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

[kvic]

I appreciated old-school folks who print out a hard copy of the Guide and literally follow the steps with two fingers and down to every comma and space. I assume other people would just select, copy and paste from a browser. Younger men & women might just hover the mouse to the right end of the 'code block' (a GitHub feature) and click the 'Disk Save' icon to make the copy. Regardless of the styles, there is a way where every generation can feel being home. ;-)

I didn't get your point about the linked article on kextload/kextunload..

 

[davidw89]

Well, after almost two years of reading, lurking, and asking dumb questions I finally pulled the trigger and installed a new SSD in my 11,4 2015 15-incher.

Why did you pick the Sabrent Rocket Q SSD? What is the best SSD for this Macbook Pro Mid 2015 (11,4)?

 

[olindacat]

You should have cleaned up the inside of that thing when you had it open... Those fan blades were covered with dust/lint. That would cause it to not cool like it should..

I can remove the cover and clean, but need to research how, e.g., canned air, or a vacuum. I'm not an expert so am going to bone up on how to, but thank you for the suggestion anyway. It bothered me to see how dirty it was as well.

 

[FatLip]

Why did you pick the Sabrent Rocket Q SSD? What is the best SSD for this Macbook Pro Mid 2015 (11,4)?

Get any compatible SSD but check the speeds ppl reported first

 

[htv254]

Crucial P5 1TB on my Macbook pro 15” - 2014. I installed it yesterday and so far it has had no problems.

 

[vince22]

after a week of Monterey Beta 3, no spotlight indexing, no Lilu and NVMefix kext loaded, only ssdpmEnabler installed, this Hynix P31-gold really shines in speed and very low power idle consumption on my Early 2015 13" Macbook Pro.

 

[kvic]

I've added P31 Gold to Confirmed Working Models.

What is the stock idle current btw, @vince22?

If online reviews were right, Crucial P2 wasn't that great performance wise when it was released. Then a batch of P2 available in the first half of this year worked well and power consumption was exceptionally good. After that P2 performance returns to its original product segmentation..

Looks like Hynix P31 is a "better P2 than P2"

I'm not clear what 'TRIM incompatibility' some people were referring to this model. Looks like P31 has TRIM support in macOS. If there is no data corruption, then it's safe. After very heavy usage, macOS may need longer time to finish TRIM backlog. That may mean multiple reboots, sleep/wake cycles... I would say just let macOS do its job..naturally. If you're paranoid and experience extreme slow write, you could reboot multiple times manually I guess.

On my Linux system, I only set up to TRIM once per week even with heavy usage. Not TRIM more frequent the better.

 

[FatLip]

I've added P31 Gold to Confirmed Working Models.

What is the stock idle current btw, @vince22?

If online reviews were right, Crucial P2 wasn't that great performance wise when it was released. Then a batch of P2 available in the first half of this year worked well and power consumption was exceptionally good. After that P2 performance returns to its original product segmentation..

Looks like Hynix P31 is a "better P2 than P2"

I'm not clear what 'TRIM incompatibility' some people were referring to this model. Looks like P31 has TRIM support in macOS. If there is no data corruption, then it's safe. After very heavy usage, macOS may need longer time to finish TRIM backlog. That may mean multiple reboots, sleep/wake cycles... I would say just let macOS do its job..naturally. If you're paranoid and experience extreme slow write, you could reboot multiple times manually I guess.

On my Linux system, I only set up to TRIM once per week even with heavy usage. Not TRIM more frequent the better.

Whatever you guys choose if its a A1398 model macbook pro or close stir away from 2TB SSDS, they use more amps so they get too hot

 

[kvic]

Whatever you guys choose if its a A1398 model macbook pro or close stir away from 2TB SSDS, they use more amps so they get too hot

Personally I think 1TB is the sweet spot, and sufficient for most people using their Mac as a general computer. In my compiled database, we do have quite a lot of people going with 2TB. Judging from the idle power consumption, it shouldn't be very hot. Read/write operations may use a bit more electricity. But you also get a bit faster speed, hence, same amount of work is finished in shorter time.

 

[olfo]

This is a screenshot from iStatmenu. Crucial P2 2TB with SsdPmEnabler loaded (thank you kvic). I think the values are lower than without. The peak came during a 64GB benchmark in AJA system test. And the temperature never exceeds 35ºC. It was 39ºC to 42ºC without SsdPmEnabler.

As for the optimal SSD size discussion I would like to add that the Crucial 1TB P2 has 300 TBW and the 2TB P2 offers 600 TBW endurance.

 

[davidw89]

My battery life sucks with the Samsung 970 evo 1TB after upgrading (Mid 2015 MBP). Would it be better if I swapped it out with a Sabrent 1TB (Blue one, PCI-E 3)

 

[kvic]

My battery life sucks with the Samsung 970 evo 1TB after upgrading (Mid 2015 MBP). Would it be better if I swapped it out with a Sabrent 1TB (Blue one, PCI-E 3)

Light/Blue Sabrent's are QLC. There should be better alternatives with similar prices.

One thing I didn't get from this thread is new users seem not read recent posts. I meant as recent as the current and previous one or two pages. Either those posts are incomprehensible or people are simply lazy. ;-D

I rarely do but I'm doing a Public Service post today.

Hynix P31 Gold (with updated firmware) now works in MacOS. It seems a very energy efficient drive. Power consumption of read/write operations is on par or slightly better than WD SN550. In other words, very good.

Idle power consumption is on par with Crucial P2, meaning very good:

• 100mA, out of the box, w/o ssdpmEnabler (Hello, MBP11,1 and MBA6,2 owners out there..)
• 10mA with ssdpmEnabler

Performance wise of course much better.

• worst-case sustained sequential write speed
  • ~900MB/s for the 500GB P31. That's f**king great
  • From there, I guess the 1TB P31 should be able to sustain >1500MB/s (?)
• best-case sustained sequential write speed
  • ~2500MB/s achievable on 2015 15-inch MBP (or newer models)

Edit: corrected typo on idle current values

 

[white7561]

Hi guys. I'm using MBA 2014 and I'm trying to upgrade my laptop. So I'm planning to use Sintech adapter with Addlink S70 SSD. with both kext mods installed. Also I'm already on the latest big sur and on 4xx bootrom version.

Anyone has tried using Addlink S70? Mine is prob gonna be using the Phison E12S instead of the older Phison E12.

Also is the kepton tape on the adapter to prevent 2.4ghz interference or something? Since I've heard people saying to make sure that it's taped off..

Last question. Since big sur, Time Machine only saves the Data partition. So can I just do a time machine, plug the new NVMe. Install latest big sur. Then after it boots , go to big sur recovery where I use the restore from time machine option. Will it be fine? Thanks!!

Edit : I'm using MBA6,1 (MBA 11inch Early 2014) . Both kext mods should work right?

Does trim work out of the box or do I need to do trim force?

And do you really feel the difference in user experience using an NVMe vs the normal SATA drive from apple? Like I know it makes a difference in video editing etc when it needs that speed. But for normal usage. Is it noticable enough?

 

[TOM1211]

Light/Blue Sabrent's are QLC. There should be better alternatives with similar prices.

One thing I didn't get from this thread is new users seem not read recent posts. I meant as recent as the current and previous one or two pages. Either those posts are incomprehensible or people are simply lazy. ;-D

I rarely do but I'm doing a Public Service post today.

Hynix P31 Gold (with updated firmware) now works in MacOS. It seems a very energy efficient drive. Power consumption of read/write operations is on par or slightly better than WD SN550. In other words, very good.

Idle power consumption is on par with Crucial P2, meaning very good:

• 100mA, out of the box, w/o ssdpmEnabler (Hello, MBP11,1 and MBA6,2 owners out there..)
• 10mA with ssdpmEnabler

Performance wise of course much better.

• worst-case sustained sequential write speed
  • ~900MB/s for the 500GB P31. That's f**king great
  • From there, I guess the 1TB P31 should be able to sustain >1500MB/s (?)
• best-case sustained sequential write speed
  • ~2500MB/s achievable on 2015 15-inch MBP (or newer models)

Edit: corrected typo on idle current values

Is there any where for sellers for this drive in the UK?

 

[olfo]

Apple has deprecated KEXT support and is proactively moving 3rd-parties to DriverKit. I seriously doubt that Apple would sign any 3rd-party KEXTs in 2020s. Bigger players like Belkin, OWC.. may have some bargaining power but in this case I doubt they won't be able to get it signed.

Thanks to your last check, I went ahead to publish the FAQ on debunking the myth of "disable SIP" In the process, I found High Sierra is actually similar to Mojave and later versions in that you only have to disable "kext signing" of the SIP. You don't have to disable SIP completely like my original Guide suggested. You may want to check out my revised Installation Guide, and the FAQ: 4. Is my Mac less secure with 'SIP disabled'

Hi kvic, I wanted to disable ssdpmEnabler temporarily. How can I do this?

I have tried
csrutil clear
then
csrutil enable.

Both were executed by Terminal, but the kext is still loaded after a reboot.

 

[vince22]

Hi kvic, I wanted to disable ssdpmEnabler temporarily. How can I do this?

I have tried
csrutil clear
then
csrutil enable.

Both were executed by Terminal, but the kext is still loaded after a reboot.

1. Open Terminal and type:

cd /Library/Extensions
sudo kextunload SsdPmEnabler.kext
sudo rm -rf SsdPmEnabler.kext
sudo kextcache -i /

2. Reboot into Recovery Mode

3. Open Terminal and type:

csrutil enable

4. Reboot

 

[sksmMacs]

Hey guys, I just wanted to give a bit of an update. I run a small store on eBay where I sell upgraded Apple laptops. I've been using the Sabrent Rocket 1TB (dark blue) since December of 2019 with 0 complaints from any customers. The current release of macOS Big Sur 11.0 was awesome because we no longer had to manually update the drivers on 2013-2014 machines.

I think we'll be switching over to the Hynix P31 Gold 1TB SSDs to try them out. They're only $5 more than the Sabrent Rocket 1TB SSD.

What I would love to know:

Is there a way for us to properly test read/write speeds, power consumption and other related things for this community? I'd like to create nifty little charts like on the first page of this section for all of us to benefit. We can try multiple storage sizes, 512GB - 2TB and different models to see what's best. We can definitely test it on different models like Airs from 2013-2017, 13" & 15" Pro models from 2013-2015.

 

[white7561]

Hey guys, I just wanted to give a bit of an update. I run a small store on eBay where I sell upgraded Apple laptops. I've been using the Sabrent Rocket 1TB (dark blue) since December of 2019 with 0 complaints from any customers. The current release of macOS Big Sur 11.0 was awesome because we no longer had to manually update the drivers on 2013-2014 machines.

I think we'll be switching over to the Hynix P31 Gold 1TB SSDs to try them out. They're only $5 more than the Sabrent Rocket 1TB SSD.

What I would love to know:

Is there a way for us to properly test read/write speeds, power consumption and other related things for this community? I'd like to create nifty little charts like on the first page of this section for all of us to benefit. We can try multiple storage sizes, 512GB - 2TB and different models to see what's best. We can definitely test it on different models like Airs from 2013-2017, 13" & 15" Pro models from 2013-2015.

For read and write. AmorphousDiskMark is a good one. For power consumption, iStat Menus is a good one.

Oh also if you have time , do you mind answering some of my questions from my quoted post down here? Thank you ^^

Hi guys. I'm using MBA 2014 and I'm trying to upgrade my laptop. So I'm planning to use Sintech adapter with Addlink S70 SSD. with both kext mods installed. Also I'm already on the latest big sur and on 4xx bootrom version.

Anyone has tried using Addlink S70? Mine is prob gonna be using the Phison E12S instead of the older Phison E12.

Also is the kepton tape on the adapter to prevent 2.4ghz interference or something? Since I've heard people saying to make sure that it's taped off..

Last question. Since big sur, Time Machine only saves the Data partition. So can I just do a time machine, plug the new NVMe. Install latest big sur. Then after it boots , go to big sur recovery where I use the restore from time machine option. Will it be fine? Thanks!!

Edit : I'm using MBA6,1 (MBA 11inch Early 2014) . Both kext mods should work right?

Does trim work out of the box or do I need to do trim force?

And do you really feel the difference in user experience using an NVMe vs the normal SATA drive from apple? Like I know it makes a difference in video editing etc when it needs that speed. But for normal usage. Is it noticable enough?

 

[olfo]

1. Open Terminal and type:

cd /Library/Extensions
sudo kextunload SsdPmEnabler.kext
sudo rm -rf SsdPmEnabler.kext
sudo kextcache -i /

2. Reboot into Recovery Mode

3. Open Terminal and type:

csrutil enable

4. Reboot

Thank you. I did exactly that. 1. – Unfortunately, Terminal only gives me this:
command not found
Any ideas why?

 

[davidw89]

Light/Blue Sabrent's are QLC. There should be better alternatives with similar prices.

Can't find stock of Sabrent in Australia. I swapepd out with a Crucial P2 1TB. Battery life has definitely improved but I think the battery needs to be replaced (at just under 80% of full capacity).

 

[kvic]

Thank you. I did exactly that. 1. – Unfortunately, Terminal only gives me this:
command not found
Any ideas why?

Have you tried to follow the Uninstall/Re-install steps in the Guide?

If you know what you're doing, you can skip "enabling/disabling kext signing" steps. Otherwise, simply follow all the steps. I spent lots of time preparing the Guide. I don't like to call it fool proof but I have a very general and wide target audience in mind when I wrote it. Being in the industry long enough, I know how to prevent people from making mistakes.

Kext is very simple from end-user perspective. You either load it (and run it) or you don't load it (and not run it). With that said, I may make disabling ssdpmEnabler as simple as eating ice-cream in a future release. I realize such a feature beneifts people who perform frequent tests/benchmarks.

Can't find stock of Sabrent in Australia. I swapepd out with a Crucial P2 1TB. Battery life has definitely improved but I think the battery needs to be replaced (at just under 80% of full capacity).

You couldn't find SK Hynix P31 Gold in Australia?

Latest Crucial P2 is a joke. Actually it started as a joke too. It's energy efficient. Yes. Price is cheaper than most other candidates. Yes. Performance is pretty bad once the tiny and fast cache runs out. Folks reported the issue a few pages back.

Crucial P2 was a 'miracle & mistake' only early this year. A small batch of P2 released early this year that was both energy efficient AND performed very well. But it's history. It's gone. No more.

Don't buy Crucial P2 unless you know what you're buying into. It's much worse than Apple originals you're replacing. Don't complain and regret once you find out after only writing a few GB's your new P2 boils down to 40~50MB/s write speed.

EDIT:

I should add that I have little idea about the current market price and availability of P31. My price impression was from a few months back before HDD/SSD/NVMe prices went crazy. I recall having seen 1TB P31 at ~$105 price point. That was a steal. 1TB P31 for ~$150 and 200GBP? I would rather wait if you could..

 

[egalitarian]

Hello everyone! I want to thank all contributors in this thread for sharing such useful information. Also I want to share my experience. I bought Corsair MP510B and it runs quite good so far. Without any kext tweaks night battery drain was about 40%. After lilu + nvmefix + ssdpmenabler it has dropped down to 5%

Hardware : Macbook Pro 2015 13" (MBP 12,1)
OS/Bootrom : Big Sur (11.4)/427.0.0.0.0
SSD : 960Gb Corsair Force MP510B

Idle without kext : 0.16A - 0.18A
Idle with lilu+nvmefix + ssdpmenabler : 0.0A - 0.08A

How are your temps before and after installing the kexts as I have similar setup to you?

 

[quaresma]

I see a lot of people only using SSD PM enabler. I use it with NVMe fix too. Any reason why you don’t use both? Are they incompatible somehow?

 

[isleeptill12]

Here are my results with ssdpmenabler before and after @kvic

This is my system information:
• MacbookPro11,4
• Firmware 427.140.8.0.0
• macOS Big Sur 11.5
• SK Hynix P31 Gold 1TB

Before installing ssdpmenabler, my idle current was around 150mA

After installing ssdpmenabler, my idle current dropped to around 80mA. Not as good as the 0.01A that @vince22 recorded, but a nice drop.

 

[olfo]

Have you tried to follow the Uninstall/Re-install steps in the Guide?

If you know what you're doing, you can skip "enabling/disabling kext signing" steps. Otherwise, simply follow all the steps. I spent lots of time preparing the Guide. I don't like to call it fool proof but I have a very general and wide target audience in mind when I wrote it. Being in the industry long enough, I know how to prevent people from making mistakes.

Indeed it was my mistake. I was so into changing SIP from revovery mode that I have thought the uninstall has to be done in recovery mode. But the first step in Terminal:
cd /Library/Extensions
sudo kextunload SsdPmEnabler.kext
sudo rm -rf SsdPmEnabler.kext
sudo kextcache -i /

... must be done while booted normally.
Sorry if my mistake upset you. I really appreciate your efforts.
Now I could double-check that without SsdPmEnabler my Crucial P2 SSD uses 0,12A in idle while it uses 0,04A with SsdPmEnabler loaded.

You know probably more about that SSD model than I do. But I whish there would be an objective testing method, as suggested before.
How about using AJA System Test? It allows for testing with a 64GB file. Isn't that big enough? Set Resolution to "5120x2700 5K RED", Test file size to "64GB" and Codec to "ProResHQ".