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

[macpro_mid2014]

I'm using the most recent installer (Win10_21H1_English_x64.iso). I don't seem to recall an advanced install method like in the older versions.

I've also moved the Sintech and the drive into an early 2015 12,1 MBP and want to see if the problem follows the drive or the machine.

I won't be able to play with this more until the kids to go to sleep in a couple hours (ahhh quiet time).

What I did:

1- Created an extFat partition using Disk Utility.
2- Created the installer using BootCamp.
3- Boot with Option and selected USB

ONLY the partition I manually created was shown as a candidate for Windows installation. The partition created by BootCamp did not show up.

 

[macpro_mid2014]

Does anybody use WD SN530? Have you any problems with this SSD drive? What is your battery drain?

No problem at all. I purchased mine in late July (the 2TB version from Amazon.ca). Idle is .31A which doesn't bother me because I keep the MBP plugged in 99% of the time.
I used a 1TB Silicon Power A80 before with ~half the idle consumption.

 

[luryxyt]

No problem at all. I purchased mine in late July (the 2TB version from Amazon.ca). Idle is .31A which doesn't bother me because I keep the MBP plugged in 99% of the time.
I used a 1TB Silicon Power A80 before with ~half the idle consumption.

You use sn550 with sintech? I use sn530 with ssd adapter: NFHK N-1708A, and after 8h night battery drain is about 15%. (is it the fault of the adapter?) Sometimes when it lies long in hibernation, the mac crash and error is "Your computer restarted because of a problem on mac"
Do you know any advice that will help you solve this problem?

 

[macpro_mid2014]

You use sn550 with sintech? I use sn530 with ssd adapter: NFHK N-1708A, and after 8h night battery drain is about 15%. (is it the fault of the adapter?) Sometimes when it lies long in hibernation, the mac crash and error is "Your computer restarted because of a problem on mac"
Do you know any advice that will help you solve this problem?

Two problems here:
1- Battery drain has nothing to do with the adapter
2- hibernation issues caused by an NVMe have been fixed by Apple some time ago. Run SilentKnight by Dr. Howard (https://eclecticlight.co) to ensure you are running an updated BootRom. If not, this thread discusses this subject.

 

[luryxyt]

Two problems here:
1- Battery drain has nothing to do with the adapter
2- hibernation issues caused by an NVMe have been fixed by Apple some time ago. Run SilentKnight by Dr. Howard (https://eclecticlight.co) to ensure you are running an updated BootRom. If not, this thread discusses this subject.

I have the latest Bootroom version.
I don't know why it works so bad.
The disk is also functional, the battery is new after service replacement.

Below screenshots of the work of the disk by web browsing.

 

[Audit13]

I'm using the most recent installer (Win10_21H1_English_x64.iso). I don't seem to recall an advanced install method like in the older versions.

I've also moved the Sintech and the drive into an early 2015 12,1 MBP and want to see if the problem follows the drive or the machine.

I won't be able to play with this more until the kids to go to sleep in a couple hours (ahhh quiet time).

Sorry, I made a mistake. The advanced option is not available when booting from a Win10 installer for a MacBook.

I assume you do not see any drives at the screen where Windows shows you available partitions and drives.

 

[phybersplice]

Sorry, I made a mistake. The advanced option is not available when booting from a Win10 installer for a MacBook.

I assume you do not see any drives at the screen where Windows shows you available partitions and drives.

Correct - I didn't see any when I used the 2013 MBP.
But here's the update on this.
I have the spare 2015 MBP and moved the adapter and drive into the new chassis.
On first boot from Windows 10, an after going through a few prompts it detected ALL partitions including the 75GB Bootcamp partition where I installed Win10 to.
One interesting point to note - even though this 2015 MBP 12,1 has Big Sur installed on it, it's only got a Bootrom version of:

System Firmware Version: 427.0.0.0.0

Strange indeed - when comparing to my 2013 11,1 MBP it's a higher (current revision) - not sure why this is running a lower one.

Now, I am not thrilled with the battery drain on the 2013 with the Samsung, and to be honest, the 2015 is no better.
0.5A at idle is pretty bad. I am in need of alternative. Researching as I type this.

Contenders are:
SX8200 Pro
Crucial P5
Corsair MP510

I'm deathly afraid of the SB-ROCKET-1TB and data loss.
It's power usage specs are decent.
How are these drives doing for people out there in the ether?

 

[ikwaner]

Correct - I didn't see any when I used the 2013 MBP.
But here's the update on this.
I have the spare 2015 MBP and moved the adapter and drive into the new chassis.
On first boot from Windows 10, an after going through a few prompts it detected ALL partitions including the 75GB Bootcamp partition where I installed Win10 to.
One interesting point to note - even though this 2015 MBP 12,1 has Big Sur installed on it, it's only got a Bootrom version of:

System Firmware Version: 427.0.0.0.0

Strange indeed - when comparing to my 2013 11,1 MBP it's a higher (current revision) - not sure why this is running a lower one.

Now, I am not thrilled with the battery drain on the 2013 with the Samsung, and to be honest, the 2015 is no better.
0.5A at idle is pretty bad. I am in need of alternative. Researching as I type this.

Contenders are:
SX8200 Pro
Crucial P5
Corsair MP510

I'm deathly afraid of the SB-ROCKET-1TB and data loss.
It's power usage specs are decent.
How are these drives doing for people out there in the ether?

I've got a MBP 11, 1. Running off of the SB-ROCKET-1TB and it's been much better compared to the Samsung 980.

Not as fast but much better in terms of battery life, though not as good as the original drive.

You should be okay with the 1TB by sabrent though (make sure it's the black and blue one) because it's using TLC instead if QLC.

The only thing that is a bit off is the thunderbolt firmware. Not sure if it's because I need the original SSD in there to properly update it. My miniDP (thunderbolt 2) to DP just randomly stopped working..

 

[macpro_mid2014]

I have the latest Bootroom version.
I don't know why it works so bad.
The disk is also functional, the battery is new after service replacement.

Below screenshots of the work of the disk by web browsing.

How did you manage to install the latest BootRom? Did you insert the original Apple SSD every time?

Also, in 2017 there were some short circuit problems with adapters. People had to put Kapton tape to avoid kernel panics.

In terms of power consumption, you can read @kvic posts in this thread. Maybe, you can find a solution without having to switch to another SSD.

 

[luryxyt]

I replaced the disc 2 weeks ago, so I think the newest bootrom was already there.

How did you manage to install the latest BootRom? Did you insert the original Apple SSD every time?

Also, in 2017 there were some short circuit problems with adapters. People had to put Kapton tape to avoid kernel panics.

In terms of power consumption, you can read @kvic posts in this thread. Maybe, you can find a solution without having to switch to another SSD.

I replaced the disc 2 weeks ago, so I think the newest bootrom was already there.

 

[vince22]

Correct - I didn't see any when I used the 2013 MBP.
But here's the update on this.
I have the spare 2015 MBP and moved the adapter and drive into the new chassis.
On first boot from Windows 10, an after going through a few prompts it detected ALL partitions including the 75GB Bootcamp partition where I installed Win10 to.
One interesting point to note - even though this 2015 MBP 12,1 has Big Sur installed on it, it's only got a Bootrom version of:

System Firmware Version: 427.0.0.0.0

Strange indeed - when comparing to my 2013 11,1 MBP it's a higher (current revision) - not sure why this is running a lower one.

Now, I am not thrilled with the battery drain on the 2013 with the Samsung, and to be honest, the 2015 is no better.
0.5A at idle is pretty bad. I am in need of alternative. Researching as I type this.

Contenders are:
SX8200 Pro
Crucial P5
Corsair MP510

I'm deathly afraid of the SB-ROCKET-1TB and data loss.
It's power usage specs are decent.
How are these drives doing for people out there in the ether?

current Nvme's i owned with low power consumption (better battery life) tested so far with my MBP 12,1 (427.140.8.0.0) .
1. Hynix P31 gold 1TB (daily driver)
2. Sabrent rocket 1TB (backup)

 

[phybersplice]

current Nvme's i owned with low power consumption (better battery life) tested so far with my MBP 12,1 (427.140.8.0.0) .
1. Hynix P31 gold 1TB (daily driver)
2. Sabrent rocket 1TB (backup)

The Hynix is way out of budget at 240$ plus tax here and I wouldn’t be able to even get it u til mid to late October.
how long have you had the rocket? Still working OK?

 

[phybersplice]

I've got a MBP 11, 1. Running off of the SB-ROCKET-1TB and it's been much better compared to the Samsung 980.

Not as fast but much better in terms of battery life, though not as good as the original drive.

You should be okay with the 1TB by sabrent though (make sure it's the black and blue one) because it's using TLC instead if QLC.

The only thing that is a bit off is the thunderbolt firmware. Not sure if it's because I need the original SSD in there to properly update it. My miniDP (thunderbolt 2) to DP just randomly stopped working..

Wondering if the Corsair MP510 or the Crucial P5 are comparable to the Sabrent in terms of power “savings”.

 

[phybersplice]

With the Crucial P5 installed, Bug Sur went fine. Bootcamp created the partition and Windows 10 installer found the partition however after the first reboot this is what I get. Ideas?

 

[Audit13]

With the Crucial P5 installed, Bug Sur went fine. Bootcamp created the partition and Windows 10 installer found the partition however after the first reboot this is what I get. Ideas?View attachment 1858882

You're using the Win10 installer created by Bootcamp?

 

[phybersplice]

You're using the Win10 installer created by Bootcamp?

Yep.
for shiz and giggles I pulled the P5 and put the MP510 in and it’s doing the same in the 2013.

 

[xboxbml]

Correct - I didn't see any when I used the 2013 MBP.
But here's the update on this.
I have the spare 2015 MBP and moved the adapter and drive into the new chassis.
On first boot from Windows 10, an after going through a few prompts it detected ALL partitions including the 75GB Bootcamp partition where I installed Win10 to.
One interesting point to note - even though this 2015 MBP 12,1 has Big Sur installed on it, it's only got a Bootrom version of:

System Firmware Version: 427.0.0.0.0

Strange indeed - when comparing to my 2013 11,1 MBP it's a higher (current revision) - not sure why this is running a lower one.

Now, I am not thrilled with the battery drain on the 2013 with the Samsung, and to be honest, the 2015 is no better.
0.5A at idle is pretty bad. I am in need of alternative. Researching as I type this.

Contenders are:
SX8200 Pro
Crucial P5
Corsair MP510

I'm deathly afraid of the SB-ROCKET-1TB and data loss.
It's power usage specs are decent.
How are these drives doing for people out there in the ether?

See sig.. I've got the 2TB ADATA SX8200 Pro in 2015 Air. Had it over a year..19A draw idle on power with no mods. Not sure on battery runtime as I usually have it on power. Idle on battery iStatMenus showing 0.00A draw. Not sure why that is.. Strange. I'm running an Apple TV movie off storage... Just launched Textual IRC and it jumped to .12A and back down to 0.00A. Maybe it's so low iStat can't go that low?..Comments anyone?

 

[Faloude]

Alright guys, just letting you know that Gigabyte NVME drives aren't being detected so don't buy those.

EDIT: False alarm, it does work. The adapter I used (non-sintech) required me to partition the drive over USB first (nvme to usb adapter) before it would make the SSD detectable.

 

[plc]

Hey guys,

We switched from the Sabrent Rocket (dark blue) 1TB NVME SSD to using the SK Hynix P31 Gold. A few hundred Macs have been sold with the Sabrent Rocket SSD with 0 issues in the past 12 months. Hoping the SK Hynix P31 Gold can offer the same stability.

You can update the firmware on the P31 Gold using a MacBook Pro. We used a 15" MacBook Pro Mid 2015. We installed the latest version of Big Sur, then downloaded the Windows 10 iso from the Microsoft website. Installed Windows To Go on an external SSD, then copied the Boot Camp drivers onto the drive.

Shut down the Mac. Swapped out the internal SSD with the SK Hynix P31 Gold SSD + Sintech Short adapter and booted it up from the external windows to go SSD.

Downloaded the Hynix firmware update tool and the new update.

Applied and activated the updates and now we're on the latest firmware. So far it's got better write and read speeds than the Sabrent Rocket. (2500 write / 2100 read vs 1800 write / 2200 read).

Looking forward to seeing the nice boost in performance with it.

Hi sksmMacs,

I was trying to do the same with you, but the win togo I created cannot boot my mac. I instead installed mac on a external drive, and planned to update firmware with the VM on that. However, when I tried to boot the mac with p31 inserted, it always failed midway through the booting bar. Have you meet similar issues? Thanks!

 

[ftaok]

I'm still a novice at this, having only just recently upgrading my mid-2013 MBA to a 480GB Corsair drive.

This weekend, I'm upgrading my wife's 2014 13"-MacBookPro from the stock 256GB to a 960GB Corsair. She's still on High Sierra, which is what I was on as well.

My question is around the Hibernation mode. On my MBA, I turned off Hibernation mode using the Terminal commands. I'm wondering if I should do it differently with my wife's computer.

I'm pretty sure she's not on the latest BootROM, so here's my plan.

1. Replace her stock SSD with my (currently unused) stock SSD from my MBA. Install the latest version of Big Sur on it to get the latest BootROM onto her Mac.
2. The install the new Corsair into her MBP and install High Sierra onto it.
3. Then use Migration Assistant to restore her system onto the new Corsair SSD.

I figure if I do it this way, I won't have to turn off hibernation. Is this correct thinking?

If this goes well, I might as well update my MBA's BootROM as well and then I could turn Hibernation back on.

Another question. Are there two different numbering systems for BootROMs? I see on post #1, for instance, the MBA BootROM needs to be MBA61.0103.B00 or higher, but then later in the hibernation section, they indicate that the BootROM for the 2013 MBA needs to be 4xx.0.0.0 or higher.

I could have sworn that I've seen the MBA61.0103.0 version somewhere at one point when I was verifying what to do. I can no longer find it and all I see is the other BootROM number format. Can anyone point me where to find the info?

 

[kieu]

Which charts are more up to date?. The ones in the post or the ones in the attachments section.

 

[macpro_mid2014]

I replaced the disc 2 weeks ago, so I think the newest bootrom was already there.


I replaced the disc 2 weeks ago, so I think the newest bootrom was already there.

My wife's MBA early-2015 had several kernel panics after I switched the SSD. It was a problem with resettling the new SSD into the adapter. After I reattached the SSD + adapter, the kernel panics stopped happening.

In the first few lines of the panic, there was a panic report with the text "NVMe", making it clear that the issue was caused by the NVMe.

 

[macpro_mid2014]

I'm still a novice at this, having only just recently upgrading my mid-2013 MBA to a 480GB Corsair drive.

This weekend, I'm upgrading my wife's 2014 13"-MacBookPro from the stock 256GB to a 960GB Corsair. She's still on High Sierra, which is what I was on as well.

My question is around the Hibernation mode. On my MBA, I turned off Hibernation mode using the Terminal commands. I'm wondering if I should do it differently with my wife's computer.

If you do not update the BootRom, you need to keep hibernation mode disabled.

I'm pretty sure she's not on the latest BootROM, so here's my plan.

1. Replace her stock SSD with my (currently unused) stock SSD from my MBA. Install the latest version of Big Sur on it to get the latest BootROM onto her Mac.
2. The install the new Corsair into her MBP and install High Sierra onto it.
3. Then use Migration Assistant to restore her system onto the new Corsair SSD.

Looks like a good plan. After the BootRom update, you can restore the defaults regarding hibernation/standby.

I figure if I do it this way, I won't have to turn off hibernation. Is this correct thinking?

If this goes well, I might as well update my MBA's BootROM as well and then I could turn Hibernation back on.

You can use the same stock SSD if you have a bootable USB stick with the latest Big Sur to update the BootRom in your computer.

Another question. Are there two different numbering systems for BootROMs? I see on post #1, for instance, the MBA BootROM needs to be MBA61.0103.B00 or higher, but then later in the hibernation section, they indicate that the BootROM for the 2013 MBA needs to be 4xx.0.0.0 or higher.

I could have sworn that I've seen the MBA61.0103.0 version somewhere at one point when I was verifying what to do. I can no longer find it and all I see is the other BootROM number format. Can anyone point me where to find the info?

The MBA61* is the old format. New formats are based on the latter format. My MBP has 431.140.6.0.0 version.

 

[olfo]

I'm still a novice at this, having only just recently upgrading my mid-2013 MBA to a 480GB Corsair drive.

This weekend, I'm upgrading my wife's 2014 13"-MacBookPro from the stock 256GB to a 960GB Corsair. She's still on High Sierra, which is what I was on as well.

My question is around the Hibernation mode. On my MBA, I turned off Hibernation mode using the Terminal commands. I'm wondering if I should do it differently with my wife's computer.

I'm pretty sure she's not on the latest BootROM, so here's my plan.

1. Replace her stock SSD with my (currently unused) stock SSD from my MBA. Install the latest version of Big Sur on it to get the latest BootROM onto her Mac.
2. The install the new Corsair into her MBP and install High Sierra onto it.
3. Then use Migration Assistant to restore her system onto the new Corsair SSD.

I figure if I do it this way, I won't have to turn off hibernation. Is this correct thinking?

If this goes well, I might as well update my MBA's BootROM as well and then I could turn Hibernation back on.

Another question. Are there two different numbering systems for BootROMs? I see on post #1, for instance, the MBA BootROM needs to be MBA61.0103.B00 or higher, but then later in the hibernation section, they indicate that the BootROM for the 2013 MBA needs to be 4xx.0.0.0 or higher.

I could have sworn that I've seen the MBA61.0103.0 version somewhere at one point when I was verifying what to do. I can no longer find it and all I see is the other BootROM number format. Can anyone point me where to find the info?

Seems to be fine, I would do it the same way. As for the latest Boot-ROM version number, you can check this website:

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

For the moment it looks that installing Mojave will give you the latest Boot-ROM for your Mac as well. Just in case.

The Corsair MP510 is an interesting SSD, and some people on this thread have been quite happy with it. You can do a search for the name btw, and read just the recent postings from March onward.

 

[phybersplice]

Sorry, I made a mistake. The advanced option is not available when booting from a Win10 installer for a MacBook.

I assume you do not see any drives at the screen where Windows shows you available partitions and drives.

Update:

installed the MP510 and tried Big Sur with Bootcamp - no dice literally every time I tried it was a BSOD.

Installed Catalina and tried with the same Windows 10 USB that Bootcamp created.
still no go. BDOD.

found a super old ISO (build 1506) and used that, it worked.
Clearly something in the newer builds is preventing Bootcamp from working.
I’m not sure if this version will allow for updates because it’s so old.

Update #2: 20H2 being installed now.
after it’s fully up to date I will install Big Sur and migrate the data over.