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

[Stefnor]

Hi all, I'm sharing my experience with upgrading my early 2015 MacBook Air.

I installed a Crucial P2 CT500P2SSD8 (500 GB) with a Eboxer SSD M.2 NGFF Adapter back in 2021. I got the same issue a many in this thread with the Crucial P2: random kernel panics with error
"3rd party NVMe controller. Loss of MMIO space. Write. fBuiltIn=1 MODEL=CT500P2SSD8 FW=P2CR012 CSTS=0xffffffff US[1]=0x0 US[0]=0x11 VID=0xc0a9 DID=0x540a CRITICAL_WARNING=0x0.\n". It does not occur often (once or twice a month) but it is still an annoying issue.

I've never found a solution so I'm considering transitioning to a Timetec SSD NVMe PCIe (512 GB) which does not require an adapter since the connector is not M2 but already the private Apple SSD format.

Do some of you have an experience to share about this SSD?

Any update on this?
Ive got the exakt same SSD (Crucial P2) and have the exakt same problem So i also want to solve this problem.
If not the Timetec SSD is good, what SSD is recommended?

 

[Adiif1]

Anyone try ssd with Phison PS5018-E18??

 

[littlemisssunshine]

you don't need your original Apple SSD, just follow Mr. Macintosh site to install Monterey 12.6, once its done your boot room will be updated, i have same year and model like yours below, good luck.
View attachment 2088313

Well that was easy.. My MacBooks pro just finished installing Monterey 12.6 on my new Kioxia Exceria 500GB nvme ssd with AIRNVME adapter (short version). Bootrom has been updated. Thanks again!

 

[vince22]

Well that was easy.. My MacBooks pro just finished installing Monterey 12.6 on my new Kioxia Exceria 500GB nvme ssd with AIRNVME adapter (short version). Bootrom has been updated. Thanks again!

RC2 12.6.1 (21G211) released today with update bootrom (firmware).

 

[paultman]

Quick update after using the OCLP to update the nvme settings. I saw a message in the Notification Center about APFS name mismatch for a volume and went to look in the console.

I saw a bunch of UniversalControl crash messages:

I don't use UC, and the 2015 mbp doesn't natively support it, though I guess OCLP enabled it. After a quick search, it seems to be triggered when the mbp is in proximity to other apple devices. Anyway, it's not something I use, so I disabled it via the terminal.

> launchctl disable gui/501/com.apple.ensemble

I've rebooted and don't seen any new console errors, so hopefully that's it. I'll post back here if it pops up again. I recommend anyone else to routinely check the Console for crashes which might happen that you are unaware of.

 

[hailyn83]

salve a tutti, ho sostituito l'sd del mio macbook pro retina 2015 con un adata 1T con adattatore corto.
Ho notato che è più lento nell'accensione, ma lo spegnimento è più veloce

 

[littlemisssunshine]

Is it possible for someone who's not exactly technical to install SsdPMEnabler?
'Update kext cache' and 'load the kext' is kind of like Chinese to me.. 😯

 

[macpro_mid2014]

salve a tutti, ho sostituito l'sd del mio macbook pro retina 2015 con un adata 1T con adattatore corto.
Ho notato che è più lento nell'accensione, ma lo spegnimento è più veloce

Try this:
When you boot your MBP, hold the Option key until the boot options show up. Assuming you have only one boot disk, then, press the Control key and then, still holding the Control key, press Enter.
You just set up your default boot volume. The boot time now should be faster.

 

[otosan]

Is it possible for someone who's not exactly technical to install SsdPMEnabler?
'Update kext cache' and 'load the kext' is kind of like Chinese to me.. 😯

well, the step itself is pretty much technical, but extremely simple

you just need to download it. and let the file stay on your download folder

then turn off your mac. then boot to recovery (Command + R) ,

in recovery open Terminal, and type : csrutil disable

close your terminal and restart back to system

in your system, open terminal again, and type :

sudo cp -R ~/Downloads /Library/Extensions

enter, wait for a while, and you will get a notification saying that you need to allow certain system extensions.

choose the "Open Security & Privacy Preferences"

unlock the padlock on bottom left, and just click "Allow" button that presented in front of you

it will ask whether you want to restart, just choose yes, and it will rebuild the kext cache for you during the process. And that's it.

Steps i explained above is for BigSur and Monterey. (which i recommend you to use)

Btw, you said in your original comment that the instructions sounds "chinese",

i am chinese, and trust me, reading all those instructions and writing here in english sounds and feels very "chinese" as well, but hey, "do i learn something new" ? 😉

 

[otosan]

Hi all, I'm sharing my experience with upgrading my early 2015 MacBook Air.

I installed a Crucial P2 CT500P2SSD8 (500 GB) with a Eboxer SSD M.2 NGFF Adapter back in 2021. I got the same issue a many in this thread with the Crucial P2: random kernel panics with error
"3rd party NVMe controller. Loss of MMIO space. Write. fBuiltIn=1 MODEL=CT500P2SSD8 FW=P2CR012 CSTS=0xffffffff US[1]=0x0 US[0]=0x11 VID=0xc0a9 DID=0x540a CRITICAL_WARNING=0x0.\n". It does not occur often (once or twice a month) but it is still an annoying issue.

I've never found a solution so I'm considering transitioning to a Timetec SSD NVMe PCIe (512 GB) which does not require an adapter since the connector is not M2 but already the private Apple SSD format.

Do some of you have an experience to share about this SSD?

Timetec (or any other adapterless SSD - aside one manufactured by OWC) are mostly manufactured by Kingspec & OSCOO from china,

it uses very common & high compatibility controller : SM2263XT along with either Micron, Hynix or Toshiba NAND (mostly TLC) - which is better than what come with your P2,

it will work fine on any macbook using 12+16 pin SSD.

It's DRAMLESS drive. So Speed won't be extra stellar, but more than sufficient on macbook air, it should hit 1400ish MB/s easily. Random access time is as fast as any NVME drive.

The one with 512GB or more capacity would have around 100GB of SLC cache, mean you can write that much of data until you face a speed drop off. The speed would drop to around 100-200MB/s until the cache is flushed.

trade off is, since it use the proprietary socket model, in case you need to do troubleshoot or something similar, you can't use the normal NVME enclosure to plug the drive as external.

This is why, normally we would still recommend one with adapter.

 

[hailyn83]

Try this:
When you boot your MBP, hold the Option key until the boot options show up. Assuming you have only one boot disk, then, press the Control key and then, still holding the Control key, press Enter.
You just set up your default boot volume. The boot time now should be faster.

i tried to do as you told me but the firing speed remained the same

 

[otosan]

i tried to do as you told me but the firing speed remained the same

Open System Preferences - Startup Disk

unlock the padlock icon, then choose your disk, and hit "Restart" button.

Also, in which screen does your boot screen took a long time ? is it the black screen ? or the one with loading bar ?

 

[hailyn83]

Open System Preferences - Startup Disk

unlock the padlock icon, then choose your disk, and hit "Restart" button.

Also, in which screen does your boot screen took a long time ? is it the black screen ? or the one with loading bar ?

The slow screen is the one with the apple and the progress bar. I did what you told me but nothing has changed

 

[otosan]

The slow screen is the one with the apple and the progress bar. I did what you told me but nothing has changed

The steps i and other member mentioned above is if you are facing long delay of black screen

if your problem is the slow loading bar, then that's another story.

What OS version exactly you use right now ? And how do you install it to your SSD ? Is it clean install ? or is it a clone, or is it migrated through time machine ?

If you are on BigSur or Monterey,

you might want to open Terminal and run thia command :

sudo kextcache -i /

enter

and restart the macbook. The first restart will be longer. Try to restart again, normally it will be faster

 

[hailyn83]

I use Monterey.

I did a clean installation with a bootable USB stick and then from time machine I restored my data.
I have already tried the sudo command.

 

[littlemisssunshine]

well, the step itself is pretty much technical, but extremely simple

you just need to download it. and let the file stay on your download folder

then turn off your mac. then boot to recovery (Command + R) ,

in recovery open Terminal, and type : csrutil disable

close your terminal and restart back to system

in your system, open terminal again, and type :

sudo cp -R ~/Downloads /Library/Extensions

enter, wait for a while, and you will get a notification saying that you need to allow certain system extensions.

choose the "Open Security & Privacy Preferences"

unlock the padlock on bottom left, and just click "Allow" button that presented in front of you

it will ask whether you want to restart, just choose yes, and it will rebuild the kext cache for you during the process. And that's it.

Steps i explained above is for BigSur and Monterey. (which i recommend you to use)

Btw, you said in your original comment that the instructions sounds "chinese",

i am chinese, and trust me, reading all those instructions and writing here in english sounds and feels very "chinese" as well, but hey, "do i learn something new" ? 😉

Haha I can imagine. Muchas gracias!! I wish I could say that in Chinese 😀

I hope SsdPmEnabler works.. I guess the installation went fine. Can I check idle somewhere (apart from activity monitor) or do I need to buy an app for that?
If I do not need to charge this evening (sitting with laptop on the couch), then I'm happy. I'm just browsing a few sites at the moment. According to Coconut battery, my battery is now 70% of it's designed capacity, never been replaced..

 

[otosan]

I use Monterey.View attachment 2090936
I did a clean installation with a bootable USB stick and then from time machine I restored my data.
I have already tried the sudo command.

That's a bit slow for Monterey indeed (although Monterey boot up itself is slower than older version) ,

normally it's the 3rd party driver & extension (kext) that slow down your booting process.

since you restored from time machine, you might want to check what old extension was installed.

check your /Library/Extensions folder, and see what inside.

 

[otosan]

Haha I can imagine. Muchas gracias!! I wish I could say that in Chinese 😀

I hope SsdPmEnabler works.. I guess the installation went fine. Can I check idle somewhere (apart from activity monitor) or do I need to buy an app for that?
If I do not need to charge this evening (sitting with laptop on the couch), then I'm happy. I'm just browsing a few sites at the moment. According to Coconut battery, my battery is now 70% of it's designed capacity, never been replaced..

iStat Menus is the app you want to look for. It's available in app store.

if you are on budget, then you might need to look for the version that been "made free". I can't put any source for that here. 😬

 

[hailyn83]

In effetti è un po' lento per Monterey (sebbene l'avvio di Monterey stesso sia più lento della versione precedente),

normalmente sono il driver e l'estensione di terze parti (kext) che rallentano il processo di avvio.

dal momento che hai ripristinato dalla macchina del tempo, potresti voler controllare quale vecchia estensione è stata installata.

controlla la tua cartella /Library/Extensions e guarda cosa contiene.

 

[hailyn83]

I tested the ssd with a program.
are these values okay?

 

[LioriK]

Hey Guys,
Could you please help me to find in amazon enclosure for my old NMVE ssd from my mac mid 2015?
After I upgraded to a new drive i would like to use the old drive as external drive.

 

[PhilBurling]

I have the Adata SX8200 Pro installed in my 2014 MacBook Pro with the Sintech long black adapter.

Would there be enough space in the MacBook if I installed the included heatsink on the SSD to help with temperatures?

How did you manage to get this set up?

I'm using a 15 inch mid-2015 macbook pro that's running Big Sur. I installed the SSD internally intending to use Recovery Mode to format the drive and install from Time Machine, but the drive won't even show up (even in Disk Utilities).

Did you take some extra steps to get the drive to work?

 

[macpro_mid2014]

Hey Guys,
Could you please help me to find in amazon enclosure for my old NMVE ssd from my mac mid 2015?
After I upgraded to a new drive i would like to use the old drive as external drive.

If you want to buy an enclosure for an NVME SSD (not the original Apple SSD) then just search for an NVME enclosure on Amazon. Get one with a USB A male connector for your Mac (some enclosures have only a USB C male).
If you want to buy an enclosure for an original Apple SSD, then the only reliable I know is from OWC and it costs a little fortune. I think it is not worth the money.

 

[macpro_mid2014]

How did you manage to get this set up?

I'm using a 15 inch mid-2015 macbook pro that's running Big Sur. I installed the SSD internally intending to use Recovery Mode to format the drive and install from Time Machine, but the drive won't even show up (even in Disk Utilities).

Did you take some extra steps to get the drive to work?

Is your BootRom up-to-date? You can use SilentKnight to check:

SilentKnight 1.21 (Universal App for El Capitan, Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey and Ventura)

If it is not up-to-date, you need to install a newer version of macOS so the BootRom is updated.

 

[0134168]

Hey Guys,
Could you please help me to find in amazon enclosure for my old NMVE ssd from my mac mid 2015?
After I upgraded to a new drive i would like to use the old drive as external drive.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804359959072.html