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

[mikeboss]

Hi,

I know that this thread is dedicated to the 2013/2014 MBPs (and I apologize) but I would like to get some recommendations about a MBP 13" Retina Late 2012 SSD upgrade.

For my model (running on Sierra at the moment ; planning to upgrade to HS soon) and in order to avoid any hardware/software issues (standby/sleep mode and OS instability):
- What would be the best adapter?
- What SSD would you recommend, especially in the 256 GB range (or 512 GB depending on the price)?
- Are there any other operations that I have to perform regarding the upgrade?

Lastly, my plan would be to do a clean install (with HS) and restore all my data with a Time Machine backup (that I run regularly).

In advance, thank you for your help!

late 2012 MacBooks need SATA based SSDs, NOT PCIe/NVMe. AFAIK there are no adapters available for these.
Transcend JetDrive 720 are compatible with these MacBooks.

 

[Akhura]

Transcend JetDrive 720 are compatible with these MacBooks.

Yes I know, I'm just weighing my options here.

Thank you for your answer!

 

[Audit13]

I believe the late 2012 uses a different ssd connector from the late 2013, 2014, and 2015 retina MBP.

https://www.amazon.ca/SATA-mSATA-MACBOOK-Retina-Adapter/dp/B00OQG630U

 

[Akhura]

I believe the late 2012 uses a different ssd connector from the late 2013, 2014, and 2015 retina MBP.

https://www.amazon.ca/SATA-mSATA-MACBOOK-Retina-Adapter/dp/B00OQG630U

Nice! So I suppose that this SSD would do, for example? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TGIVVKU/

 

[Audit13]

Nice! So I suppose that this SSD would do, for example? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TGIVVKU/

I can't say for sure it will work but I have the same since in a dell laptop and it's quick with windows 7.

 

[Akhura]

I just checked the reviews regarding this adaptor and it seems to work pretty well with the SSD that I mentioned (in addition to being perfectly compatible with my MBP). I might pull the trigger then…

 

[tetet]

Have anyone tried MacBook Air 2015 and 2017 with NVMe drive and sintech adapter?

MacBook Air 13 Early 2015 with 960 EVO 250GB MZ-V6E250: small adapter with NF-941A on the back

This is indeed the first time I have come across the reboot problem on a 2015 Air...

Have you tried with the larger Sintech adapter? If not, please let me know, since I bought too many. It solved the sleep issue on my machine.

I am very curious with MacBook Air 2015 and 2017 using NVMe drive and sintech adapter.

 

[skalapos]

how can I format a KC1000 ssd to 4K ?

And is there any guide for installing these SSDs to macbook pro?

 

[k03007]

This is the thread I have been looking for and really thanks all the information and experiment done by all the ppl in here.
you guys are so AWESOME !
I am having a MBR retina 15" Mid 2014 (model: A1398), and definitely I want to upgrade the SSD as it is only 256 GB
However I am struggling with a few options:
1. WD Black 512GB - WDS512G1X0C (NVMe) for CAD 229.99
2. WD Blue M.2 1TB - WDS100T1B0B (SATA) for CAD 349.99
3. Samsung PM961 - MZVLW1T0HMLH (NVMe) for CAD 430.46 + shipping
I wanna know if the SATA III will work on my model at all (after reading a lot of the post, I think it should) and is it worth to trade the speed for the 500 GB ??
Also, it seems that the PM961 is still having some issues with the mid 2014 model.
So 2 questions:
A. Which one will you guys recommend me to upgrade to or is there any more better solutions ? (I want to keep the cost around the same)
B. What do u guys do with the stock SSD ? Is there any way I can reuse them as a external drive ??

THX A LOT !!

 

[Audit13]

The drive must be nvme, not sata III.

External enclosures are available for the Apple ssd but they are not cheap.

 

[iuqiddis]

how can I format a KC1000 ssd to 4K ?

And is there any guide for installing these SSDs to macbook pro?

1. I used Unetbootin to make an Ubuntu 17.10 live CD (on a USB disk). Once you download the app, you can select Ubuntu, and then the 17.10 Live CD option. It will automatically download the ISO and copy it to a USB drive for you.

2. Turn off your macbook. Plug-in your ubuntu live USB. Turn it on and press the 'alt/option' key to get to the boot options menu. You can select booting from the ubuntu drive. Once ubuntu loads, you can format the ssd as follows (summarized from reply #163):

2a. In the Unity Dash (hit the cmd key to get there), search for 'Software and Updates'. In that window, check the box that says 'Community-maintained free and open-source software (universe).

2b. Open the terminal (search for terminal in the Unity Dash), and type the following:

>>sudo apt-get install nvme-cli
>>sudo nvme format -l 1 /dev/nvme0

This should properly format your nvme drive as 4k block sizes. You can click on reply#163 link to see how to verify that.

3. Turn off the computer (menu on the top right). Remove the Ubuntu USB drive, and connect the macOS recovery drive/ timemachine backup to format the drive and re-install macOS.

Hope that helps.

----------------------------------------------

I also wanted to add that this forum post has been really helpful for me in figuring out the drive I should use, and the steps to get the drive installed/ OS installed, etc. Just to add the the other data points, I used a 480 GB KC1000 ssd to upgrade as well. For other folks attempting to upgrade, this was my workflow:

1. Installed the drive using the sintech adapter. I didn't put any tape or support below the drive. I don't think the sintech adapter needs tape for insulation. As for support, probably a good idea, as there is 3mm or so gap between the drive and the base of the laptop. I just didn't have anything to put there.

2. After installation, formatted the new drive to 4k logical sectors using some an Ubuntu Live USB disk.

3. Used a recovery drive (that I made by downloading macOS 10.13 from the Mac App Store and following apple's guide) to do a clean install. A couple of notes here: First, I went into Disk Utility, and in one of the menus (maybe View), selected 'show all devices', closed the Disk Utility, and then re-loaded it. Only after that I saw the new drive. I formatted it as HFS+ journaled (not APFS, as that gave me trouble during installation. Also, during installation, macOS 10.13 will automatically make the APFS container). I started the installation and let it finish. When it was done installing, it asked me to migrate my old profile via the Migration Assistant. I said yes, connected my timeline backup, and started letting it copy my old data. Several notes in the next points.

3b. The things I did in step 3 were after several failed tries recovering my old profile. Just recovering the old profile directly (without going through a clean install) always (5 times) resulted in a failed recovery. Maybe it's because the old drive was 128 GB and the new one was 480 GB. I had two separate backup sources, and both failed repeatedly. So definitely do a clean install first, and then copy the old profile over.

3c. When you start migrating your old profile via time machine, it may ask you to update a program (iTunes in my case). DON'T upgrade. You can upgrade once you boot into the new drive. If you update, it makes a new profile, and messes up your restoration (you are forced to make a new account, and it's just more trouble than its worth). SKIP the upgrade, and let it copy the profile data.

4. Once the data is copied, it will ask let you log-in to your new drive/OS/computer. Everything should be ready to go. Now you can log-in to your Apple account and apply any upgrades to the OS, and you'll be good to go.

 

[tetet]

It explains how to fix NVMe SSD which installed as external disk into internal disk with MacX86.

https://www.tonymacx86.com/threads/...0-13-on-x99-full-success.227001/#post-1542618

Look at "E.4) M.2/NVME Configuration:".
This method uses "Clover" (boot loader). Even for native MacBook Pro/Air, Clover can be applicable, But I don't want. We should learn about that method. I want to use more simple and easy way, not using Clover, if possible.

Clover:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/cloverefiboot/

As for later 2015 Macs (MacBook Pro/Air), this patch is not need because NVMe SSD installed as internal disk.


Additional notes　2017/10/28

I found a patch for kext that could be applied.

https://github.com/RehabMan/patch-nvme

"That way HackrNVMeFamily-*.kext can be used for 10.12/10.11 and IONVMeFamily.kext (native) can be used on 10.13."
"The result is HackrNVMeFamily-10_11_5.kext. You can install it to /S/L/E, /L/E, or use Clover kext injection with it. It will not interfere with IONVMeFamily.kext and system updates will not change it."

/S/L/E = /System/Library/Extensions
/L/E = /Library/Extensions

I tried, a error with "Vanilla MD5 does not match" had occurred. (now I am on 10.12.6 Sierra) But there are pre-bult kext(s) in that zip file, you may use soon. (I don't have test environment now.)

That was awesome work. This is definitely the right direction to fully solve the problem. I will also try some kernel extensions.

 

[andreaamado]

Hi Gilles,
I have a macbook air early 2015 and a WD Black 512GB Performance SSD - 8 Gb/s M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive – WDS512G1X0C
Can you tell me which adapter I should buy?
I cannot find any good information about that.
Thanks,
Andrea

Hi,

thanks for your answer, I'm OK to start a new thread but where ? this concerns not only Notebooks Mac but also Desktops (Mac mini and iMacs).

Also I need to do further testings...

The late testing results follows :

First a bad news for the MacBook Pro retina 15", mid 2015 : it doesn't work... I had various results from no chimie, no boot with black display, to chimie and boot on an external drive, and the NVMe SSD was recognized, usable and writable but not bootable...
This is bad news for this particular Mac, maybe this is because the mid-2015 MBPr 15" has 4x PCIe 3.0 lanes and the adapters are not made for such high speed signals ?


As for the MacBook air early 2015, every NVMe SSD I tested worked !
And with both 2 adapters I had.
The drive who worked are : a Samsung SM961, a 960 EVO, a 960 PRO and a WD Black.

 

[nephron8]

guys, sorry,i am confused and would like your guidance.
what ssd to get for my late 2013 model of MacBook Pro with model no.a1502.
pls opine.thanks.

 

[andreaamado]

Hi Gilles,
I have a macbook air early 2015 and a WD Black 512GB Performance SSD - 8 Gb/s M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive – WDS512G1X0C
Can you tell me which adapter I should buy?
I cannot find any good information about that.
Thanks,
Andrea

Forget about it, I found your post about the adapter, I'm trying to find at ebay now.
Thanks

 

[damex]

hi,
i just upgraded mf840 (early 2015 13' macbook pro) using sintech adapter (taped) and 1T Samsung 960 Pro m2 NVME.

works flawless for now.
sadly it is capped on pci-e 2.0 (x4).

fresh install using APFS file system... i would say that i would have better gone with 2T 960 Pro instead ... but i have to fill this 1T first

 

[Earl Urley]

One of the more annoying things about APFS is that it doesn't really update free space in the Finder until you empty the trash and reboot, then on the next boot you will see the free space slowly and magically increase.

In HFS+ it's instant.

 

[gilles_polysoft]

Hi everyone,
just received last week this little guy, a new Samsung PM981 :



First little deception, it is still impossible to format it with 4K sectors, so no Sierra compatibility for it :





Second little deception, I was unable to do a BlackMagic disk Speed Test..
The system immediately hangs and reboots a few seconds after (with a kernel panic report with IONVMeFamiliy.kext)
A clone with CarbonCopyCloner or a file copy in the Finder also brings the same result : hang then reboot...

I did tried a little further and found that I have no problem at all at just reading or sending zeros to the disk with "dd" command.
It just works perfectly, at full speed :
500MB/s write on the full drive :



and ~2500MB/s read also on the full drive :



I haven't yet tried under BootCamp/Windows 10 so far...

So here we are... High Sierra as of 10.13.2 beta 4 has problems with those drives... but not errors occur when doing block-level access on command line.
Strange...

 

[damex]

so 13' macbook pro 2015 is definitely limited to pci-e 2.0 4x... which just limits linear throughput of our ssds... which does not really matter.

so to install 960 pro with sintech adapter i had to install windows over bootcamp to update ssd firmware (to fix reboot issue. i managed to catch some weird lock up with colorful screen during reboot - ssd with older firmware have issue when it is not detected on reboot and it is fixed with firmware update - it is not related to mac only).

plus i have had to tape adapter (otherwise it touch metallic shield)

i am not sure what is going on with hibernate issue but i could let it sleep/deep sleep on default settings without adjusting anything (clean install on 960 pro)

and i am not sure what is going on with long boot reports but mine boots pretty fast. like second-maybe-few after i push power button and till it hits firmware password prompt and then second-maybe-few to hit system login prompt.

and... i replaced thermal paste with mx4... machine became pretty warm but cpu temperature became lower (and i hear fan spinning less frequently).

 

[Alpengroove]

@damex: My sintech adapter just arrived.
I am still afraid of the disadvantages of a non apple SSD.
As I understood you, the only disadvantages are:
- about 30% less battery time
- more heat production, but not more fan activity?
Where and why did you put the thermal paste?

Do I have to flash a Samsung 960 EVO to the newest also?
Or is it possible, that the new SSDs have the actual firmware already?

Martin

 

[damex]

@damex: My sintech adapter just arrived.
I am still afraid of the disadvantages of a non apple SSD.
As I understood you, the only disadvantages are:
- about 30% less battery time
- more heat production, but not more fan activity?
Where and why did you put the thermal paste?

Do I have to flash a Samsung 960 EVO to the newest also?
Or is it possible, that the new SSDs have the actual firmware already?

Martin

battery:

i have 5988 mAh on battery left (worn down a bit) - right now after full charge with 5988 mAh and using it - it has 3187 mAh left and it lasted for 3h20mins with active youtube with some synthpop, actively running ssh and safari, mail client with huge tons of stuff open, active openvpn, active bluetooth and wifi... i also also have itunes, screen sharing (connected), slack, skype, messages, telegram, photos and other stuff running in background...

i would not say that it is bad or have less battery then it had before but with current load (pretty good load for a laptop) it would handle 7 hours just fine. it can be more if put less load on it.

as for thermal paste:

i replaced thermal paste under cpu heatsink because stock one was sticking out a bit and it was pretty hard (like a piece of gum!)... so i decided to replace it. no disadvantage in doing so.

i have around 47*C (peaking to 53-54*C) temperature on CPU right now and fan did not spin up past 1.3k rpm. just bottom case a bit warm or getting hotter (but still less temperature then it was before replacing thermal paste with mx4) if i load the **** out of that macbook running some compilation due to better thermal transfer (radiator is very thin and not made to handle that).

as for ssd:

it does not hurt to update firmware on ssd.
as far as i remember - 960 evo and 960 pro previously had this issue (occasionally unnable to be detected on reboot/boot) and it was fixed with firmware update.

that ssds does not have firmware version written on them but they have manufacture date. you can try to get one that is more 'fresh' but it just cause more trouble. do not worry about it and just update firmware on ssd.

keep in mind that nvme generally consume more power then sata equivalents but they're much more performant.
more capacity == more power hungry. it relates to apple ssds too.

btw i would not worry even a bit and just install 1T 960 evo

 

[Alpengroove]

@damex: Thank you for sharing your experiences! I just ordered a 960 EVO 1TB to give it a try. I will report here, also.

Just one more question concerning the firmware update.

Is it possible to update the firmware for the SSD, that is running the system?
Do I have to install bootcamp, or is the firmware update possible under parallels?

Martin

 

[damex]

@damex: Thank you for sharing your experiences! I just ordered a 960 EVO 1TB to give it a try. I will report here, also.

Just one more question concerning the firmware update.

Is it possible to update the firmware for the SSD, that is running the system?
Do I have to install bootcamp, or is the firmware update possible under parallels?

Martin

you will have to use bootcamp.

it is not a big problem since you don't have to pay for windows 10 just for that purpose and it takes just 5 to 10 minutes to install it

 

[ykchau]

Hi all,

Thanks for all of your contribution, especially thanks to gilles_polysoft.

Also thanks to ghifar, thank you for your information, you make me upgrade my 13" MacBook Pro 2015 retina with SM951 NVMe and Chenyang adapter without any problem,

I record the upgrade process, and share it on youtube, if you have any problems for upgrading the model I tested, please feel free to ask me, thanks a lot.

Preparation of MacBook NVMe SSD Upgrade

How to make a Bootable macOS High Sierra USB

Upgrade MacBook to NVMe SSD

 

[burnthefires]

Ok, so today after installing the latest security update for 10.13.1 (17B1003) the dreaded wake from sleep KPs started happening (twice already, first after ~12hrs of sleep, second after just 4) . I have yet to see if it's the update itself that causes it or just that it re-enabled SIP(had it disabled all the time earlier for bootchamp). Will report tomorrow.