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

[johnhurley]

Hey people geez I haven't been active on here for a while thanks for all the great info in this thread.

I have a Macbook Pro retina 15 mid 2014 and while I want a new one I am going to put in a 1 TB Samsung 970 EVO. I also ordered the sintech adapter for the matching machine.

Getting time machine backups in place onto 2 different external drives and well the original SSD is not going anywhere either.

Just a couple of questions here.

After I put in new drive and restart I use command R and then do internet recovery.

I think first step is disk utility for format the SSD. So anything to screw up that I need to avoid? I guess Apple APFS should be the selection on what to format it with correct? What about the EFI partition do I need to do anything there?

Should I then have it load Catalina onto the new SSD or go right into recovery from time machine backup?

Or maybe I start by loading Catalina immediately ( won't it format it correctly along with EFI partition that it wants ? )?

Been a while since I did anything like this any hints/tips appreciated.

It sounds like I should probably disable hibernation after I get done. My machine stays plugged in most of the time etc. A little confused about what will happen with bootrom version during this whole process mine is currently sitting at ...

Boot ROM Version: 157.0.0.0.0

SMC Version (system): 2.19f12

Thanks John

 

[profcutter]

So I have another problem... I have a late 2013 MacBook Pro Retina 15", and it's constantly crashing when I put it to sleep and move it, this has been a problem for years. I sent it in to apple, and they charged me for a new battery, but they never fixed the crashing problem. I'm wondering if replacing the SSD with an NVME would fix the problem, just as a way of trying another variable, because when it crashes, it comes back with (drumroll please):

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff8003a290b7): "AppleAHCIDiskQueueManager::setPowerState(0xffffff802338c480 : 0xffffff7f84b7196c, 3 -> 0) timed out after 102197 ms"@/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-6153.11.26/iokit/Kernel/IOServicePM.cpp:5302
Backtrace (CPU 0), Frame : Return Address

This happens every time. A few OS's ago, it said SATA as the error, but now it reads AHCI. Since I'm having these crashes anyway, seems like swapping the ssd for an NVME couldn't hurt, and maybe it would actually fix the problem? I suspect apple didn't want to fix this because the only solution I see is them replacing the SSD (a 1 TB job) or new logic board. Perhaps swapping the SSD can narrow down the problem to the logic board? Thanks for your thoughts, all!

 

[johnhurley]

Ok i had to create a bootable catalina install usb drive because ssd was not seen otherwise now i am trying a time machine restore ... so far so good.

 

[TrumanLA]

There are enterprise m.2 drives with 4TB capacity. Has anyone tried one of these?

These are Samsung 4TB m.2 drives
https://www.serversupply.com/SSD/PCI-E3.0/3.84TB/SAMSUNG/MZ1LB3T8HMLA.htm
https://www.serversupply.com/SSD/PCI-E3.0/3.84TB/SAMSUNG/MZ1LB3T8HMLA-00007.htm

The Wiki says that 2TB is max, what is that limit based on?

Thanks!

Those are incompatible.

Those are the wrong size. I actually own some of the PM983 ... of course what I have is a u.2 version, but the M.2 version of that is a difference size than would fit in any Mac.

I've been watching also.

 

[JonasAnd]

Those are incompatible.

Those are the wrong size. I actually own some of the PM983 ... of course what I have is a u.2 version, but the M.2 version of that is a difference size than would fit in any Mac.

I've been watching also.

The dimensions for PM983 enterprise 4TB are 22 x 3.8 x 110 mm

The dimensions of 960 PRO 2TB are 22 x 2,38 x 80 mm

So I guess you are right, they have different dimensions.

PM983 is;
30mm longer
1,42mm higher
Width is the same.

So what dimension is troublesome?

Length wise, couldn't the PM983 be allowed to extend 30mm beyond the screw and then have a wire from the screw hole to the SSD for grounding. It would then go over the ICs that are in the pic below. The later style adapter as shown in the picture would increase the height. Then the extra 1,42 mm of the PM983 would have to be added. So would the lid be able to close? Would you have to thermally insulate the ICs below the part of the SSD that is sticking out?

Doesn't seem completely impossible. (Pic is from MBP A1502 early 2015)

 

[Seppo777]

I have a 13" MBP Mid 2014 and my Boot ROM Version is 157.0.0.0.0. Are there any known problem i may encounter or is it safe to upgrade my SSD w/o problems?

 

[johnhurley]

I have a 13" MBP Mid 2014 and my Boot ROM Version is 157.0.0.0.0. Are there any known problem i may encounter or is it safe to upgrade my SSD w/o problems?

First just please sanity check and read through the first posting on page 1. It sure seems like your system should work just fine ( it's a retina 13 right ? ).

I just finished upgrading my 2014 MacBook pro retina 15 it worked well. My system was already up on catalina with a 512 gb old ssd and the boot rom version also said what your says now.

I used a samsung 970 EVO along with the recommended sintech adapter ( both from amazon ).

I found that for it to work for me I had to have a bootable catalina installer on a flash drive. It took me a little while to figure out how to do that but not bad.

I used time machine backup made just prior.

I shutdown and switched SSD's keeping the old one "safe". Put in new one and also had bootable USB drive with catalina. Used option key to boot up from installer.

I formatted my new SSD with disk utility ( erase option ) as APFS but seems like un necessary maybe?

Exited disk utility and plugged in my drive with the time machine backup ( still had catalina usb installer in also ).

Picked restore from time machine backup and it appeared to format the SSD again ( that's fine for me ) then started restoring.

Took all night since I had 450 gb on the time machine backup to restore.

It was back on my login screen this morning and everything is peachy.

I did also use the sudo commands to disable hibernate as noted on the first item. It seems like a good thing to do.

Good luck should be pretty straight forward.

 

[Seppo777]

First just please sanity check and read through the first posting on page 1. It sure seems like your system should work just fine ( it's a retina 13 right ? ).

I just finished upgrading my 2014 MacBook pro retina 15 it worked well. My system was already up on catalina with a 512 gb old ssd and the boot rom version also said what your says now.

I used a samsung 970 EVO along with the recommended sintech adapter ( both from amazon ).

I found that for it to work for me I had to have a bootable catalina installer on a flash drive. It took me a little while to figure out how to do that but not bad.

I used time machine backup made just prior.

I shutdown and switched SSD's keeping the old one "safe". Put in new one and also had bootable USB drive with catalina. Used option key to boot up from installer.

I formatted my new SSD with disk utility ( erase option ) as APFS but seems like un necessary maybe?

Exited disk utility and plugged in my drive with the time machine backup ( still had catalina usb installer in also ).

Picked restore from time machine backup and it appeared to format the SSD again ( that's fine for me ) then started restoring.

Took all night since I had 450 gb on the time machine backup to restore.

It was back on my login screen this morning and everything is peachy.

I did also use the sudo commands to disable hibernate as noted on the first item. It seems like a good thing to do.

Good luck should be pretty straight forward.

Thank you for your reply and your great instructions!

Do you have any problems with your battery now? Like much less time you can use your MB on battery without having to charge it again?

EDIT: And yes I have a Retina 2014 MBP

 

[dage90]

I have been following this thread since I picked up a mid 2014 Macbook Pro 13" just recently. I bought a Adata SX8200 pro 1TB drive, and the short Sintech adapter, the one that is linked to on the first page. After installing it, everything is working pretty well, no kernel panics or anything. My boot rom is the newest version for my Macbook. 157.0.0.0.0. I do think the battery is draining more, but overall it is okay. A much larger SSD than my stock 256GB plus speeds around 1300.

The one issue I am having is that I see a black screen for like 15 second before the Apple Logo comes up, which makes my boot time much slower. It seems like it is looking for an internal boot drive on first boot. Because if I hit "alt" it shows an orange drive and not a normal grey one. Can anyone help me make my machine see it as an internal drive? In disk utility, etc, shows it as a internal drive. Just when it is first boots up. I purchased a long adapter but it won't be here until Monday. Also I tried using both Mojave and Catalina, and both APFS, and HFS. Neither of things helped fix this issue. Does the drive I use matter? Is this normal? Thank you for all of your help.

 

[johnhurley]

Thank you for your reply and your great instructions!

Do you have any problems with your battery now? Like much less time you can use your MB on battery without having to charge it again?

EDIT: And yes I have a Retina 2014 MBP

Well yikes I just did it last night ha ha. The notes seem to say you might lose 10 percent of battery time maybe but varies a lot.

I do not think it would be significant but for me my laptop is plugged in most of the time.

 

[johnhurley]

The one issue I am having is that I see a black screen for like 15 second before the Apple Logo comes up, which makes my boot time much slower. It seems like it is looking for an internal boot drive on first boot. Because if I hit "alt" it shows an orange drive and not a normal grey one. Can anyone help me make my machine see it as an internal drive? In disk utility, etc, shows it as a internal drive. Just when it is first boots up. I purchased a long adapter but it won't be here until Monday. Also I tried using both Mojave and Catalina, and both APFS, and HFS. Neither of things helped fix this issue. Does the drive I use matter? Is this normal? Thank you for all of your help.

Hmmm yeah I seem to have a blank screen for 10 seconds like before I see normal startup stuff also. So does not seem SSD related.

It does not bother me ha ha well at least until you pointed it out and now I see it. Wonder what is going on exactly here.

If the sintech "short" adapter is working ... what is a long adapter?

I think APFS is the new recommended way to go right? One of the upgrades a while back moved my old internal drive up to that one I think.

 

[Just_iWorld]

View attachment 868899

From 2PM yesterday to 8AM today, the battery dropped 6%.

Have you reset pmset settings to what they were before? For me at least, I set standby to 0 to turn off hibernation and don't have all issues related to upgrading. So, if I ever would want to check if Catalina upgrade fixed hibernation issues I would set standby to 1 again, and perform all the tests.

 

[profcutter]

Anyone have a J6100 adaptor cable I can borrow/rent? I'm in USA, PA. I could pay for shipping, return. Thanks!

 

[ohnggni]

Is there anyone who knows where I can find EFI bottom file in 10.15(Catalina) dmg file?
I'm trying to modify the bottom of my MBPr 2014 mid, but I can't find it in the pkg file.

 

[Kraizelburg]

Hi all, after almost reading the entire thread I am debating about which SSD NVME I should get for my MBA early 2015.
I am very concern about battery drain so I has come down to these choices:

- Transcend 110s
- Corsair MP510
- Adata SX8200
- Sabrent rocket (Amazon.es doesnt ship these to my location) so sadly not an option for me.

Have you guys any experience with these SSDs ? How bad is the battery drain compared to apple's?

Any other suggestions are welcomed

Thanks

 

[Kraizelburg]

Hi evryone,

I have tested some new NVMe drives and added them to the comparison tables :

• Transcend 110s and 220s
• Nmicro Extreme (which is a taiwanese Phison E12 based NVMe SSD)
• Corsair MP510

I tried to update the tables the best I could do, I updated prices based on Amazon prices, and also reported as "discontinued" the SSD not sold anymore




View attachment 849696 View attachment 849697 View attachment 849698

Hi!, first of all I wanna say thanks for your hard work.

My question is how do you exactly perform consupmtion test? I'm asking because I just read in Tom's Hardware website that the ADATA sx8200 pro is one of the most power efficient drives but your table shows that is not as good.

Thanks

 

[sman789]

Have you reset pmset settings to what they were before? For me at least, I set standby to 0 to turn off hibernation and don't have all issues related to upgrading. So, if I ever would want to check if Catalina upgrade fixed hibernation issues I would set standby to 1 again, and perform all the tests.

I did a NVRAM reset immediately after the upgrade to Catalina, that resets all kinds of settings. Everything works great ATM, I don't need hibernation as I use the laptop almost everyday.

 

[johnhurley]

OK thanks people I am probably out of this thread. Although I may check back from time to time to see if anyone knows "why" after switching to NVME ssd for MacBook pro retina 15 2014 it seems to wait at boot up for 10ish seconds before proceeding.

I ran from 6 am to 1:30 pm on just battery ( not using machine consistently ) went from 100 percent down to 74 that does seem a bit high for battery drain but not a factor for my usage.

Stability seems fine performance is very good ( Samsung 1TB 970 EVO ).

 

[Luki1979]

If I put original Apple SSD from 2015 MacBook Pro in 2014 will it hibernate?

 

[Luki1979]

sorry posted twice

 

[profcutter]

I assume this is what happens when hibernation is broken, or is this something else? I installed the new SSD last night, and let it sleep.


Sleep Wake failure in EFI

Failure code:: 0x0131150e 0x0000001f

Please IGNORE the below stackshot

 

[vince22]

If I put original Apple SSD from 2015 MacBook Pro in 2014 will it hibernate?

no, pre-2015 MBP needs bootroom patch with DXE NVMe Driver for hibernation to work.

 

[Luki1979]

no, pre-2015 MBP needs bootroom patch with DXE NVMe Driver for hibernation to work.

Thank you for clearing that up for me.

 

[Audit13]

Upgrade MBP 11,1 with 1T Sarbet SSD yesterday. Mojave 10.14.6 Bootrom at 156.0.0.0. I am at 396 battery cycles.

Day1: Close the lid at 95% woke up 8 hours late at 65% battery.

Edit1: Day 2 close at 100% at 2AM, open at 11:50AM at 82% battery. I followed the command

pmset -a hibernatemode 0 standby 0 autopoweroff 0

Notice that CPU is running at 12-26% at idle, used to be 4% before upgrade ssd

Unless the nvme drive is in a 2015/17 Air or 2015 Pro, the MacBook won't enter deep sleep (hibernatemode 25) with a non-Apple SSD which means the MacBook never writes the ram contents to the SSD and powers itself off.

 

[Kraizelburg]

Unless the nvme drive is in a 2015/17 Air or 2015 Pro, the MacBook won't enter deep sleep (hibernatemode 25) with a non-Apple SSD which means the MacBook never writes the ram contents to the SSD and powers itself off.

What do you mean with: "Unless the nvme drive is in a 2015/17 Air or 2015 Pro, the MacBook won't enter deep sleep (hibernatemode 25)"

I thought apple hadn't included ASPM (active state power management) in Mac OS for PCI express yet