait for the MBP to come back from Apple's repair facility.

For the iStats program, it didn't get good ratings at all so I was hesitant on spending the $10 they want for it. Are there any other programs that give the stats like it does?

 

[BombKilla]

For the iStats program, it didn't get good ratings at all so I was hesitant on spending the $10 they want for it.

I didn't spend anything on it... I just downloaded it and am running the standard 14-day trial (FWIW, iStats may also be a decent replacement for Macs Fan Control and Menu Meters).

 

[fanfzero]

So, sabrent is not the best option? I was planning on getting a 512gb one as it seems to be better power consuming than the 1tb and 2 tb models, right now i have a samsung evo 970 and battery life is terrible on my 2014 macbook air

 

[BombKilla]

So, sabrent is not the best option? I was planning on getting a 512gb one as it seems to be better power consuming than the 1tb and 2 tb models, right now i have a samsung evo 970 and battery life is terrible on my 2014 macbook air

I didn't say Sabrent _wasn't_ the best option. Nor did I say Sabrent _was_ the best option. The point I was trying to make is that there are a LOT of options and NONE of them are THE BEST, THE ONLY, or THE RIGHT choice. Page 1 of this thread has three tables of Excel comparison test data to help people choose what's best for their situation. Then, theres 185 pages of people hashing out all the pros and cons of each choice for each different MacBook. This is a great time for people to research and choose _from amongst the array of good options_.

 

[santitf]

The Sabrent specs in the image are probably worst-case/100% loaded numbers, based on my recent tests with the 2TB unit and with Apple SSUBX AHCI SSDs. These definitely aren't idle power usage values (which are <<1W for almost all SSDs).

Sabrent NVMe vs. Apple SSUBX AHCI: Sabrents are more available, faster, less expensive, and have had zero percent of their lifespan consumed by previous users. Apple SSUBX AHCIs don't need additional parts/troubleshooting, don't occasionally crash for no apparent reason, and use less power.

As fun as the Subrent 2TB is in my mid-2015 rMBP 15", it's general-use performance isn't dramatically better than my Apple 1TB SSUBX. The Subrent draws more power at idle and makes the processor run harder at times, so I'm not yet convinced it's a net gain for the laptop use case. I may keep my Apple SSUBX in the laptop and run the Sabrent as the Boot drive in my desktop machine (where increased idle current draw and processor impact are both irrelevant).

Subrent's aren't the only decent aftermarket choice. Page 1 of this thread has a comparison of a lot of the options. The Adata SX8200 is a great drive. The WD Black V.2 has some proponents here, and the HP ex920 and Intel 760p are contenders, too. The Samsung NVMe are players, but don't dominate the laptop world because of their cost/performance and power draw. There's literally 186 pages of people who have researched and answered the same question for themselves in this thread; there's not one right answer. Dig in and weigh the variables for yourself!
[doublepost=1560883711][/doublepost]

Yes; that's literally all you will need. Your proposed assemblage is functionally identical to what I installed in the same model of laptop:
View attachment 843750

Thanks BombKilla for your advice.
For my basis 2015 13", with 2 core CPU, maybe the Apple SSUBX is the best option (the 15" has 4 cores and sure that it manages better the processing needed with the NVMe).
I buyed a SSUBX at ebay a few hours ago. More expensive, but more adjusted to my mbp specifications.
And probably, in daily use as you say, doesn't notice much difference between them.

 

[liberace]

So, sabrent is not the best option? I was planning on getting a 512gb one as it seems to be better power consuming than the 1tb and 2 tb models, right now i have a samsung evo 970 and battery life is terrible on my 2014 macbook air

all experience that we have gathered here currently says that Phison based ssd usually shows rapid high performance and best battery friendly idle/read/write consumption
Also says that Phison based NVMe SSD could have same performance but different power consumption depended from mostly based RAM (type, generation, channels etc) and firmware version coz for example some of ssd could be created as a desktop solution and manufacturer don't even try to care about power consumption, some of them universal for real, some of them trying to say that they are but just announcing this, some of them really good for laptop usage coz created for them etc
And for now the best nvme performance with low price and best power consumption it is - sabrent mostly because of most friendly power consumption, speeds are on the 'level' a lot of them can reach Sabrent's number but no one with this minimum of consumption and as a backend - one of the lowest prices per megabytes.
that anyway try to keep in mind that if your nearly reaching 3k r/w you really not gonna recognize different between 2800 and 3100

Thanks BombKilla for your advice.
For my basis 2015 13", with 2 core CPU, maybe the Apple SSUBX is the best option (the 15" has 4 cores and sure that it manages better the processing needed with the NVMe).
I buyed a SSUBX at ebay a few hours ago. More expensive, but more adjusted to my mbp specifications.
And probably, in daily use as you say, doesn't notice much difference between them.

Of course,
as well we had to attach that still mostly Apple SSD is the best one that we can have for 2013-14 and 2015 year models

There is a couple of reasons such as one and the main one is that AHCI apple default one's ssd series is not boiling your CPU even if your SSD reaching 3k r/w while NVMe protocol probably somehow apparently requires more movements from CPU (next generation of intel CPU that we have in more newest mbp's is okay with nvme connection) and all other minuses is naturally connected with this reason

That's why some ssd's that have less idle/read/write power consumption than apple ssd still in total gives less on battery time

NVMe SSD drive its an alternative to give second (last) chance to your a bit old mbp and don't spend more (a lot) but in some cases you will pay for better performance with your on battery time and you can pay less here as well )

And as well its a good opinion that processors from 15' that based on 4 cores could have good enough performance to eat high speeds from NVMe, currently not accepted but logically straight but especially I connect this mostly with generation of processor

 

[notgonna]

Just updated my MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) macOS Mojave 10.14.5
with Inland Premium 1TB SSD 3D NAND M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive and black long sintech adapter. Run the test and this is the result. Is this good or not? Thanks.

How is the battery life with the Inland? Those speeds look great! Much better than the HP 9200 I used on a machine back in December. I've another 13" MacBook Pro 2015 to upgrade and the Inland looks promising if the battery drain isn't any worse. The HP 9200 EX wasn't much of a difference over stock.

 

[notgonna]

How is the battery life with the Inland? Those speeds look great! Much better than the HP 9200 I used on a machine back in December. I've another 13" MacBook Pro 2015 to upgrade and the Inland looks promising if the battery drain isn't any worse. The HP 9200 EX wasn't much of a difference over stock.

Edit: I just read that early 2015 13" MacBook pro is only 2 lanes, so the extra lanes and speeds wouldn't be seen. Seems great for mid-2015 15".

Edit 2: I have now read it does support 8.0 GT/s PCIe x4. So my question of how power efficient this unit is still of interest.

Edit 3: I ordered the Sabrent from Amazon for a few dollars more than the Inland using $20. off code: 161FVU9P

 

[qwertymk]

Does anyone try samsung evo 970 plus with new firmware 2B2QEXM7 ?

 

[htcmda]

Anyone tried the Catalina beta with the ssd adapter? Will it work?

 

[glin90]

Hey,
I have the exact same model with OWC ssd. I'd upgrade first to Mojave with original ssd to get the latest bootrom and file system updated. I ordered the same adapter that was in the link somewhere near the instructions, though I'm not sure if rebelsim or easyflash has the same adapter. It looked like those could work, and rebelsim was like 20€ if I remember correctly.

Do you mean this one http://rebelsimcard.com/soic8-sop8-...rogram-bios-chip-in-curcuit-mac-book-pro.html?

According to the cable description it's not compatible with the CH341a chip suggested in the bootrom update instructions.

I've also found this https://usa.banggood.com/CH341A-24-...ip-Adapter-Module-p-1353168.html?rmmds=search

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[liberace]

Do you mean this one http://rebelsimcard.com/soic8-sop8-...rogram-bios-chip-in-curcuit-mac-book-pro.html?

According to the cable description it's not compatible with the CH341a chip suggested in the bootrom update instructions.

I've also found this https://usa.banggood.com/CH341A-24-...ip-Adapter-Module-p-1353168.html?rmmds=search

Any ideas or suggestions?

I was thinking around this but in my model chip is somewhere on downside of logic board, so it has to be disassembled and I don't really know if it could be recognized by programmer without power adapter connection as almost all who successfully upgrade theirs bootrom's explaining here

One of the guys few pages before says about program 'Volta'
I have tried as well now I am using undervolted processor -95mV and my temperature is 10 degrees less in acition and battery life improved really too much its like ~1 hour more with the same usage as I had before
Soon will try to make a tests to see exactly how much better this parameters with this app, but its amazing for now.

 

[glin90]

I think that for now I'll give it a try as it is, just swapping ssd's and see how "bad" the battery life is without hibernation.

Maybe we get lucky and Catalina's bootrom has this issue fixed. Has anyone with rmbp 2014 or older tried already?

 

[liberace]

I think that for now I'll give it a try as it is, just swapping ssd's and see how "bad" the battery life is without hibernation.

Maybe we get lucky and Catalina's bootrom has this issue fixed. Has anyone with rmbp 2014 or older tried already?

it doesn't looks like an issue.. for that years i guess that how it was implemented
of course than in 2015 they did nvme driver more better but apple doesn't seemed like a company that will let us keep old mbp or another their product

 

[glin90]

it doesn't looks like an issue.. for that years i guess that how it was implemented
of course than in 2015 they did nvme driver more better but apple doesn't seemed like a company that will let us keep old mbp or another their product

fair enough I guess...

I did some more research and based on this video, seems like this programmer would do right?

 

[Bentama]

Hello guys.
I did the upgrade on my MacBook Pro 13’. Early 2015.
It works good but I think my MacBook doesn’t go into deep sleep/hibernation since then.
I tried to close the lid and leave it for a night and when I came back I opened the lid and the Mac almost instantly came back to the desktop. Does that means it wasn’t able to go into hibernate ?
The battery lost about 5% during the night.

I used a Samsung 960 evo 500gb nvme drive and the long Sintech adapter.

 

[Audit13]

Hello guys.
I did the upgrade on my MacBook Pro 13’. Early 2015.
It works good but I think my MacBook doesn’t go into deep sleep/hibernation since then.
I tried to close the lid and leave it for a night and when I came back I opened the lid and the Mac almost instantly came back to the desktop. Does that means it wasn’t able to go into hibernate ?
The battery lost about 5% during the night.

I used a Samsung 960 evo 500gb nvme drive and the long Sintech adapter.

Did you set hibernation mode to 25?

 

[Bentama]

Did you set hibernation mode to 25?

No, I didn’t touch any of these settings since I thought there was no issue with an early 2015 MacBook

 

[Audit13]

No, I didn’t touch any of these settings since I thought there was no issue with an early 2015 MacBook

There should be no issue but hibernate mode 25 was not automatically enabled for me on a 2015 and 2017 Air.

 

[Bentama]

Oh ok.
Do you know if there is a command to check the current mode ?
Sorry I’m not using terminal a lot

 

[Audit13]

Oh ok.
Do you know if there is a command to check the current mode ?
Sorry I’m not using terminal a lot

Run this terminal command: pmset -g | grep hibernatemode

Run this command to set the hibernate mode: sudo pmset -a hibernatemode x (replace x with the mode you want)

 

[Bentama]

I Checked and it was on hibernate mode 3 I will try with the 25 and keep posted about the result ! Thanks a lot !

 

[rockstarjoe]

Question for future proofing... is there any way to update the BootROM without opening the case up again and swapping the original ssd back in? Like could you boot from an external drive and update it in some way? My bootROM is the most recent version right now but I'm not looking forward to doing lots of swapping every time there is an update. Thanks!