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

[Adiif1]

I trying with kapton but nothing

 

[vince22]

Hello all i have small question
2015 13" Adata sx8200 pro, sintech long Black adapter
On system information i have speed X5 why not X8? (+-read/speed 1400mb/s ;/)

should I change something in hibernation?

your M 2015 13 " inch

Hello all i have small question
2015 13" Adata sx8200 pro, sintech long Black adapter
On system information i have speed X5 why not X8? (+-read/speed 1400mb/s ;/)

should I change something in hibernation?

your MBP 13" 2015 is not capable link speed 8.0 GT/s.

MBP mid 2015 15” supports 4x lanes PCIe 3.0 , link speed 8.0 GT/s speed eg. up to 3000MB/s

MBP early 2015 13” 4x lanes PCIe 2.0, link speed 5.0 GT/s speed up to ~1400MB/s).

 

[nicobar]

i have an early 2015 MBP 13" with sabrent 1TB/short sintech adapter, no hibernation issues here, no battery drain during sleep, bootroom ver. 189.0.0.0.

I'm waiting for the adapter and sabrent blue ssd to be at home from Amazon, I'm currently on the lastest catalina with 189.0.0.0 bootrom on early 2015 MBP 13" and I did a time machine backup. Can I restore the time machine backup on the new ssd? I've made a usb disk of catalina just in case

 

[gilles_polysoft]

Hello here,
just have tested an OWC Pro Aura X2 480 GB :
- of course as we've always said hibernation not supported on an unmodified late 2013-2014 rMBP / MBA
- reports as 4K compatible in smartmontools but format in 4K blocs failed
- in the average of others M.2 NVMe SSD with SM2263 controller

I'm quite sorry but it doesn't worth its high price...

power consumption during write 4.16W :

during read 2.97W :

idle at 0,65W :


read speed in PCIe 2.0 for a 100 GB file 1668MB/S :



read speed in PCIe 2.0 for a 100 GB file 751MB/S :





reports as 4K compatible but format failed (not Sierra compatible.. ) :




I've added it to the tables for comparison

 

[xantic]

I'm waiting for the adapter and sabrent blue ssd to be at home from Amazon, I'm currently on the lastest catalina with 189.0.0.0 bootrom on early 2015 MBP 13" and I did a time machine backup. Can I restore the time machine backup on the new ssd? I've made a usb disk of catalina just in case

Sure can. I did the same thing this past weekend.

Edit:
To clarify, I did do a fresh install of Catalina first, then restored from Time Machine.

 

[cmwebdev]

Hello everyone, first post and first question.

I don't remember where I read this but wasn't the Sabrent Rocket's controller changed recently? IIRC the argument was due to the controller change it's not as good as it once was.

I'm trying to narrow down my choices. So far I'm considering the Adata SX8200 Pro or the Sabrent Rocket but I haven't read all 241 pages yet so I'm open to suggestions.

2015 15" Macbook Pro

Yes they did change something in their hardware recently. There's a Reddit thread that covers it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NewMaxx/comments/drriga

FWIW I have the same Macbook Pro as you (Mid 2015 15") and last week I installed the Sabrent Rocket 1TB. It's the newer version with 512b sector size. I used the Sintech long adapter and wrapped it with Kapton tape.

I have had zero problems with the new drive so far. It's running noticeably faster. If you check my previous posts I posted a speed test and was averaging 2,500 write and 2,000 read. For some reason the read speed is a little slower than the write speed (possibly the adapter?) but it's still WAAAY faster than the OEM drive and it's consistent so I don't feel like putting in the extra time to figure it out. I did this upgrade mainly for more storage space, so any speed improvements are just a bonus for me.

The battery is probably not as good but that is to be expected with any NVME drive in a MacBook and I honestly don't really notice it so the difference is minimal.

TLDR; I wouldn't worry too much about Sabrent changing the hardware in their drives. Mine is running great for over a week and I'm on it all day

 

[klyno]

Yes, but you would need to extract the bootrom update from the os update and use an efi programmer.

It may be simpler to have a local Mac repair shop flash it for you.
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So if I go in an authorized apple repair center and ask them to flash a new bootrom / efi they will do it ? Just asking cause I went earlier and I may have been quite tired as I was asking them to update my recovery instead of bootrom and they didn't really understand. The guy insisted that the recovery updates itself by pressing cmt alt r ... And at that moment I just assumed he had no idea what I was talking about.

 

[cmwebdev]

So if I go in an authorized apple repair center and ask them to flash a new bootrom / efi they will do it ? Just asking cause I went earlier and I may have been quite tired as I was asking them to update my recovery instead of bootrom and they didn't really understand. The guy insisted that the recovery updates itself by pressing cmt alt r ... And at that moment I just assumed he had no idea what I was talking about.

I wouldn't rely on that, especially an authorized repair center. You could just buy a cheap 128gb one for updating the bootrom if you don't already have an OEM drive.

 

[klyno]

I wouldn't rely on that, especially an authorized repair center. You could just buy a cheap 128gb one for updating the bootrom if you don't already have an OEM drive.

Well my OEM is broken. I have another macbook air from 2019 but I have to check if the ssd matches mine. Let's assume I manage to get an OEM drive. If I have catalina on it, will the bootrom update itself as soon as the drive is connected ? Or are there any other steps to follow ? Thanks for the quick answer btw.

 

[cmwebdev]

Well my OEM is broken. I have another macbook air from 2019 but I have to check if the ssd matches mine. Let's assume I manage to get an OEM drive. If I have catalina on it, will the bootrom update itself as soon as the drive is connected ? Or are there any other steps to follow ? Thanks for the quick answer btw.

I think the MacBook Airs from 2018 and on have soldered SSD's so that won't be an option. A 128gb OEM drive is under $50 on eBay.

And no I don't believe the bootrom will just update itself. I think you need to run a system update that includes a bootrom update while the drive is connected. Some users are reporting the bootrom will update with an NVME from High Sierra on, so you should probably just keep an eye on it for now and see if that happens in your case.

 

[klyno]

I think the MacBook Airs from 2018 and on have soldered SSD's so that won't be an option. A 128gb OEM drive is under $50 on eBay.

And no I don't believe the bootrom will just update itself. I think you need to run a system update that includes a bootrom update while the drive is connected. Some users are reporting the bootrom will update with an NVME from High Sierra on, so you should probably just keep an eye on it for now and see if that happens in your case.

Thanks ! I've just read the guide from cmd-q listed in this thread and I will maybe try this weekend to update the bootrom. Meanwhile I managed to run Mojave from an usb with the Mojave patcher.
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Also any other AHCI ssd that I can use with this macbook pro retina mid 2014 besides the owc in order to avoid all the firmware update process ?

 

[klyno]

I also wanted to add that before my OEM ssd broke, I had macOS Catalina on it (I installed every previous version since Yosemite). Thus I still don't get how come my bootrom didn't get updated.

 

[cmwebdev]

Thanks ! I've just read the guide from cmd-q listed in this thread and I will maybe try this weekend to update the bootrom. Meanwhile I managed to run Mojave from an usb with the Mojave patcher.
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Also any other AHCI ssd that I can use with this macbook pro retina mid 2014 besides the owc in order to avoid all the firmware update process ?

I don't believe the OWC one is capable of doing it. I think they advertised the latest Aura as being capable when it first came out last year but then they retracted that. You may be able to take the OEM Apple 128gb and stick it in the OWC Envoy Pro and boot from that, run updates, and I think it will update the bootrom, but nobody has confirmed for me that booting from an OEM Apple SSD via USB and running updates will also update the bootrom.

Like I said though, I wouldn't worry about any of this if I were until you actually confirm the bootrom is or isn't updating. And if it's not updating, if I were you, I would just get the 128gb OEM drive and slap it in there once a year to run updates. Your MBP is from 2014 and they will only be updating it through 2021.

 

[klyno]

I don't believe the OWC one is capable of doing it. I think they advertised the latest Aura as being capable when it first came out last year but then they retracted that. You may be able to take the OEM Apple 128gb and stick it in the OWC Envoy Pro and boot from that, run updates, and I think it will update the bootrom, but nobody has confirmed for me that booting from an OEM Apple SSD via USB and running updates will also update the bootrom.

Like I said though, I wouldn't worry about any of this if I were until you actually confirm the bootrom is or isn't updating. And if it's not updating, if I were you, I would just get the 128gb OEM drive and slap it in there once a year to run updates. Your MBP is from 2014 and they will only be updating it through 2021.

Seems legit, might just leave it run from usb for now and hope the new macbook pro will be different from the latest models (I'm typing from a butterfly keyboard atm and it's just yikes). Anyway thanks for the time taken. Hope this will help other people stuck with this problem.

 

[cmwebdev]

Seems legit, might just leave it run from usb for now and hope the new macbook pro will be different from the latest models (I'm typing from a butterfly keyboard atm and it's just yikes). Anyway thanks for the time taken. Hope this will help other people stuck with this problem.

I just went through your post history and saw that you think it wasn't updating the bootrom prior to the SSD going bad. Sorry, I didn't get that part till just now. What is your bootrom version? I only see you mention that it's "Yosemite" but you don't give the actual number.

 

[klyno]

I just went through your post history and saw that you think it wasn't updating the bootrom prior to the SSD going bad. Sorry, I didn't get that part till just now. What is your bootrom version? I only see you mention that it's "Yosemite" but you don't give the actual number.

I assumed it's stuck on Yosemite as it was the 1st os to install when I went into recovery.
Well it says 157.0.0.0.0 (Guess it's Catalina one). Altho I'm running from an usb atm thus I have no idea if the value is biased or not.
Nevertheless, the SMC version is 2.16f68 (this is the one from yosemite iirc)

Actually I have Mojave runing from usb but the boot ROM is from Catalina. I guess it got uptaded before then. Well how come the evo 970 wasn't recognized then ? (it was only recognized in linux or windows).

 

[cmwebdev]

I assumed it's stuck on Yosemite as it was the 1st os to install when I went into recovery.
Well it says 157.0.0.0.0 (Guess it's Catalina one). Altho I'm running from an usb atm thus I have no idea if the value is biased or not.
Nevertheless, the SMC version is 2.16f68 (this is the one from yosemite iirc)

I've never had to use the recovery partition so I'm not entirely sure how it works, but it could have been messed up since Yosemite so it was never updating with the rest of your computer. I see threads about this being a thing.

Your bootrom is up-to-date so you should have no issue installing Catalina on your Samsung drive. Just get that done and don't worry about the bootrom version. If your MBP is running fine then just check in a year or so from now what the latest bootrom for your model is and if your bootrom version has increased from what it's at now. Even if it hasn't I wouldn't worry about it if your system is running fine. "If it ain't broke don't fix it."

As for the SMC, if you google that version number, you see many people using versions much later than Yosemite with that SMC version. Same goes for my SMC version on my 2015 MBP. Nobody is even keeping track of SMC versions on the internet so I wouldn't even worry about it. I can't even tell if they're really updating it, and nobody else really can either:

What about SMC versions?

Isn’t EFI firmware complex enough for you? There is currently no way to check the integrity of other firmware, etc., and no one has even started to focus on SMC versions.

Source: https://eclecticlight.co/2019/10/08/which-efi-firmware-should-your-mac-be-using-version-4/

 

[klyno]

I've never had to use the recovery partition so I'm not entirely sure how it works, but it could have been messed up since Yosemite so it was never updating with the rest of your computer. I see threads about this being a thing.

Your bootrom is up-to-date so you should have no issue installing Catalina on your Samsung drive. Just get that done and don't worry about the bootrom version. If your MBP is running fine then just check in a year or so from now what the latest bootrom for your model is and if your bootrom version has increased from what it's at now. Even if it hasn't I wouldn't worry about it if your system is running fine. "If it ain't broke don't fix it."

As for the SMC, if you google that version number, you see many people using versions much later than Yosemite with that SMC version. Same goes for my SMC version on my 2015 MBP. Nobody is even keeping track of SMC versions on the internet so I wouldn't even worry about it. I can't even tell if they're really updating it, and nobody else really can either:



Source: https://eclecticlight.co/2019/10/08/which-efi-firmware-should-your-mac-be-using-version-4/

Yeah I've got lost a bit with all the different firmwares. Thought smc should match the bootrom. Anyway if the bootrom is updated I still don't get why the Samsung drive is still not recognised in disk utility. I mean it's recognised when booting from Ubuntu but not from osx. I must have done something something wrong. I will try again these days. Sometimes it's just some random issue without any true explanation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[gilles_polysoft]

Yeah I've got lost a bit with all the different firmwares. Thought smc should match the bootrom. Anyway if the bootrom is updated I still don't get why the Samsung drive is still not recognised in disk utility.

You may need to click in the menu of Disk utility on the "View" icon, and select "Show All Devices"

Also, as a reminder, as for Internet recovery you may select different version of macOS with the following combination :

• cmd - R : start internet recovery with the latest macOS that was installed
• option - cmd - R : start internet recovery with the latest macOS compatible with your mac (e.g 10.15.3 here)
• Shift - Option - cmd -R : start internet recovery with the origninal macOS which your mac shipped with (e.g 10.10 or 10.11 which don't support NVMe drives)

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

 

[rando_onDaInterweb]

I swapped to Sarbert Rocket 1Tb on my MBPr Late 2013 128GB on Oct 10, 2019. Followed the guide, changed the sleep/hibernation thing.

Now Feb 12, 2020. It has been 5 months.
Since then, the battery cycles go up form 395 to 450. No kernel panic.

Cons:

• The battery has been suffered. Barely 3.5-4hrs continuos with (10 Safari Tabs, light coding on Atom, Slack, Sparkmail )
• Have to carry the charger (Extra weight)
• MBPr gets way hotter

Pros:

• So much room to storge Movies, Videos, you name it.

Take away: If battery life is your priority, just buy used OEM SSD. Else, go for it slap on 10Tb if you want.

Question: Do you think a new battery will get me up to at least 6hrs ?

 

[wersa]

Hi, where I can find updated charts from first post (with xpg sx8200 pro)?

 

[cmwebdev]

Question: Do you think a new battery will get me up to at least 6hrs ?

Going by your charge cycles, you're around the halfway point of your battery's life expectancy. Is this the original battery? If so, it could be so old that it's not keeping charges like it should.

 

[Ste Mac]

Hi guys I have one question.
Since July 2018 I was using on my MBP11,3 (2014) a samsung 970 evo 1TB (without refi modded), Blackmagic shows ~1300MB/s and system was stable.
One week ago I start to receive panic log and reboot everyday with more frequency (especially with safari open), Blackmagic shows now 300MB/s.
So I tried to use an AHCI apple SSD 128GB (SANDISK from a MacBook Air) to update the bootrom (installing Catalina) but the problem with the 970 evo persists (with the AHCI SSD all ok).
So I thought that the SSD was broken and I got a Sabrent Rocket 2TB, I tried a fresh install of Catalina, but I received the same problem, panic log and speed ~300MB/s, sometimes ~600MB/s
So I have bought the ch3140 and I flashed the modded bootrom following the CMD+Q guide (ver. 158.0.0.0), the situation is slightly better but the speed is now 300MB/s in writing and 600MB/s in reading with the sabrent (system info shows x1).
Meanwhile I read that the chenyang adapter is problematic and I have a chenyang adapter.
Now I ordered a Sintech adapter to make another try and also a SX8200 2TB.

Do you think that the chenyang adapter can burn the pcie chipset? But the AHCI SSD works without problem.
If I'm not wrong on the logic board there is only the PCIe chipset that works for both (NVME or AHCI chipset are on the SSD). It is right?

Panic log:

panic(cpu 2 caller 0xffffff7f950184a7): nvme: "Fatal error occurred. ID=0xffffffff ARG1=0xffffffff ARG2=0xffffffff ARG3=0xffffffff EDD0=0xffffffff EDD1=0xffffffff EDD2=0xffffffff EDD3=0xffffffff EDD4=0xffffffff EDD5=0xffffffff EDD6=0xffffffff EDD7=0xffffffff NANDV=0x2, DRAMV=0x2, SSDC=512GB. FW Revision=16.14.01\n"@/BuildRoot/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/IONVMeFamily/IONVMeFamily-470.40.4/IONVMeController.cpp:5258
Backtrace (CPU 2), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff92353a39e0 : 0xffffff8013339a3b
0xffffff92353a3a30 : 0xffffff8013470fe5
0xffffff92353a3a70 : 0xffffff8013462a5e
0xffffff92353a3ac0 : 0xffffff80132e0a40
0xffffff92353a3ae0 : 0xffffff8013339127
0xffffff92353a3be0 : 0xffffff801333950b
0xffffff92353a3c30 : 0xffffff8013ad17f9
0xffffff92353a3ca0 : 0xffffff7f950184a7
0xffffff92353a3cc0 : 0xffffff7f9500347a
0xffffff92353a3e20 : 0xffffff8013a44f79
0xffffff92353a3e90 : 0xffffff8013a44e99
0xffffff92353a3ec0 : 0xffffff801337b625
0xffffff92353a3f40 : 0xffffff801337b151
0xffffff92353a3fa0 : 0xffffff80132e013e

 

[cwo]

Hello everyone,

I've installed my Sabrent Rocket 512 Gb and is running great. I do notice my MacBookPro Late 2013 (13inch retina) is running hotter compared to before.

One thing, I am noticing a plastic smell coming from my laptop. I didn't do any Kapton tape or anything - do I need to get thermal tape applied to the SSD or adapter?

The adapter is the Sintech Sled style one.

Currently, my OS is Mojave 10.4.6 with the latest BootROM installed. I did try Catalina before but the heat my laptop gave off while running Catalina would have cooked an egg!

I used canned air to clean out the inside of my laptop as well during the SSD installation.

Cheers,
cWo

 

[SomeBuckaro]

As of a few days ago, about the time I started reading this thread actually, my mid 15" 2015 mbp has Catalina available as an update. Has Catalina caused anyone problems while running their aftermarket nvme? I seem to remember someone complaining about excessive heat running that OS. I'm wondering if I should stay with Mojave before I complete this upgrade.