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

[pegeleven]

I'm looking into getting a mid 2015 15" MBP with 1TB flash storage. Would want to upgrade to 2 or 3TB but I need to run Boot Camp on it and will primarily be using Windows. What's the best, fastest, most reliable, SSD I can get for my purposes? Don't want to encounter any Boot Camp issues or blue screens of death. Budget is ~$500.

Thanks.

 

[Eugene28]

Thank you for your reply, Firmware is up to date and I used the nvram boot-arg="keepsyms=1" and still got system crash and boot loop.
I think I will buy a Crucial P2 and use the Evo 970 Plus as an external SSD Drive.

It mught be you need to reset NVRAM and PRAM. Cause it seems you disabled PCI E powermanagement in Windows. You might neet to do full shutdown from Windows before getting back to MacOS. Might be Windows store these setting inside NVRAM for both OSes. So you need to reset it.

 

[shafez]

It mught be you need to reset NVRAM and PRAM. Cause it seems you disabled PCI E powermanagement in Windows. You might neet to do full shutdown from Windows before getting back to MacOS. Might be Windows store these setting inside NVRAM for both OSes. So you need to reset it.

Reset PRAM will enable CSRUTIL again and accordingly disable installed installed kext which requires disabling CSRUTIL, system will boot normally withe no effect of ssdpnenabler and nvmefix.

 

[Etiernal]

Hello guys,

I am going to upgrade my MacBook Pro 13” early 2015. The adapter I found on amazon from sintech is taking forever to be delivered in canada. I saw another adapter from “Rico” on amazon.ca that has somewhat positive reviews.

is it a really bad thing to use a non-sintech adapter? Does anyone know anything about this rivo company and their adapters?

link to adapter: Rivo NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter Card for Upgrade MacBook Air(2013-2016 Year) and Mac PRO(Late 2013-2015 Year) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07N4HS69S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_i_N0J5K41498MSK07M4QS4

Also, why do these people say late 2015 for MacBook pros? Mine is early 2015, and according to the guideline it does support the upgrade, am I wrong?

Thanks

 

[Eugene28]

Hello guys,

I am going to upgrade my MacBook Pro 13” early 2015. The adapter I found on amazon from sintech is taking forever to be delivered in canada. I saw another adapter from “Rico” on amazon.ca that has somewhat positive reviews.

is it a really bad thing to use a non-sintech adapter? Does anyone know anything about this rivo company and their adapters?

link to adapter: Rivo NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter Card for Upgrade MacBook Air(2013-2016 Year) and Mac PRO(Late 2013-2015 Year) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07N4HS69S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_i_N0J5K41498MSK07M4QS4

Also, why do these people say late 2015 for MacBook pros? Mine is early 2015, and according to the guideline it does support the upgrade, am I wrong?

Thanks

Using cheap 3£ adapter from Ali with no problems. Sometimes smart sellers on Amazon use same cheap things from China test rebrand and sell 6 times more expensive. Looking at feedback this one looks good.

 

[Eugene28]

Reset PRAM will enable CSRUTIL again and accordingly disable installed installed kext which requires disabling CSRUTIL, system will boot normally withe no effect of ssdpnenabler and nvmefix.

Do csrutil enable and test again.

 

[Jérémie Lolieux]

Hi everyone,

I finally post cause I can't find a solution,
I've updated my MBPro Mid 2015 two years ago with a Sabrent Rocket 1to i'v made a lot of tweak with hibernation mode 25 and other stuff like that. Os was instable but practicable.
I've update to Big Sur and OS became totally instable with lot of crash kernel in many circumstance.

My Bootrom is 192.0.0.0 on Big Sur, and it crash a lot, I have battery drain issues and hibernation problem too. My Mac became a very bad user experience at all.

I've try to install NVMEfix but I can't when I use Kextstat is never loaded I've used Kext wizard to install, and if I load it with kext wizard it report an error.

Do you have an idea to stabilise the system ?
How can I run NVMEfix ?
Can I update my Bootrom ? (I don't have the Apple SSD anymore)

Thx

 

[shafez]

Do csrutil enable and test again.

Thank you, I tried everything, no hope.

 

[INDAPP]

Hi everyone, I have a problem with my iMac late 2015, with Sintech adapter and Samsung 970 Pro. I used the same configuration for several months with Catalina, without problems, but after the update to Big Sur, now periodically occur problems. In practice, the screen (indeed, the screens, since I connected two exterior), show colored lines, always of different colors, and I am forced to restart the Mac.
Moving the system to the linked SSD via SATA, it seems everything ok. For safety I deactivated partitions on NVME from Disk Utility. If I keep them active instead, it happens (very rarely) the same problem with the system on SSD.
I tried a few days ago to re-install the system on 970 Pro, restoring the files from Time Machine. After a few hours without problems, he started crashing and showed the striped screen.
It seems that leaving the Mac at rest for several hours the problem disappears, and then reappears suddenly. After the first freeze of the screen, however, to subsequent restarts it happens very often.
I noticed during a conference call, which the system continues to work, even if the screen is not usable.
I have already tried to disconnect all screens and all connected USB devices, but the result is always the same.
I am attaching some media to make the idea of what happens

 

[AstroZero]

My Bootrom is 192.0.0.0 on Big Sur, and it crash a lot, I have battery drain issues and hibernation problem too. My Mac became a very bad user experience at all.

Can I update my Bootrom ? (I don't have the Apple SSD anymore)

You will need an Apple SSD to update the bootrom to 4xx.x.x.x. I suggest you buy/borrow the cheapest compatible Apple SSD (e.g. 64gb). The update process is as simple as installing BigSur to the Apple SSD from USB. You will not need the Apple SDD after you have a 4xx.0.0.0 bootrom - future updates will be done via your aftermarket SSD.

The bootrom update will cure 99% of issues related to battery, sleep, hibernation etc.

After the bootrom update I would also suggest cleaning the contacts of the SSD, make sure it is fully seated and completing an nvram and smc reset.

 

[AstroZero]

Hi everyone, I have a problem with my iMac late 2015, with Sintech adapter and Samsung 970 Pro. I used the same configuration for several months with Catalina, without problems, but after the update to Big Sur, now periodically occur problems. In practice, the screen (indeed, the screens, since I connected two exterior), show colored lines, always of different colors, and I am forced to restart the Mac.

What is your bootrom version? you may need to update to the latest bootrom.

 

[AstroZero]

Thank you, I tried everything, no hope.

Have you checked your SSD tempratures in istat menu?

I had random reboot with kernel panic issues for nearly 2 years. Not sure if it was sleep related. Latest bootrom, on Mojave, 2015 macbook air.

What helped it for me was cleaning the contacts using isopropyl and making sure the SSD is fully seated in the socket and 100% centred. I also did an nvram reset and smc reset after. No reboots or issues in 4+ weeks. I have no kexts installed. I would try these suggestions if you have not already.

I still get slower R/W speeds in blackmagic speed test after a few minutes (goes down to 800/500mbps) and the temp gets quite high when benchmarking. So my issue may be affected (made worse by?) heat. If I experience issues again I plan to add some thermal pads and copper shim heatsinks to thermally connect the SSD to the outer case, so the aluminium case can dispate the ssd heat.

 

[shafez]

Have you checked your SSD tempratures in istat menu?

I had random reboot with kernel panic issues for nearly 2 years. Not sure if it was sleep related. Latest bootrom, on Mojave, 2015 macbook air.

What helped it for me was cleaning the contacts using isopropyl and making sure the SSD is fully seated in the socket and 100% centred. I also did an nvram reset and smc reset after. No reboots or issues in 4+ weeks. I have no kexts installed. I would try these suggestions if you have not already.

I still get slower R/W speeds in blackmagic speed test after a few minutes (goes down to 800/500mbps) and the temp gets quite high when benchmarking. So my issue may be affected (made worse by?) heat. If I experience issues again I plan to add some thermal pads and copper shim heatsinks to thermally connect the SSD to the outer case, so the aluminium case can dispate the ssd heat.

SSD temp is 54 degrees and I get good read and write speed with no kext loaded, My problem is the SSD draw a lot of power in standby compared to Apple SSD.
I can't use any kext to enable the SSD pm as it crashes the system.

 

[AstroZero]

SSD temp is 54 degrees and I get good read and write speed with no kext loaded, My problem is the SSD draw a lot of power in standby compared to Apple SSD.
I can't use any kext to enable the SSD pm as it crashes the system.

54C seems a little high if the SSD is not being used. See if leaving the fans on full via istat menu reduces the temprature. I was getting 30-35C idle, 50-60C running benchmarks.

The kexts were OK for me in Mojave, and they seemed fairly stable and worked - the SSD used less power. I removed the kexts though after I realised they do not help stability only power usage. I have not used istat since removing the kexts.

For info on installing kexts, see: https://www.maketecheasier.com/add-remove-kexts-from-macos/ (there is a KextBeast gui, too)

You may need to boot into recovery to disable parts of SIP https://github.com/kvic-z/SsdPmEnabler#disable-part-of-sip-in-mojave-catalina-or-big-sur

 

[INDAPP]

What is your bootrom version? you may need to update to the latest bootrom.

 

[Eugene28]

SSD temp is 54 degrees and I get good read and write speed with no kext loaded, My problem is the SSD draw a lot of power in standby compared to Apple SSD.
I can't use any kext to enable the SSD pm as it crashes the system.

Aren't you experiencing the same problem mentioned by AstroZero. Before going to BigSur you need to update to latest bootrom. Same for INDAPP. All need to be on latest: bootrom, ssd firmware. Cause SsdPmEnabler.kext and NVMeFix updated for latest MacOS too.

 

[developeralioz]

Hello @herb2k

I have the same device as you. MBP 13 inch Early 2015. I use BigSur. Are you getting kernel panic error with your current setup? I get this error at least once a week.

Lilu, NVMeFix, SsdPmEnabler installed. All work properly. But the system gives a kernel panic error once a week in BigSur.

 

[developeralioz]

Just an update, I found that I've had no crashes after nearly 12 days uptime. My issue now points to the contacts on the ssd not being clean or the SSD being unseated (see the above post for a pic). I am not ruling out sleep bugs or heat issues as I now have SSDPMenabler and NVMEFix running and sleep was disabled for most of the 12 days.

My Setup:
Mojave 10.14.6 (18G7016)
MacBookAir7,2
Intel Core i5 1.6 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 426.0.0.0.0 (Big Sur)
Sabrent Rocket 1TB + Sintec short adapter

iStat indicated the following for idle power draw.
No kexts - 0.17 A
NVMeFix - 0.16 A
SsdPmEnabler - 0.02 A

N.b. I kept my macbook plugged in and awake by having VLC paused on a video. This prevented sleep and prolonged the kernel wake time. In hindsight the lack of sleep events could have prevented kernel panics.

Next I will remove SSDPMEnabler and NVMEFix and not keep the laptop awake and see if the machine remains stable in normal/heavy work use.

Maybe heat dissipation plays a part. The 2015 Air has very little air flow. These SSDs are designed for use in desktop cases with good airflow. I may try to install some copper shims and heat conducting thermal pads so that the outer case can dissipate heat away from the SSD, if I experience any issues.

$ uptime
11:17  up 11 days, 20:43, 3 users, load averages: 2.26 2.64 2.51

edit: typos, clarification

Hello, Still not getting a crash or kernel panic error?

 

[Eugene28]

Guys. Whoever got problems with panic after sleep adjust your Energy saver setting. Tick put hard disk to sleep on battery and power adapter. Disable Power Nap. Change hibernate mode to 25.

 

[joe987]

I have the same problem. I am trying to format and make a clean install because of some bugs after last beta Big Sur update, but using all 3 different recovery start ups, ends only in internet recovery mode and no hard disk found on disk utility and no hard disk found on any other option in recovery mode.

I managed to get back to Catalina. Had to restart mac and pressed option key. Rebooted into a menu that allowed a restoration from time machine.

I was under the impression that machines from 2015 would update the bootrom ok and you did not need to use the old apple ssd but maybe I am wrong. I hope you are able to sort your machine out.

 

[joe987]

Guys. Internet recovery does not see NVMe drives. You need to create bootable usb with Catalina on it.

You can recover using option key when you restart the machine and then recover from time machine. This stops you needing the bootable usb if you have done a time machine back up before updating to Big Sur.

 

[AstroZero]

Hello, Still not getting a crash or kernel panic error?

No issue or kernel panics so far for a long, long time. I removed the kexts on my last reboot too.

$ uptime
15:32  up 16 days, 23:45, 3 users, load averages: 10.02 4.44 3.27

and

$ swift kernelUptime.swift
581752.2532910571

(so ~6 days kernel uptime)

So, I am 99% sure my issues were caused by dirty contacts (clean using qtip and isopropyl) and not fully seated/aligned SDD. (see the pic in my old post.). If I still get issues, I will add a heatsink as temps were high.

as a reminder, my specs are:

Mojave 10.14.6 (18G7016)
MacBookAir7,2
Intel Core i5 1.6 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 425.0.0.0.0
Sabrent Rocket 1TB + Sintec short adapter

 

[AstroZero]

@INDAPP this looks like the latest bootrom verion according to:

Which firmware should your Mac be using? (version 5)

This article lists the firmware versions of Macs which have been successfully updated to run macOS 11.7.10. Apple doesn’t provide an official list of the current firmware versions which shoul…

eclecticlight.co

 

[erll]

i ran into the same issues trying to upgrade the Crucial P2 firmware that @mertingen has reported... no luck with either Etcher (macOS and Win) or Rufus (Win). i eventually had to install Windows and use the Crucial Storage Executive to be able to perform the upgrade.

 

[Saili]

I managed to get back to Catalina. Had to restart mac and pressed option key. Rebooted into a menu that allowed a restoration from time machine.

I was under the impression that machines from 2015 would update the bootrom ok and you did not need to use the old apple ssd but maybe I am wrong. I hope you are able to sort your machine out.

Thank you Joe987.

I followed Eugene28's directions and made clean install of MacOS Big Sur, re-install all apps (no time machine used) and updated to latest Beta... so, again kernel panics (or whatever else)... always during night, MBP shuts off, and have to turn on next time.

When its on, I get some messages that laptop closed unexpectedly and had to reboot etc. Also, i get a screen that informs me that "increased display contrast is on" and i can not find any such a parameter that i have enabled...

Thing is, that these problems started after last beta updates, i think 4th or 5th so i do not know if it is OS' matter, or ssd's... no problem of this kind till recently for more than a year i had changed my ssd.

Also, my bootrom is stucked at 187.... even when i once updated by re-installng old original apple ssd, but i m not so sure about this, as it was more than a year ago.