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

[otosan]

Hello @otosan !

Thank you for your answer!

I've made some research in order to find my BootRoom version.

In this post on Apple StackExchange, the BootRoom name has changed for: System Firmware Version

Here is my firmware version :

System Firmware Version: 432.40.8.0.1

Do you think everythink will be ok now my Firmeware verison is > 4xx.xx.x.x.x and if I follow this tutorial ?

And one more question, does this upgrade works on Apple Mac Pro late 2013 ?

Thanks !

Your firmware version a.k.a bootrom is good to go.

And yes. Apple Mac Pro Late 2013 ("Trash Bin" Model) can do this upgrade as well. You can even put heatsink if you installing it on Mac Pro, since space is plenty

 

[2five]

Hey everyone,

this is a really nice thread and i read a lot about the upgrade.
I want to upgrade my Macbook Pro 15" Mid 2015 (MacBookPro11,5) with a 4TB NVMe SSD but there are several issues on finding the right one.

The ones that are available at my place (germany) are: (and the comments inline)
PCIe 3.0 4x:

• ADATA XPG SX8100 4TB, M.2 (ASX8100NP-4TT-C)
  • € 516,77
  • In the Post 1 there is only the SX8200 tested, so i dont know how it is and how the energy consumption is
• Western Digital Red SN700 NVMe NAS SSD - 0.7DWPD 4TB, M.2 (WDS400T1R0C)
  • € 623,77
  • not listend in Post 1 as well
• Sabrent Rocket 4TB, M.2 (SB-ROCKET-4TB)
  • € 699,99
  • that is using the e12s chip and in Post 1 there is only the e12 tested, and the energy consumption is also higher than the base 512 model
• Corsair Force Series MP510 4TB, M.2 (CSSD-F4000GBMP510)
  • € 729,96
  • in Post 1 this ssd is listed in color red, dont know what its meaning

PCIe 4.0 4x: (i know my MBP can only 3.0 but they are downgradeable)

• Emtec X400 SSD Power Pro 4TB, M.2 (ECSSD4TX400)
  • € 542,57
• PNY XLR8 CS3040 4TB, M.2 (M280CS3040-4TB-RB)
  • € 581,96

I want a SSD that is power efficient but its hard to find infos that matter.
i have that list on a price comparison site, but i dont know if i can post links here in the post.

Do you have any advice for me?

Many Thanks
Sasha

 

[otosan]

Hey everyone,

this is a really nice thread and i read a lot about the upgrade.
I want to upgrade my Macbook Pro 15" Mid 2015 (MacBookPro11,5) with a 4TB NVMe SSD but there are several issues on finding the right one.

The ones that are available at my place (germany) are: (and the comments inline)
PCIe 3.0 4x:

• ADATA XPG SX8100 4TB, M.2 (ASX8100NP-4TT-C)
  • € 516,77
  • In the Post 1 there is only the SX8200 tested, so i dont know how it is and how the energy consumption is
• Western Digital Red SN700 NVMe NAS SSD - 0.7DWPD 4TB, M.2 (WDS400T1R0C)
  • € 623,77
  • not listend in Post 1 as well
• Sabrent Rocket 4TB, M.2 (SB-ROCKET-4TB)
  • € 699,99
  • that is using the e12s chip and in Post 1 there is only the e12 tested, and the energy consumption is also higher than the base 512 model
• Corsair Force Series MP510 4TB, M.2 (CSSD-F4000GBMP510)
  • € 729,96
  • in Post 1 this ssd is listed in color red, dont know what its meaning

PCIe 4.0 4x: (i know my MBP can only 3.0 but they are downgradeable)

• Emtec X400 SSD Power Pro 4TB, M.2 (ECSSD4TX400)
  • € 542,57
• PNY XLR8 CS3040 4TB, M.2 (M280CS3040-4TB-RB)
  • € 581,96

I want a SSD that is power efficient but its hard to find infos that matter.
i have that list on a price comparison site, but i dont know if i can post links here in the post.

Do you have any advice for me?

Many Thanks
Sasha

There's one particular SSD when it comes to high capacity that always come to my mind :

Corsair MP400

Yes, it's QLC. But at 4TB, i don't think you gonna hit the 800TBW mark soon enough within the Macbook remaining lifespan itself.

It's cheap. Very cheap.

It's not the fastest, but peaking at 3400Mb/s would most likely fulfil your mid 2015 bandwith limit anyway. And it can sustainly do 2Gb/s for 250GB of data written. After it will drop, yes, but so does other SSD in certain point. How often do you move that kind of data size at one time anyway ?

Energy wise, Phison E12s controller is quite good in term of power management. Only pricier Hynix P1 and EVO 980 Pro do better than MP400. And those other two doesn't come with 4GB last time i check.

Combined with SsdPMEnabler & NVMeFix kext, i think it will do just fine.

 

[csonni]

This is the hibernate/standby issue on MacBook Pro's older than 2015. I think you can follow the steps earlier in the thread to change your hibernate mode to compensate.

Same problem here and I have it installed in an early 2015 MBP.

 

[csonni]

Well, closing the MBP lid for 15 minutes ticked off the Crucial and set it into another Kernel Panic. I don't see how I'll be able to use my MBP if I can't carry it with me without crashing. I may have to spring for another Samsung NVMe.

 

[otosan]

T

Well, closing the MBP lid for 15 minutes ticked off the Crucial and set it into another Kernel Panic. I don't see how I'll be able to use my MBP if I can't carry it with me without crashing. I may have to spring for another Samsung NVMe.

There are few things you might want to try/know :

• Update your BootRom to latest
• set your sleep mode to : sudo pmset -a standby 0 hibernatemode 0 autopoweroff 0 darkwakes 0
• Some 13" early 2015 model are plagued by PCI Lane problem. In this case doesn't matter what NVME ssd you plug in will give you panic eventually. Way to mitigate is to keep your ssd temp bellow 70° C and use SSD with lower power draw/slower bandwith.

 

[deepblonde]

The A2000 doesn't have a 2TB version, unfortunately, and may very well be being phased out, with the NV1 as <replacement>.

You'll be the fifth one (that I know) so far here who opted for the A2000. Keep us updated when you do, especially if you install any additional kext.

1st image (top) is original Apple 128gb drive;
2nd image (middle) is A2000 with long adapter;
3rd image (bottom) is 1TB A2000 Kingston with short adapter.
this is an Air 2017, so max speed is limited , no kexts installed ; I may try that later ;
and I’ll also install another on a 2014 MacBook Pro when I have some time .

 

[csonni]

T

There are few things you might want to try/know :

• Update your BootRom to latest
• set your sleep mode to : sudo pmset -a standby 0 hibernatemode 0 autopoweroff 0 darkwakes 0
• Some 13" early 2015 model are plagued by PCI Lane problem. In this case doesn't matter what NVME ssd you plug in will give you panic eventually. Way to mitigate is to keep your ssd temp bellow 70° C and use SSD with lower power draw/slower bandwith.

Sure thing. I'll try those. Thanks for the added info. My 2014 Mac mini runs fine with the Samsung 970 Eve Plus. I've ordered the same for my MBP. Hopefully that will do it.

• Some 13" early 2015 model are plagued by PCI Lane problem. In this case doesn't matter what NVME ssd you plug in will give you panic eventually. Way to mitigate is to keep your ssd temp bellow 70° C and use SSD with lower power draw/slower bandwith.

Can someone confirm how many PCI lanes the late 2014 Mac mini has? My Samsung 970 Evo Plus is working grand on it. According to this thread, it only has 2 lanes so the Samsung should work as well (or better?) in my early 2015 MBP. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-mini-late-2014-1-0-tb-ssd-how-many-pcie-lanes.1843197/

 

[xanderx007]

View attachment 1953000

View attachment 1953002
View attachment 1953003
1st image (top) is original Apple 128gb drive;
2nd image (middle) is A2000 with long adapter;
3rd image (bottom) is 1TB A2000 Kingston with short adapter.
this is an Air 2017, so max speed is limited , no kexts installed ; I may try that later ;
and I’ll also install another on a 2014 MacBook Pro when I have some time .

That's about the same speeds I get.

 

[xanderx007]

Sure thing. I'll try those. Thanks for the added info. My 2014 Mac mini runs fine with the Samsung 970 Eve Plus. I've ordered the same for my MBP. Hopefully that will do it.


Can someone confirm how many PCI lanes the late 2014 Mac mini has? My Samsung 970 Evo Plus is working grand on it. According to this thread, it only has 2 lanes so the Samsung should work as well (or better?) in my early 2015 MBP. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-mini-late-2014-1-0-tb-ssd-how-many-pcie-lanes.1843197/

The 2014 has 2 lanes, though if you check system profiler under NVMExpress, it will register the actual number of lanes the installed SSD has.

 

[csonni]

We’ll then, that almost guarantees that the Samsung will work in the MBP if it’s working in the Mac mini. My Kernel Panics must be coming from incompatibility with the Crucial P5.

 

[maily.spamy]

Hi I want to buy a new 1TB SSD to my macbook pro 11,1 (mid 2014) (system firmware 431.140.6.0.0) and I am not sure if I chosen the right one. I would like to buy WD BLACK SN750 NVMe SSD (WDS100T3X0C) and want to ask if it is a good choice, or if you can recomend me better another one (cheaper?).
And another answer. Which adapter can I buy? Does it matter nowadays? I plan to buy this or this or maybe this from china.
And should I prepare me on any problems with instalation? Or is the mac allready ready for upgrade?
standal

 

[csonni]

I bougt the Sintech long adapter as recommended. https://www.amazon.ca/Sintech-Adapt...qid=1643905726&sprefix=Sintech,aps,211&sr=8-6

I also bought the Crucial P5 NVMe SSD which doesn’t work well with sleep on the MBP. Going with a Samsung 970 Evo Plus.
The adapter (I believe) works well. Not sure how sleep will work with the WD you’re talking about. You might want to check into that.

 

[herb2k]

Same problem here and I have it installed in an early 2015 MBP.

It may be your adapter.

I have tried these all without issue in my 2015 MBP.

Rivo: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07N4HS69S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sintech: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07FYY3H5F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I would not recommend the Evo - it's overkill unless you have a PCIe 3.0 x4 machine. Adata, Sabrent/Seagate/SiiconPower, Intel, etc are all decent options.

 

[csonni]

I’m hoping it’s not my adapter. The Sintechs are known to work. You’d think a faulty adapter would have other glitches beside not waking from sleep without a kernel panic. Yes, the Evo is overkill but since it works well with my late 2014 Mac mini, I’d rather play it safe and not get nipped with another incompatible SSD.

 

[herb2k]

I’m hoping it’s not my adapter. The Sintechs are known to work. You’d think a faulty adapter would have other glitches beside not waking from sleep without a kernel panic. Yes, the Evo is overkill but since it works well with my late 2014 Mac mini, I’d rather play it safe and not get nipped with another incompatible SSD.

Did you check the tape on the connection side of your adapter? If the pins of the M.2 slot make any contact with the Apple connector it has been known to cause kernel panics. I have found on one of my adapters that I did receive, I had to add a bit of electrical tape because the factory didn't place the tape properly.

 

[csonni]

Did you check the tape on the connection side of your adapter? If the pins of the M.2 slot make any contact with the Apple connector it has been known to cause kernel panics. I have found on one of my adapters that I did receive, I had to add a bit of electrical tape because the factory didn't place the tape properly.

Do you mean the underside of the adapter? That’s where I put the little stick on pad as instructed. I don’t remember any tape on the adapter. The kernel panics never happen if I don’t sleep the MBP which leads me to believe that it‘s the Crucial P5. If there was any other issue then you’d think kernel panics would happen during other times and not just waking out of sleep.

 

[MisterPi]

If you are on Mid 2014 model,

you gonna want to make sure that your BootRom is updated to 4xx.x.x.x so that you got hibernation and sleep issue sorted,

any version lower than that (especially if you still on version with a letter instead of number as first digit) have sleep issues when paired with NVMe drive, including Apple original Polaris drive.

easiest way to update is to plug back original ssd and install BigSur into it (or to external drive - while still having the original ssd plugged inside).

There is a workaround for the hibernation issue which is to use pmset and disable hibernation. At best it is a temporary fix until I can sort out the upgrade to BigSur.

If I understand you correctly, I install the original SSD, install BigSur - which updates the BootROM - and then reinstall the big SSD to take advantage of the new re-written BootROM. Sounds like it would work. My BootROM version is 162.0.0.0.0 (and SMC Version (system) 2.18f15) according to the output of the command

system_profiler SPHardwareDataType | grep -i "Version" | awk -F ':' '{print $1 $2}'

However:
There is a way to stop the system from hibernating at all with the possible negative impact on battery life.

jm:~ jm$ pmset -g
System-wide power settings:
Currently in use:
 standbydelay         10800
 standby              1
 halfdim              1
 hibernatefile        /var/vm/sleepimage
 powernap             0
 gpuswitch            2
 disksleep            10
 sleep                20
 autopoweroffdelay    0
 hibernatemode        3
 autopoweroff         0
 ttyskeepawake        1
 displaysleep         20
 acwake               0
 lidwake              1
jm:~ jm$ sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0 standby 0 autopoweroff 0
Password:
jm:~ jm$ pmset -g
System-wide power settings:
Currently in use:
 standbydelay         10800
 standby              0
 halfdim              1
 hibernatefile        /var/vm/sleepimage
 powernap             0
 gpuswitch            2
 disksleep            10
 sleep                20
 autopoweroffdelay    0
 hibernatemode        0
 autopoweroff         0
 ttyskeepawake        1
 displaysleep         20
 acwake               0
 lidwake              1
jm:~ jm$

This is reversible with

sudo pmset restoredefaults

I did this and have not noticed any impact on my battery life when the lid is closed. With the battery at 100% before closing the lid for the night, 12hr later I am still at 100%.

I need to upgrade my OS, no question, but I am no longer living with random crashes.

 

[csonni]

I always keep the latest MacOS on my Macs so that would mean I always have the most recent BootRom, no?

 

[xanderx007]

I’m hoping it’s not my adapter. The Sintechs are known to work. You’d think a faulty adapter would have other glitches beside not waking from sleep without a kernel panic. Yes, the Evo is overkill but since it works well with my late 2014 Mac mini, I’d rather play it safe and not get nipped with another incompatible SSD.

Being known to work doesn't necessarily mean it will work the same way for everyone if at all. These adapters are a hit and miss, so you might have to get a couple or so to get one that works right.

In my case, like I mentioned in my post and one of my comments, I lucked out with the one adapter I bought for cheap, with the A2000.

Hi I want to buy a new 1TB SSD to my macbook pro 11,1 (mid 2014) (system firmware 431.140.6.0.0) and I am not sure if I chosen the right one. I would like to buy WD BLACK SN750 NVMe SSD (WDS100T3X0C) and want to ask if it is a good choice, or if you can recomend me better another one (cheaper?).
And another answer. Which adapter can I buy? Does it matter nowadays? I plan to buy this or this or maybe this from china.
And should I prepare me on any problems with instalation? Or is the mac allready ready for upgrade?
standal

There are now at least 5 people who have installed the Kingston A2000 (regardless of adapter) successfully without issues so far. It's the cheaper option among the SSDs and has the least amount of issues if at all. I've installed it a few months ago and have not experienced any sleep or hibernation issues. Power consumption is decent even without the kext, and those of us who have installed it, afaik, have opted not to use any kext at all since the power saving isn't really that significant.

I also have a 2014, so, the A2000 might be your best bet. Read from my post onward (and a few posts back) and you'll see a couple of others who have used the A2000, or do a search for it.

 

[macpro_mid2014]

I always keep the latest MacOS on my Macs so that would mean I always have the most recent BootRom, no?

To ensure you have the latest bootrom for your model, you can use SilentKnight:

SilentKnight 1.18 (Universal App for El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur and Monterey)

 

[User9]

could someone confirm for me if
1) nvmefix has aspm enabled automatically
2) on P31 does aspm need to be forced on via boot argument? any guides on where and what to type?
3) nvmefix by itself with aspm arg means ssdpmenabler is not needed as no benefit?

 

[herb2k]

Do you mean the underside of the adapter? That’s where I put the little stick on pad as instructed. I don’t remember any tape on the adapter. The kernel panics never happen if I don’t sleep the MBP which leads me to believe that it‘s the Crucial P5. If there was any other issue then you’d think kernel panics would happen during other times and not just waking out of sleep.

Topside - just behind the plastic connector where the M.2 stick goes - if there's any exposed pins visible from the plastic connector, they may cause a Kernel Panic.

 

[otosan]

Long adapter should no longer be used nowaday. Except when you are planning to use 2230 or 2242 ssd.

It generate more heat due to less available space for air. And it's not suitable for two sided ssd (although most of new ssd is 1 side)

Sintech is known to work, but they are NOT necessarily better than other options (pricier, yes. better, not really) . And they FAIL every now and then also just like any other adapters (or ssd - it's human made after all) . They just have a benefit of being the first one available around in 2013-2014 time.

And we are in 2022 now.

 

[xanderx007]

Long adapter should no longer be used nowaday. Except when you are planning to use 2230 or 2242 ssd.

It generate more heat due to less available space for air. And it's not suitable for two sided ssd (although most of new ssd is 1 side)

Sintech is known to work, but they are NOT necessarily better than other options (pricier, yes. better, not really) . And they FAIL every now and then also just like any other adapters (or ssd - it's human made after all) . They just have a benefit of being the first one available around in 2013-2014 time.

And we are in 2022 now.

I belive the long adapter's advantage is indeed as added support for the longer SSDs, but, I disagree that it generates heat since the longer part (with that copper lining where the SSDs are secured) acts like a secondary heatsink, drawing heat away from the SSD. Also, it can't generate heat, as was mentioned in the discussions, it doesn't have a chip, so there's nothing on it that generates heat. The only thing what generates heat, therefore, is the SSD and the surrounding components. The SSD is also located next to one of the fans (at least in most MBP models) so it does get partial cooling from the vortex/vacuum created as the fan sucks the air around it.

I've also mentioned that Sintech might just be a rebranded OEM (they all come from China), so it's basically the same as the other unbranded adapters. These OEMs will either work or fail, though most of them do work than otherwise.