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

[Prana Govinda]

Transcend Jetdrive work without adapter but cost a fortune. Oscoo work without adapter but hard to found. Adapter is your best bet. As for the SSD, you might want to look for Lexar NM700, or WD SN550 or Adata SX8200 pro.

Hi. I'm in India at the moment where it is possible to buy an Oscoo for my MB Pro mid 2015. Its expensive here but I was wandering if you recommend them as I cannot find any reviews online. My other alternative I'm looking at is an Intel 600p which I know is a QLC, but for my purposes [ casual music production], might just be ok. Any advice would be very gratefully received.

 

[otosan]

Hi. I'm in India at the moment where it is possible to buy an Oscoo for my MB Pro mid 2015. Its expensive here but I was wandering if you recommend them as I cannot find any reviews online. My other alternative I'm looking at is an Intel 600p which I know is a QLC, but for my purposes [ casual music production], might just be ok. Any advice would be very gratefully received.

Just make sure you get an Oscoo that come with 12+16 pin, not the normal NVME m key one, else you gonna need an extra adapter as well. Performance wise it should be fine, since it actually using generic configuration of SM2263XT + IMFT TLC NAND. It wont go much wrong.

As for 600p, i guess its straight out bad idea, its a very old model. (Do you really mean 600p ? Or is it 660p you mean there?) If it's the later, the. Its fine if you can get it in very cheap price range, else, better spend it for SX6000 pro instead. Should cost you the same.

Do you able to get Biostar M700 in india btw ? Its very cheap, and perform admirably well.

 

[Prana Govinda]

Just make sure you get an Oscoo that come with 12+16 pin, not the normal NVME m key one, else you gonna need an extra adapter as well. Performance wise it should be fine, since it actually using generic configuration of SM2263XT + IMFT TLC NAND. It wont go much wrong.

As for 600p, i guess its straight out bad idea, its a very old model. (Do you really mean 600p ? Or is it 660p you mean there?) If it's the later, the. Its fine if you can get it in very cheap price range, else, better spend it for SX6000 pro instead. Should cost you the same.

Do you able to get Biostar M700 in india btw ? Its very cheap, and perform admirably well.

Thank you for your reply Otosan. The Oscoo that I can get here is the ON900A model which is specifically for the MB Pro so no need for an adaptor and that is on of the reasons I'm considering it.

Biostar not available here and yes i think i did mean the 660p.

 

[Resetless]

I don't have the experience and understanding of the hardware but having come across this post (https://ch1p.io/coreboot-macbook-internal-flashing/) that describes how to put CoreBoot onto a Macbook without any kind of external programmer simply by running linux and flashrom I wonder is this a possible method of flashing the older MacBook pros?

 

[Nincompoep]

Hi all,

I upgraded my MBP 15" Mid-2015 to a Samsung Evo Plus 1TB today. No snags, apart from me realizing I needed a pentalobe screwdriver *after* I started and already wiped the original Apple SSD.

I upgraded Sierra to High Sierra (clean install) and then to Mojave (clean install.) With Mojave I got bootrom 199.0.0.0.0.

My adapter is the Sintech short one, straight from Sintech. No exposed pcb traces so no need for Kapton tape. I was going to see if Samsung Magician would boot on a MacBook but since everything went swimmingly, I've put that off.

If there's anything someone wants to know, just ask.

Many thanks to you all. I already fell into the GPU Upgrade iMac 2009-2011 rabbit hole...

Cheers!

 

[Superhai]

I wonder is this a possible method of flashing the older MacBook pros?

by the look of it it seems plausible if it is not patched by Apple. I might take a stab on it for my MBP.

 

[mork4]

Hi guys. It's been a long time since I've upgraded my current Macbook Pro with sintech adapter anc custom nvme "setup". My current build is: Macbook Pro 15 Mid 2015 and Sintech short adapter with tape and Sabrent Rocket 512GB as nvme drive. There was a no single problem so far, everything work like charm.
But in last months I've noticed a little freezing. Macbook got unresponsive for like a 2-3 seconds. I can't do anything but wait. It happens even when there is or isn't load.
Have you guys anyone noticed something similar or its just me ?
Thanks.

 

[Shrimply Pibbles]

I'm getting same controller today macsound1 have, i'll be checking if i'm getting "Apple SSD controller".

"Apple SSD controller" appears for me with Sabrent Rocket

 

[Shrimply Pibbles]

With Mojave and Catalina, Apple did manage to upgrade the BootRom even with some models of tier NVMe SSDs, without sadly correcting the issue with the compressed NVMe DXE driver.
So, patch of the BootRom has to be re-done every time is has been updated.

If you're not happy with that, submit a feedback to Apple.

Do call them as a customer.

Do registrer yourself and let a feedback at :
https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/

The list of portable macs which have the issue with hibernation on NVMe drives is :

- MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch Late 2013) = MacBook Pro 11,1 (EMC 2678)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014) = MacBook Pro 11,1 (EMC 2875)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) = MacBook Pro 11,2 (EMC 2674 and 2745)
- MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) = MacBook Pro 11,2 (EMC 2876 and 2881)
- MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2013) = MacBook Air 6,1 (EMC 2631)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) = MacBook Air 6,2 (EMC 2632)
- MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2014) = MacBook Air 6,1 (EMC 2631)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014) = MacBook Air 6,2 (EMC 2632)
- MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014) = MacBook Air 6,2 (EMC 2632)

Maybe Apple doesn't care of the problem because it occurs to us with a tiers NVMe drive inside the mac, which they don't support.

So I suggest you send feedback claiming that you encounter the hibernation issue while being booted on a Thunderbolt 2 enclosure with a NVMe drive inside..
Thunderbolt enclosure with NVMe are supported by Apple, and contrary to internal NVMe drives they sould have nothing to say about it.

Maybe if enough people on this thread do some feedback they will move their "bottom" one day.

Also MBP 11,3

 

[Shrimply Pibbles]

For indexing, just check spotlight to see if it's still working (CMD+Space) and typing a few letters usually shows a progress bar "indexing" if it's still working.

If you do have a drive with QLC - then normally waiting 30 minutes or so (system on but idle, with minimal disk activity) for the drive to flush it's caches will let the speed recover.

You could also use Black Magic Disk Speed Test, set it to 5gb and let it run on a loop for a long period of time... you will see the performance slowly drop if your drive is QLC.

I just did a quick search on RKT303.3 - and the first results were related to Rocket Q, I don't have this drive personally but I found these posts that go into differences: https://www.reddit.com/r/NewMaxx/comments/drriga/sabrent_rocket_hardware_change/, maybe they will help you?

Howdy herb2k! The Sabrent Rocket SB-ROCKET-1TB is TLC.

 

[Shrimply Pibbles]

I had a problem a few minutes ago. Left the mbp with the lid open while I was playing in my phone and when I came back, I couldn't use it. I could see the screen was on but all black. A few seconds later it showed a folder icon continuously and I had to press the power button (I can't remember if I pressed the power button before or after the folder icon). I saw on google it was due to any problem in the SSD, but is it the problem the happens with the hibernation issue?

Howdy johnhebert. I haven't experienced this and think it may not be the hibernation issue. When it happens for me, and others report similarly, it's merely the black screen. There are no icons, words, or text boxes that appear.

When tapping the Power button to wake from hibernation, the black screen of death presents. After turning the MBP off then on again, the double chime occurs and it boots up.

What you are experiencing seems to be the MBP hunting for the boot disk. Many folks have reported the question mark folder appears because the MBP is unable to see the boot disk.

 

[Shrimply Pibbles]

Hello! I have your exact same mbp and I would like to ask you if you can post here a speed benchmark and if have notice some hot temperatures on the keyboard I mean when you use the laptop the temp go very high. Also I never had problems when you close the lid and reopen it?
Is it then worth to upgrade? I did like one month ago but then return to my old original ssd because I was like not sure in the long run to stay with the new ssd due to temperatures and battery life.

These was my benchmarks at the time:

NEW SSD --> https://prnt.sc/u286q1
OLD MAC ORIGINAL SSD --> https://prnt.sc/u298z7

Howdy Jedi82! Nice handle! 😄 Please excuse the delayed reply. I've been pouring over every page to finally get to the end of this thread and absorb everything. I've been running the Sabrent for over 1.5 months without crashes or other issues.

If I'm doing heavy load work such as photo or video editing, yes, the temp gets hot; 80-90ºC. For light work and idle, not so much.

There are zero issues closing and opening the lid. The MBP is usually connected to power when working. The battery lasts 5.5-6hrs unplugged while watching video at low brightness. I've learned that the hibernation issue only presents when the battery goes flat, so I just don't allow it to go flat.

I don't have a benchmark on the Apple SSD at the moment, however, here is a benchmark from the Sabrent.

I'm still working on tweaks and setting the MBP up to where it was, including Bootcamp. It looks like the next step is NVMeFix to improve power efficiency even more.

Once I have Bootcamp setup, Win10, and other programs installed and running, I'll know if the drive is worth it for me. For pure Mac use and limited Win use with Parallels or VMFusion, yes, I think it's worth it.

 

[Shrimply Pibbles]

Thanks!

One thing I do have to mention - Right now on my MBP Retina 13" 2015, I get ~6hrs while watching youtube videos continuously, but before that....

I did have to do a clean install of MacOS - I noticed my original copy (from 2015, upgraded all the way through Catalina) had a few background tasks always sync'ing and consuming CPU time. For some reason, a clean install of Catalina seemed to fix that.

Also, (off topic for this thread) if you use Firefox or Chrome - switch them over to use the GPU for page rendering (default is software rendering on Macs - not the same as turning on the Hardware Acceleration flag), it saves a LOT of power for general browsing and scrolling long pages

Howdy herb2k! If the MBP has dual graphics, does one need to do anything differently to switch to GPU rendering?

 

[herb2k]

Howdy herb2k! If the MBP has dual graphics, does one need to do anything differently to switch to GPU rendering?

Shouldn't need to, iGPU or dGPU - both use less power than relying on the normal CPU methods to render pages

 

[sawpits]

You will need adapter. Btw P1 is using QLC nand, it has shorter lifetime, the speed is not incredible, and i dont think the price is good enough for the spec. You might want to find better alternative if possible.

Unless he does a lot of writing to the drive every day the lifetime is not a problem.

And as that poster mentioned it was an early 2015 MBP that means a 13 inch and that drive should give him maximum speed that the computer can achieve. If it were a mid-2015 MBP that would be different.

 

[Jedi82]

Thanks man!!!! I hope I will post soon my new impressions with a new Sabrent that I will buy. It’s Amazon day now but no discount for this ssd

Howdy Jedi82! Nice handle! 😄 Please excuse the delayed reply. I've been pouring over every page to finally get to the end of this thread and absorb everything. I've been running the Sabrent for over 1.5 months without crashes or other issues.

If I'm doing heavy load work such as photo or video editing, yes, the temp gets hot; 80-90ºC. For light work and idle, not so much.

There are zero issues closing and opening the lid. The MBP is usually connected to power when working. The battery lasts 5.5-6hrs unplugged while watching video at low brightness. I've learned that the hibernation issue only presents when the battery goes flat, so I just don't allow it to go flat.

I don't have a benchmark on the Apple SSD at the moment, however, here is a benchmark from the Sabrent.

I'm still working on tweaks and setting the MBP up to where it was, including Bootcamp. It looks like the next step is NVMeFix to improve power efficiency even more.

Once I have Bootcamp setup, Win10, and other programs installed and running, I'll know if the drive is worth it for me. For pure Mac use and limited Win use with Parallels or VMFusion, yes, I think it's worth it.

 

[Superhai]

"Apple SSD controller" appears for me with Sabrent Rocket

I think it will say Apple SSD controller on most pre-Maverick systems.

 

[pimu96]

So how do we recover from this state? Do we reinstall the whole thing again? Thanks in advance.



Thanks, I have submitted the feedback. I mentioned it as follows (Please pardon me for being a layman):-

Basic Information

Please provide a descriptive title for your feedback:
Support for booting with Thunderbolt 2 enclosure with a Sabrent Rocket 1TB NVMe drive

Which area are you seeing an issue with?
System Crashes/Unexpected Reboot

What type of issue are you reporting?
Incorrect/Unexpected Behavior


Details

How long does it take for the issue to occur?
It varies

What kind of System Crash did you experience?
Something else not on this list

Description

Please describe the issue and what steps we can take to reproduce it:

Hi Team Apple Wishing Good Health, Safety and Convenience to you and your loved ones during these times.

I am having kernel panics and encountering hibernation issue while being booted on a Thunderbolt 2 enclosure with a Sabrent Rocket 1TB NVMe drive inside.
Model: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch Late 2013) = MacBook Pro 11,1 (EMC 2678)
I believe it could be addressed by running a patch on the BootROM which I am not keen on undertaking myself.

I would request you to update this Thunderbolt 2 enclosure with Sabrent Rocket 1TB NVMe drive issue in Mac OS Big Sur.

Regards Take care and Stay safe!



I'm not sure if it helps. Lets hope!

Hi, I sent them a feedback too. First i wrote a completely scruffy version of the problem myself and then I read yours... next thing I did was deleting the first one and rewrite yours in my own words (thanks!). I hope it helps too.

 

[pimu96]

Hello everyone, I wanted to repost my question as I am ready to purchase the SSD and Mattcard but wanted to get some feedback before pulling the trigger.

Hi @joshallan7,
I have the same situation as you do, MBP 13'' mid 2014, planning to purchase a Sabrent Rocket 1Tb and a Mattcard if I see any hibernation issue once installed. Have you finally bought it? I would like to know your experience or at least see if we can find a solution together.

Btw do you know how the Mattcard is compatible with further macOS upgrades? Or is it like the solution of using a 2015 MBP donor to solve the BootRom issue which (as far as I understood, please correct me if I am wrong) only works for current macOS, and for further upgrades you have to repeat the process.

Cheers!

 

[pimu96]

Howdy Jedi82! Nice handle! 😄 Please excuse the delayed reply. I've been pouring over every page to finally get to the end of this thread and absorb everything. I've been running the Sabrent for over 1.5 months without crashes or other issues.

If I'm doing heavy load work such as photo or video editing, yes, the temp gets hot; 80-90ºC. For light work and idle, not so much.

There are zero issues closing and opening the lid. The MBP is usually connected to power when working. The battery lasts 5.5-6hrs unplugged while watching video at low brightness. I've learned that the hibernation issue only presents when the battery goes flat, so I just don't allow it to go flat.

I don't have a benchmark on the Apple SSD at the moment, however, here is a benchmark from the Sabrent.

I'm still working on tweaks and setting the MBP up to where it was, including Bootcamp. It looks like the next step is NVMeFix to improve power efficiency even more.

Once I have Bootcamp setup, Win10, and other programs installed and running, I'll know if the drive is worth it for me. For pure Mac use and limited Win use with Parallels or VMFusion, yes, I think it's worth it.

Hi @Shrimply Pibbles,
Maybe it is a too simple question but, how do you get all the formats of the benchmark to have a tick? In my case, I have a MBP 13'' 2014 with default 256GB SSD and planning to buy Sabrent Rocket 1TB and the benchmark is not fulfilled in the last 2 formats.

Moreover, I have an iMac with Samsung 860 EVO with speeds of ~400 MB/s and another iMac with the default HDD with speeds ~20MB/s, which I do not know if they are good values or not (what do you think?), actually the HDD iMac goes VERY SLOW and I am planning to fix it anyhow. Also, both iMacs have half of the formats in tick and half in cross, not sure if I have to tweak more things than just the hardware.

Btw I am a completely newbie and trying to learn as much as I can. Here I show the screenshot of my MBP.

Cheers!

 

[pimu96]

Hi everyone, I bought a Sintech long adapter. Is it necessary to cover the junction (not sure if it is the junction the thing that must be covered) with Kapton tape? First time I read this recommendation I did not even know what Kapton tape was.
Thanks

 

[ignaciobarrena]

Hi there!

I have a 2015 rMBP 13" with 256GB Stock SSD and I'm interested in upgrading to a 1TB SSD.

Can anyone with the Sabrent Rocket 1TB SSD tell me his opinion about performance, battery life or any issues that I may encounter with it?

I've read the 1st post of this thread and If I have understood correctly, 2015 models doesn't have any sleep/hibernation issues, so the process should be pretty straight forward (format SSD, install OS, and replace the old SSD with the new hardware) or do I need to do something else?

Does it work with the new macOS Big Sur?


Thanks a lot, I'd really appreciate an answer

Sorry for my english, have a nice day everyone!

 

[Shrimply Pibbles]

Shouldn't need to, iGPU or dGPU - both use less power than relying on the normal CPU methods to render pages

Got it. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Shrimply Pibbles]

Hi Shrimply Pibbles,
Maybe it is a too simple question but, how do you get all the formats of the benchmark to have a tick? In my case, I have a MBP 13'' 2014 with default 256GB SSD and planning to buy Sabrent Rocket 1TB and the benchmark is not fulfilled in the last 2 formats.

Moreover, I have an iMac with Samsung 860 EVO with speeds of ~400 MB/s and another iMac with the default HDD with speeds ~20MB/s, which I do not know if they are good values or not (what do you think?), actually the HDD iMac goes VERY SLOW and I am planning to fix it anyhow. Also, both iMacs have half of the formats in tick and half in cross, not sure if I have to tweak more things than just the hardware.

Btw I am a completely newbie and trying to learn as much as I can. Here I show the screenshot of my MBP.

Cheers!View attachment 965725

Howdy @pimu96! When you start Black Magic, it will cycle over and over automatically until you press the Start button again. Sometimes what's being read and written changes. I notice that one test run will check all boxes and the next run will not, then the following run will check every box again. I don't know why this is, someone else with more knowledge of the program may better serve you.

As for the iMacs, yeah, those are some pretty slow speeds, especially for the HDD. Have you run the benchmark from a fresh restart?

 

[Shrimply Pibbles]

Hi there!

I have a 2015 rMBP 13" with 256GB Stock SSD and I'm interested in upgrading to a 1TB SSD.

Can anyone with the Sabrent Rocket 1TB SSD tell me his opinion about performance, battery life or any issues that I may encounter with it?

I've read the 1st post of this thread and If I have understood correctly, 2015 models doesn't have any sleep/hibernation issues, so the process should be pretty straight forward (format SSD, install OS, and replace the old SSD with the new hardware) or do I need to do something else?

Does it work with the new macOS Big Sur?


Thanks a lot, I'd really appreciate an answer

Sorry for my english, have a nice day everyone!

¡Hola ignaciobarrena! Your 2015 is lucky enough to run an NVMe drive without the dreaded hibernation issue. Using the SB-ROCKET-1TB on my machine has been enjoyable. I still have yet to install Windows through Bootcamp, so I can only comment on Mac-heavy usage at the moment.

The performance is much improved over the Apple SSD with regards to saving, transferring, and opening RAW and edited photo and video files. The battery life takes a hit. However, because much of my usage is heavy, the power cord is usually connected, making it a non-issue.

At the time I was reading this thread and made my purchase, NVMeFix was not yet on the table. With it, some drives benefit from power draw tweaks, such as the hungry Samsung EVO drives.

For the price, performance, thermals, and power consumption, the Sabrent seemed the best all-around option. I'm pleased with it so far.

There are a handful of thread contributors who've mentioned that Big Sur beta is working on NVMe drives, not certain about Sabrent specifically. I recommend going through the last several pages of this thread.