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

[Batmandc]

A question regarding the Kapton tape. Is the normal one or the ESD one? Could that make any difference?

 

[jtl_]

A question regarding the Kapton tape. Is the normal one or the ESD one? Could that make any difference?

I'd assume ESD safe tape is the best idea, wouldn't want to build up static on the internal SSD connectors and what not.

Seems hard to find (by amazon.ca standards) or I'm not looking in the right place.

 

[majonex]

Hi to all, gilles_polysoft and @t0mx (and specials thinks to gilles!).
I just ordered a KC1000 980GB (with PCIe adapter for 380€!) for my MBPro 13" 2015 thanks to the people who worked, tried, and made many attempts to debug the subject of this on this thread.
I now need one more advice on the NGFF adaptor considering the current problem with the black V3 (gilles, would you like me to make some test with a V2 green adaptor ? ). The Sintech is the best one if I recall correctly. Where Would you advise me to buy one considering I am in France for months now?


PS: for those living in western EU, Kingston KC1000 for cheap price in January 2018 :
https://www.rueducommerce.fr/produi...carte-fille-pcie-hhhl-29201938/offre-70996150

Here is the adapter that Sintech themselves say they get best feedback on.
I wonder what speed you get with the KC1000 on a 2015 MBP 13. Let us know. Anyway here in Norway the Samsung EVO 1TB is cheaper than the KC1000 980GB. And is a bit faster. Now if the many issues with the EVO mentioned here in the thread were solved I can not see any better deal in all sizes (250, 500, 1TB).
One issue I may have missed is power drain and heat. So which drives come close to performance and at the same time low power and heat like the Apple drives?
[doublepost=1515666390][/doublepost]

I'd assume ESD safe tape is the best idea, wouldn't want to build up static on the internal SSD connectors and what not.

Seems hard to find (by amazon.ca standards) or I'm not looking in the right place.

I did not notice until now that this is advertised as 2 different versions. I never had any static problems with Kapton tape.
[doublepost=1515667106][/doublepost]

I think either I'm going for 1tb Intel P600 or the 500gb Samsung 960 Evo most probably for my 2015 MBA

Now the Intel 600P (the P after!) is a quite different drive than the 960 EVO. The Evo 960 outperforms the 600P in all modes. If the issues some experience with the EVO 960 are solved I would put the extra money on the Evo 960, especially in a 2015 MBA. Depends what performance you are looking for.

 

[preet1469]

I know its not a big deal but someone still please tell me what krapton tape size i need to order like there r different sizes available e.g 5 mm to 40.

 

[Audit13]

Does not matter to much about the width of the tape as it is easily cut with sharp scissors.

 

[preet1469]

Does matter to much about the width of the tape as it is easily cut with sharp scissors.

ok. Thanks
[doublepost=1515677430][/doublepost]I have a MBA 11 inch Early 2015 and a Intel 600p ssd and want to know what adapter exactly i need to order as there are two versions on them.

So which one is the right adapter to order?

http://eshop.sintech.cn/ngff-m2-pcie-ssd-card-as-2013-2014-2015-macbook-ssd-p-1139.html

http://eshop.sintech.cn/ngff-m2-pcie-ssd-card-as-2013-2014-2015-macbook-ssd-p-1143.html

 

[Marno]

Here is the adapter that Sintech themselves say they get best feedback on.
I wonder what speed you get with the KC1000 on a 2015 MBP 13. Let us know.

Thanks Majonex for your answer,
Well I ordered the 960GB Kingston KC1000 for 380€ cheaper than the 450€ asked for the 1TB EVO 960 ! So I had no hesitations : cheaper, not buggy NVMe, and a PCIE HHHL adaptor so I could re-use my Apple 128GB SSD for another purpose (Hackintosh?). In the end I bought a new MBPro 2015 13" with 1TB sad for 1490€ total ; instead of 2500€ asked a year before that. IMHO best deal of the decade, thanks to the information provided last summer by the early and advanced mac addicts who noticed the EFI update in the Beta of High sierra !
-> Juste noticed that Sintech asked only 2$ for international shipping ; but I also read that Sintech is sending a new with black PCB prone to bugs. So I ordered one and i will see. I hope they will send it quickly because I don't want to wait too long (before the 15 days money bag will end!).

 

[Audit13]

ok. Thanks
[doublepost=1515677430][/doublepost]I have a MBA 11 inch Early 2015 and a Intel 600p ssd and want to know what adapter exactly i need to order as there are two versions on them.

So which one is the right adapter to order?

http://eshop.sintech.cn/ngff-m2-pcie-ssd-card-as-2013-2014-2015-macbook-ssd-p-1139.html

http://eshop.sintech.cn/ngff-m2-pcie-ssd-card-as-2013-2014-2015-macbook-ssd-p-1143.html

I ordered the $8.99 adapter using these first link a few months ago and received the large green adapter shown in the second link.

I used the 256 GB Intel 600p, the large green adapter, and kapton tape in an early 2015 13" Air and it works without issue except a bit more battery drain in sleep mode.

 

[preet1469]

I ordered the $8.99 adapter using these first link a few months ago and received the large green adapter shown in the second link.

I used the 256 GB Intel 600p, the large green adapter, and kapton tape in an early 2015 13" Air and it works without issue except a bit more battery drain in sleep mode.

Even i have 256gb intel 600p drive. Would you mind sharing the read and write speed of your drive bcz i want to get a 500gb samsung evo ssd but after reading about the issues with the samsung ssd's i am thinking about sticking with intel drive for the time being.

 

[Audit13]

My results with 256 GB 600p: Upgrading 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

 

[zeveto]

Hi Guys,

I've a 2013 MacBook Air and I'd like to upgrade the ssd with a WD Black Pcie. Do you think if it's a good choice please ?

Thank's.

 

[monofase]

Hi all,
I post here some updates.

I received today the green sintech large adapter from @gilles_polysoft (Thank you for the fast shipping, the black one ships tomorrow from here) and I have to say that on rMBP 13" 2015 works without issues.

For now no sleep nor reboot issue! Just works!

 

[gymboy]

I just received my 3 adapters from sintech today and all 3 adapters turned out to be the black ones (how unlucky). Would anyone in Europe have a spare large sintech green adapter that they would be kind enough to sell/send to me in the UK?

 

[gilles_polysoft]

Hi to all,

I just tried to make a little table of all the SSD I've tested so far. Hope it helps a little.

PS : I'm waiting for a Toshiba XG5 and will add it to the results in a few days.
If you have other data or results, please tell me so that I can add them or confirm or infirm the datas I have.

[EDIT]: I just add the same table sorted by price instead of by name

 

[gilles_polysoft]

Hi all,
I post here some updates.

I received today the green sintech large adapter from @gilles_polysoft (Thank you for the fast shipping, the black one ships tomorrow from here) and I have to say that on rMBP 13" 2015 works without issues.

For now no sleep nor reboot issue! Just works!

Hi monofase,
thanks a lot, great ! and thanks for your update

Please could you test the following if you have a 960 Evo and an Intel 600P :
- install a full macOS and some data on the NVMe drive
- do a full backup with Carbon Copy Cloner from the NVMe drive to an external USB 3.0 SSD

Every Samsung drive I've tested so far fails the test and can't finish the backup, with the computer frozing at some point (after 3-4 min of copy), which is followed by a kernel panic and reset.
I verified this with a SM951, two 960 Pro and a 960 Evo.

And every other NVMe SSDs I've tested so far pass this test.

So you should have the Intel 600P pass the test and not the 960 Evo...
[doublepost=1515710389][/doublepost]

I just received my 3 adapters from sintech today and all 3 adapters turned out to be the black ones (how unlucky). Would anyone in Europe have a spare large sintech green adapter that they would be kind enough to sell/send to me in the UK?

Hi gymboy,
I'm in Europe, please send me a personnal mail with your address

 

[gymboy]

Hi gymboy,
I'm in Europe, please send me a personnal mail with your address

Hi @gilles_polysoft ,

Just did, thanks a lot for the help

 

[gilles_polysoft]

Hi Guys,

I've a 2013 MacBook Air and I'd like to upgrade the ssd with a WD Black Pcie. Do you think if it's a good choice please ?

Hi,
the WD Black is definitely not the fastest NVMe SSD but it's reliable, fast enough, and cheap.

For the same price you can get an Intel 600P but the WD Black accepts to be formatted in 4K blocs so it can works with 10.12 Sierra, which is a good thing !
(as of today, 10.12.6 is a mature and stable OS, which we can't say of 10.13 which is still young...

 

[diginside]

I went back to my early 13" MBA and re-taped my large, green Sintech adapter.

I am now able to see a link width of x4. The write speed on the Intel 600p did not improve but read speed went up to about 1200 mbps.

How did you tape it? I must have done a lousy job so I could use a close-up picture or two of top and bottom. Thanks in advance.
[doublepost=1515719028][/doublepost]

Very interesting! I now taped the Sintech adapter and I think the tape on top is important. I now have Capton tape between the top of the Sintech adapter (metal) and the drive slot on the logic board. I now got pretty much better performance on a MacBook Air 2013. Take a look. The read speed blows away any of the Apple disks I tested on the same MBA.

Now does anyone think this will solve the sleep issues also??

Can you share a picture or two of your taping?

 

[Audit13]

How did you tape it? I must have done a lousy job so I could use a close-up picture or two of top and bottom. Thanks in advance.
[doublepost=1515719028][/doublepost]

Can you share a picture or two of your taping?

I taped the top like this: Upgrading 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

For the bottom,I just added tape to cover the pins so they don't come in contact with anything on the motherboard, similar to the way the tape on top prevents the top pins from touching any part of the macbook.

 

[preet1469]

Hi to all,

I just tried to make a little table of all the SSD I've tested so far. Hope it helps a little.

View attachment 746441

PS : I'm waiting for a Toshiba XG5 and will add it to the results in a few days.
If you have other data or results, please tell me so that I can add them or confirm or infirm the datas I have.

[EDIT]: I just add the same table sorted by price instead of by name

View attachment 746448

Hey mate, just to confirm if all these ssds were checked with black or the big green adapter and which one is recommend means working without giving any issues. Thanks

 

[gilles_polysoft]

Hey mate, just to confirm if all these ssds were checked with black or the big green adapter and which one is recommend means working without giving any issues. Thanks

All test done with the green sintech

 

[preet1469]

All test done with the green sintech

I think there are 2 variants in the green adapter. so which one was it, new bigger one or the regular one?

 

[preet1469]

What you guys think about Apacer Z280 ssd and is Samsung PM951 better and newer version then PM961?

 

[gymboy]

What you guys think about Apacer Z280 ssd and is Samsung PM951 better and newer version then PM961?

PM961 is the newer version than the PM951.

 

[dker]

I went trough this thread having in mind to upgrade my Mid 2013 MBA with a 500GB NVMe.
The question left for me is the choice of the right disk. As I understand better not to go for the Samsung device, I'm stuck between the Kingston KC1000 and the Intel 600p, which are separated by about 60€. Does the advantage in speed of the Kingston device come up or is it limited by the Mid 2013 MBA's hardware specifications anyway?

My second question regards the "good" green Sintech adaptor. Does anyone know at which of the posted links I can really get the correct one? It sounds like at least the highest probability seems to be here (http://eshop.sintech.cn/ngff-m2-pcie-ssd-card-as-2013-2014-2015-macbook-ssd-p-1143.html), but I didn't read of anyone verifying they really got the right one there... Or is there anyone of you in Europe who could sell me one (I'm based in Germany).

Thank you really much in advance, it was already a great help reading in this thread, since I only noticed by chance last week it is possible to upgrade the MB harddisks at all (I just ordered a Jetdrive Lite as a compromise solution, since I'm running out of space, which I didn't receive right now, so I'm really glad I found out about this topic before opening it )