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

[Marco_2k7]

Do samsung drives really impact running battery time? Is there any way to fix this?

 

[ftaok]

Hi there!

I've read the OP but I still have some questions about upgrading my macbook (pro retina 13" 2015) to a third party ssd.

- I'm running Big Sur 11.6, should I be ok with sleeping/hybernation issues?
- Is there any problem with importing a Time Machine backup after the upgrade?
- I seem to understand that NVMe drives use more battery...why that happens?
- My idea is to get a 500gb/1Tb Samsung (I had good experience with their ssd) NVMe drive, any suggestion on the model? I'm looking into the 970 Evo Plus or the 980, any major difference? Or if you do not reccomend Samsung, any suggestion in the 150€ price range?

Thank you so much for your help.

My understanding is that the 2015 MBP didn't ever have hibernation issues, so you're set.

I updated both my 2013 MBA and my wife's 2014 rMBP recently and used a Time Machine backup to restore from both times. No issues other than it taking a long ass time. Note that I had made a Time Machine backup onto a USB3 drive both times. I have a Time Capsule, but I didn't want to deal with speeds over wifi (although I could have used ethernet).

No idea about battery consumption of NVMe drives, but it makes sense since they're so much faster than the stock drives.

If battery life if important, I think the high-performance Samsungs are not optimal. I thought there was a post indicating that the 2015 MBP can't take advantage of the speeds of the high performance drives anyway, so you're just burning battery power for nothing. I went with the Corsair MP510 and I'm getting 1300+ on both read and write for my MBA (480gb corsair). I think the 2014 MBP (with a 960GB corsair) gets around 1400+ r/w.

 

[Marco_2k7]

My understanding is that the 2015 MBP didn't ever have hibernation issues, so you're set.

I updated both my 2013 MBA and my wife's 2014 rMBP recently and used a Time Machine backup to restore from both times. No issues other than it taking a long ass time. Note that I had made a Time Machine backup onto a USB3 drive both times. I have a Time Capsule, but I didn't want to deal with speeds over wifi (although I could have used ethernet).

No idea about battery consumption of NVMe drives, but it makes sense since they're so much faster than the stock drives.

If battery life if important, I think the high-performance Samsungs are not optimal. I thought there was a post indicating that the 2015 MBP can't take advantage of the speeds of the high performance drives anyway, so you're just burning battery power for nothing. I went with the Corsair MP510 and I'm getting 1300+ on both read and write for my MBA (480gb corsair). I think the 2014 MBP (with a 960GB corsair) gets around 1400+ r/w.

Thank you so much for your answer. Last time I checked I think the 2015 models were also supposed to be affected…I guess that was never the case.

Regarding battery life, I’ll stick with lower speed drives since my rMBP is limited to 1300r/w anyway I think.

If anyone on the group has a suggestion for the best drives in this category I’m still holding before making an order.

 

[ftaok]

Thank you so much for your answer. Last time I checked I think the 2015 models were also supposed to be affected…I guess that was never the case.

Regarding battery life, I’ll stick with lower speed drives since my rMBP is limited to 1300r/w anyway I think.

If anyone on the group has a suggestion for the best drives in this category I’m still holding before making an order.

The way Post #1 is written, it sounds like only the 15” MBP can take advantage of the 3,000 MB/sec speeds.

 

[Marco_2k7]

The way Post #1 is written, it sounds like only the 15” MBP can take advantage of the 3,000 MB/sec speeds.

Yes that seems to be the case.

now I have to choose the right low power consumption ssd. The 970 evo plus seems out of the question. The P2 seems to have been problematic for some people looking through the thread. I was thinking about the WD blue but it seems it must be firmware updated using windows and I do not have that possibility.

I feel kind of stuck!

 

[Marsupio]

Yes I have the same question than Marco (MBP early 2015 upgrade) on my side. However I will not install bootcamp. I'm looking for a 512GB NVME drive that offers a good balance between reasonable performance, battery drain and price. On my side I would prioritize reasonable price (#1), battery drain (#2) and finally performance (#3). Was interested in the Crucial P2 but did not follow what were the recent problems with the newer P2 versions. Could you explain and any advices ?

Thanks.

 

[Marco_2k7]

Yes I have the same question than Marco (MBP early 2015 upgrade) on my side. However I will not install bootcamp. I'm looking for a 512GB NVME drive that offers a good balance between reasonable performance, battery drain and price. On my side I would prioritize reasonable price (#1), battery drain (#2) and finally performance (#3). Was interested in the Crucial P2 but did not follow what were the recent problems with the newer P2 versions. Could you explain and any advices ?

Thanks.

I was referring to this. But it seems to me looking at the thread that many users had issues with the P2. Not sure if it's just my impression.

Well I've been running a Crucial P2 2TB in my 2015 15" MBP since April 2021 without issue until a few weeks ago, but now I can't go a few days without kernel panicking.

How does one go about testing the health of the drive? My usual go-to, DriveDx, doesn't see it internally or in a caddy.

That's a shame since the P2 top all the chart in terms of price and power efficiency. If anyone could share their expercience with the Crucial P2 we would be grateful.

 

[olfo]

I was referring to this. But it seems to me looking at the thread that many users had issues with the P2. Not sure if it's just my impression.




That's a shame since the P2 top all the chart in terms of price and power efficiency. If anyone could share their expercience with the Crucial P2 we would be grateful.

My experience with the Crucial P2 is good. I have the 2TB version and apart from doing benchmarks , I have had the chance to actually work with it and collect some real-world experience, which also are positive. The SSD performs better than the original Apple SSD. I would recommend you do the usual tests before and after the swap, so you know what you got.
AmorphousDiskMark
iStatMenus
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test
AJA System Test
All of these tests offer different helpful info for you and others, so please post your results here.

About the “bad” P2:
I haven't checked my SSD if it is QLC or TLC, because you'd need to install Windows to find out.
It is confirmed by many users that there are two or more different versions of the SSD, which perform better or worse.
So you better buy somewhere where you can return the SSD easily, in case the performance is not good enough.
In my personal experience, I have seen one “bad” P2 out of three (all 2TB bought between May and August 2021). With the bad P2 the performance dropped drastically after 32GB written. This was quite similar as described in this article:

Unsavory Flash Swap: Re-Testing Crucial’s P2 SSD After QLC Downgrade

Crucial’s P2 now ships with QLC flash, making it a poor performer and an even worse value.

www.tomshardware.com

So you can easily find out just by running a large file test or a continous test in the benchmark programs.
Also the article gives a hint how the lower quality P2 can be identified from the sticker. Not sure if this really works.

I decided for the 2TB version because it offers higher endurance and I wanted to avoid a slowdown when the SSD fills up. In my experience, only the 15" MacBook Pro 2015 has reached the max speed.
Different speed and endurance of the various size models are described in the broduct brochure:

https://www.crucial.de/content/dam/crucial/ssd-products/P2/flyer/crucial-P2-productflyer-consumer-de-DE.pdf

Good luck!

P.S.: My P2 came with the P2CR033 firmware but not UK/CA on the label (like the linked article mentions).

 

[ftaok]

Yes I have the same question than Marco (MBP early 2015 upgrade) on my side. However I will not install bootcamp. I'm looking for a 512GB NVME drive that offers a good balance between reasonable performance, battery drain and price. On my side I would prioritize reasonable price (#1), battery drain (#2) and finally performance (#3). Was interested in the Crucial P2 but did not follow what were the recent problems with the newer P2 versions. Could you explain and any advices ?

Thanks.

I had also ordered a Crucial P2, but Amazon delays allowed me to cancel after I read up on the QLC/TLC issues. I decided I didn’t want to count on luck or old stock.

I ended up getting the Corsair MP510 because it had good speed and power stats on the chart and a pretty good price. The only thing is the capacity is strange at 480gb and 960gb.

I’ve installed them in my MBA and my wife’s MBP. Very happy with the performance and stability. No issues at all and much faster than the stock SSD’s (at least on benchmarks). I don’t really notice any speed impact, honestly.

 

[xboxbml]

So here's my update on my venture to upgrade the 11,1 2013 Late MBPr with 1TB of capacity.

I got the Sintech short adapter from Amazon.ca for $1.99 (had a 20$ credit on my account).

I've tried the Samsung 970 Evo Plus (Battery drain too high) $189.99
Crucial P5 (Complete Disaster) $124.99
Corsair MP510 (not a bad drive, but it's an odd capacity at 960GB) $169.99
ADATA / XPG SX8200 Pro $149.99

My goal was to get a proper Bootcamp partition of Windows 10 on the drive as well.
I tried all these drives, 3 gave me various issues, all gave me BSOD during the Win10 install.
The only one that allowed me to continue with the install by doing the regedit trick in post #1 was the ADATA / XPG.
I didn't use the included heatsink.
I've managed to update Win10 to what Win10 Updater says is current 20H2.
I could manually do 21H1 but right now, it's not that important.
At the end of the day, it was one hell of an experiment.
Keeping the XPG SX8200 Pro.
View attachment 1863894

Nice. Which size did you get? I've had my 2TB for over a year.. Works well..

 

[olfo]

I’ve installed them in my MBA and my wife’s MBP. Very happy with the performance and stability. No issues at all and much faster than the stock SSD’s (at least on benchmarks). I don’t really notice any speed impact, honestly.

Cool, the Corsair MP510 was my other choice back then. But suddenly the prices went up.
Can you please post an AmorphousDiskMark screenshot? I think we haven't had that one here in the thread.

Your Macs are MacBookAir6,2 ?

 

[ftaok]

Cool, the Corsair MP510 was my other choice back then. But suddenly the prices went up.
Can you please post an AmorphousDiskMark screenshot? I think we haven't had that one here in the thread.

Your Macs are MacBookAir6,2 ?

Here are the results on my MBA. It's a 2013 i7 MBA. MBA6,2. The SSD is the Corsair MP510 - 480GB. Not sure if these numbers are good or not, as I didn't check the stock SSD to compare. I had used the BlackMagic app to test.

Wife's MacBook Pro (11,1). This one is the 960GB Corsair MP510.

 

[Marco_2k7]

My experience with the Crucial P2 is good. I have the 2TB version and apart from doing benchmarks , I have had the chance to actually work with it and collect some real-world experience, which also are positive. The SSD performs better than the original Apple SSD. I would recommend you do the usual tests before and after the swap, so you know what you got.
AmorphousDiskMark
iStatMenus
Blackmagic Disk Speed Test
AJA System Test
All of these tests offer different helpful info for you and others, so please post your results here.

About the “bad” P2:
I haven't checked my SSD if it is QLC or TLC, because you'd need to install Windows to find out.
It is confirmed by many users that there are two or more different versions of the SSD, which perform better or worse.
So you better buy somewhere where you can return the SSD easily, in case the performance is not good enough.
In my personal experience, I have seen one “bad” P2 out of three (all 2TB bought between May and August 2021). With the bad P2 the performance dropped drastically after 32GB written. This was quite similar as described in this article:

Unsavory Flash Swap: Re-Testing Crucial’s P2 SSD After QLC Downgrade

Crucial’s P2 now ships with QLC flash, making it a poor performer and an even worse value.

www.tomshardware.com

So you can easily find out just by running a large file test or a continous test in the benchmark programs.
Also the article gives a hint how the lower quality P2 can be identified from the sticker. Not sure if this really works.

I decided for the 2TB version because it offers higher endurance and I wanted to avoid a slowdown when the SSD fills up. In my experience, only the 15" MacBook Pro 2015 has reached the max speed.
Different speed and endurance of the various size models are described in the broduct brochure:

https://www.crucial.de/content/dam/crucial/ssd-products/P2/flyer/crucial-P2-productflyer-consumer-de-DE.pdf

Good luck!

P.S.: My P2 came with the P2CR033 firmware but not UK/CA on the label (like the linked article mentions).

Ouch that does not sound good about the P2. I could live with limited performance but not with a less-endurant drive.
I don't think that I will try my luck with old stocks, that's a shame because power consumption was awesome.

I had also ordered a Crucial P2, but Amazon delays allowed me to cancel after I read up on the QLC/TLC issues. I decided I didn’t want to count on luck or old stock.

I ended up getting the Corsair MP510 because it had good speed and power stats on the chart and a pretty good price. The only thing is the capacity is strange at 480gb and 960gb.

I’ve installed them in my MBA and my wife’s MBP. Very happy with the performance and stability. No issues at all and much faster than the stock SSD’s (at least on benchmarks). I don’t really notice any speed impact, honestly.

The 960GB size is quite weird. It does cost a little more than the competitors in terms of price/GB because of that.

Whats the power consumption of the MP510 like? Battery life is very important for me.

 

[ftaok]

The 960GB size is quite weird. It does cost a little more than the competitors in terms of price/GB because of that.

Whats the power consumption of the MP510 like? Battery life is very important for me.

I have no idea. The chart in Post #1 indicates that it's pretty decent on power consumption. I don't know which apps to use to measure power consumption.

 

[olfo]

The 960GB size is quite weird. It does cost a little more than the competitors in terms of price/GB because of that.

Whats the power consumption of the MP510 like? Battery life is very important for me.

Check the list here:

Confirmed working Mac models

Contribute to kvic-z/SsdPmEnabler development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

The idle (A) numbers are with ssdpmEnabler installed.
Otherwise the numbers from the table in post 1 apply. Especially the Read/Write values.

I don't know which apps to use to measure power consumption.

Here's a report about the MP510:

Upgrading 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

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...

forums.macrumors.com

The software used to measure power consumption is iStatMenus (free 14-day trial).
Link:
iStatMenus

 

[Marco_2k7]

Check the list here:

Confirmed working Mac models

Contribute to kvic-z/SsdPmEnabler development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

The idle (A) numbers are with ssdpmEnabler installed.
Otherwise the numbers from the table in post 1 apply. Especially the Read/Write values.

Here's a report about the MP510:

Upgrading 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

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...

forums.macrumors.com

The software used to measure power consumption is iStatMenus (free 14-day trial).
Link:
iStatMenus

MP510 looks good after fixes being applied, thank you. I'll probably get that when the price is low.

 

[olfo]

In the treasure trove of this thread I have found an interesting report about the WD SN550.
It says:
Revision: 21705000 -> Updated Firmware out of the box.
I don't know if this is only for the 2TB version, though.
So good news for those interested in this SSD.

Upgrading 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

Hi, @Lucas1980, Did you have the Read/Write speed after the Firmware update? I just installed the 2TB SN550 on my MacBook Pro 15 mid-2014 (MacbookPro11,2) and I am getting Write ~800MB/s and Read ~1450MB/s after some interactions. I guess the Write speed reflects the fact that the SN550 is...

forums.macrumors.com

Can anybody confirm this? Can you read the revision on the packaging?

 

[bradbomb]

Have not done a speed test yet, but I did receive an authentic Sintech adapter yesterday and that worked! The Kingston NV1 was detected and booted into the install of Mojave I have on it. I do have the laptop on the latest BootROM as it was running Big Sur previously for the better part of a year.

 

[phybersplice]

Nice. Which size did you get? I've had my 2TB for over a year.. Works well..

I got the 1TB. Pretty happy with it. Amazon will allow a return up until the end of January (since we are in October and it’s Xmas shopping season now).

 

[olfo]

Hi, @Lucas1980,

Did you have the Read/Write speed after the Firmware update?

I just installed the 2TB SN550 on my MacBook Pro 15 mid-2014 (MacbookPro11,2) and I am getting Write ~800MB/s and Read ~1450MB/s after some interactions. I guess the Write speed reflects the fact that the SN550 is DRamless, but
I am wondering if the firmware update would change anything in terms of speed!!

The idle current is around 0.31A, which is twice the current my previous A80 (Silicon Power) 1TB used. I don't care about that because I use the laptop plugged in most of the time.

Thank you,

EDIT:

I've bought the SN550 from Amazon.ca and it came with the updated firmware:

WDC WDS200T2B0C-00PXH0:
Capacity: 2 TB (2,000,398,934,016 bytes)
TRIM Support: Yes
Model: WDC WDS200T2B0C-00PXH0
Revision: 21705000 -> Updated Firmware out of the box.
Serial Number:
Link Width: x4
Link Speed: 5.0 GT/s
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
Removable Media: No
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified

After the disk settled down for a while, the speeds are better than the Silicon Power:

View attachment 1815723

View attachment 1815725


But the idle current is not:

View attachment 1815727

Hey macpro_mid2014, I was a bit in a Sherlock mode recently 🔎 and trying to get behind the SSD revision riddle by sneaking around in shops.
Can you please comment how this matches your SSD model?
I have found it in a local shop. This is what can be read on the retail box of the 2TB WD SN550.
R/N looks like revision number. But it is in no way similar to what you have posted.
Also the production date could be a hint to an updated model. Would you mind checking yours?

Something else:
The Crucial P2 has indeed different markings on the box. Here is a snapshot of one model with UK/CA on the label and the other model without. So you can probably tell just from the packaging which version you are buying (both 1TB on these photos). The UK/CA labelled SSD is supposedly the newer version (see the Toms Hardware article on that).
P.S.: That SSD is likely the newer version, also because the serial number is higher.

 

[macpro_mid2014]

Hey macpro_mid2014, I was a bit in a Sherlock mode recently 🔎 and trying to get behind the SSD revision riddle by sneaking around in shops.
Can you please comment how this matches your SSD model?
I have found it in a local shop. This is what can be read on the retail box of the 2TB WD SN550.
R/N looks like revision number. But it is in no way similar to what you have posted.
Also the production date could be a hint to an updated model. Would you mind checking yours?

That is exactly the SSD model I have. I bought mine from Amazon.ca in the last week of July.

 

[olfo]

That is exactly the SSD model I have. I bought mine from Amazon.ca in the last week of July.

Thank you. And may I ask if you find similarities to the new WD SN550 version described in this article, as of performance?

The new version of Western Digital Blue Disk SN550 replaces the flash memory, causing the original writing speed to be halved, only the green disk SN350 level - iMedia

The Western Digital Blue Disk SN550 can be said to be a very popular mainstream SSD on the market. It has a continuous read speed of 2400MB/s and a write speed

min.news

 

[macpro_mid2014]

Thank you. And may I ask if you find similarities to the new WD SN550 version described in this article, as of performance?

The new version of Western Digital Blue Disk SN550 replaces the flash memory, causing the original writing speed to be halved, only the green disk SN350 level - iMedia

The Western Digital Blue Disk SN550 can be said to be a very popular mainstream SSD on the market. It has a continuous read speed of 2400MB/s and a write speed

min.news

I cannot get more than 1300KB/s because of the PCI 2.0 in my MBP11,2. So, I cannot test if it has a degradation in performance after a big file write/read. I posted (some pages back) the performance using a couple of utilities.

 

[kvic]

The competition in m.2 NVMe heats up lately?

Yesterday I saw SK Hynix Gold P31 1TB for $105 on Amazon (which is a very good deal btw)

While Kingston introduced NV1 recently, WD also announced SN570 in addition to refreshed SN550. SN570 seems to be what SN550 should have always been.

Review on SN570: https://hexus.net/tech/reviews/storage/148499-wd-blue-sn570-ssd-1tb/

 

[phybersplice]

The competition in m.2 NVMe heats up lately?

Yesterday I saw SK Hynix Gold P31 1TB for $105 on Amazon (which is a very good deal btw)

Hi

I just saw what you’re looking at for this drive. It’s a SATA drive though.
The NVME PCIE version is 132.99