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

[macpro_mid2014]

hows the speed (ie boot up) to Sonama? and how does the system feels in general?

I've been running Sonoma on my 3 macs without any issues since day one of its release.
MBA Early 2015 (8GB RAM) plus the two ones on my sig.
the MacMini is a little bit slow if compared to my MBP and the MBA. The latter is my wife's and I transitioned it from Monterey (the latest supported) to Ventura + OCLP 0.6.8, and now Sonoma + OCLP 1.2.1. She never complained about sluggishness after an update.

 

[dogen]

Okie dokie team. Getting ready to upgrade my Mid 2014 Macbook Pro, with an sk hynix 1tb and short sintech adaptor.

I will not be restoring a backup from my current machine. I'd like to rid of the mess and start fresh.

Current OS is latest big sur. I've formatted my usb. Downloaded latest big sur. Will follow the bootable usb guide.

I've copied any files I'd like to keep from my current hard drive to an external.

Did I read that the sk hynix shouldn't require a firmware upgrade now before installing?

Once I get it up and running, I should be able to make any adjustments for performance, correct? Anything I'm missing?

I've read various sections of the 470 pages, I think I'm about ready, any input is appreciated before I get into it one night this week. Cheers.

Sounds right. Not sure what you mean be "adjustments for performance." I updated with a 1TB Hynix P31 a couple of weeks ago (see post 11,728). No firmware updates required. YMMV, depending on how long your Hynix was on the shelf and whether it's the same model. I booted from a USB drive, formatted the new SSD, and ran the installer. Very straightforward, no hitches. Hopefully that's how it'll go for you. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[ItsHal]

Bit of work but just seen this for anyone with this model and skill set. 2016-2017 Touchbar MacBook Pro soldered SSD, by converting it to support removable NVMe SSDs
Touchbar MacBook Pro NVMe SSD Upgrade

 

[johnmacair]

Did anyone tried the WD SN850X (7,300 MB/s)

Specs are pretty good here:

https://ssd-tester.com/m2_ssd_test.php?sort=&sort_interface=

John

 

[rotten_appleseed]

hi, guys i'm new here. rencently i've upgraded my macbook pro 15'' 2014mid to a western digital sn580 1t with the lastest Ventura 13.6 using OCLP 1.2.1. unfortunately, the system shows a colorful rolling beachball and then totally freezes up from time to time, after that i have to reboot the machine and the crash report says something like "Loss of MMIO space. Write. ...". FYI i've used the very same adapter with my old sn750 500GB in the same os version and everything works smoothly for about a week. i'm writing this just for the reference anyone who is going to buy a sn580, at least it doesn't work out for my spefic hardware and software combination.

 

[macpro_mid2014]

hi, guys i'm new here. rencently i've upgraded my macbook pro 15'' 2014mid to a western digital sn580 1t with the lastest Ventura 13.6 using OCLP 1.2.1. unfortunately, the system shows a colorful rolling beachball and then totally freezes up from time to time, after that i have to reboot the machine and the crash report says something like "Loss of MMIO space. Write. ...". FYI i've used the very same adapter with my old sn750 500GB in the same os version and everything works smoothly for about a week. i'm writing this just for the reference anyone who is going to buy a sn580, at least it doesn't work out for my spefic hardware and software combination.

Thank you for sharing this!

If you'd want to test little more, create a new Volume (not partition) and install Sonoma 14.2 + OCLP 1.3.0 to see if it works.

 

[rotten_appleseed]

Thank you for sharing this!

If you'd want to test little more, create a new Volume (not partition) and install Sonoma 14.2 + OCLP 1.3.0 to see if it works.

sure i've already done the test (the reason i didn't go straight to the latest and greatest is because i thought it would be taxing on old model). as far as crash is concerned i'd say so far so good. i sure will come back and update this post if i encounter another crash by then i'd have probably returned the sn580 and reverted to my old trusty sn750. btw sn750, when idle, runs at 40+ celsius when room temperature is about 20 celsius and drains the battery considerably faster than the stock ssd does, that prompts me to make the transition in the first place, power efficiency and low temperature instead of data throughput rate are what i'm looking for in a ssd for laptop usage. one funny thing that i've encountered after this new installation is Preivew exited by itself when i had a PDF file open side by side with Xcode. whether by clicking the Preview app icon on the Dock nor double-clicking the pdf file i just couldn't have it running again, like always a reboot solves the problem... sometimes it did feel laggy when i scrolled quickely through a large pdf file that's like 100MB more so.

 

[rotten_appleseed]

sure i've already done the test (the reason i didn't go straight to the latest and greatest is because i thought it would be taxing on old model). as far as crash is concerned i'd say so far so good. i sure will come back and update this post if i encounter another crash by then i'd have probably returned the sn580 and reverted to my old trusty sn750. btw sn750, when idle, runs at 40+ celsius when room temperature is about 20 celsius and drains the battery considerably faster than the stock ssd does, that prompts me to make the transition in the first place, power efficiency and low temperature instead of data throughput rate are what i'm looking for in a ssd for laptop usage. one funny thing that i've encountered after this new installation is Preivew exited by itself when i had a PDF file open side by side with Xcode. whether by clicking the Preview app icon on the Dock nor double-clicking the pdf file i just couldn't have it running again, like always a reboot solves the problem... sometimes it did feel laggy when i scrolled quickely through a large pdf file that's like 100MB more so.

crashed yet again!

 

[natus.w]

crashed yet again!

Lots of factors could be causing this, these are a few of the possibilities:

- Mounting of the drive/adapter (contacts clean, is it or the adapter contacting any part of the case? Is the drive secure inside the adapter? Is the adapter shorting out on the case? - insulation may be needed for the top of the adapter)

- Firmware up to date on drive? (check under Windows or in external enclosure linked to suitable device - usually these should improve operation of the controller)

- Drive running within normal temps? (use MacsFanControl/TG Pro/iStat etc to check, if it is running abnormally or overheating, a thin piece of thermal pad or heatsink may be able to reduce temps especially on controller..)

- Tried using the "3rd party NVME power management" option within OCLP? (uses NVMEFix kext which may help with compatibility of some controllers, you can also add SSDPMEnabler as well if that further helps..

 

[a-v-l]

Hey everybody,

I finally managed to upgrade from Mojave to Big Sur (11.7.10) on my MacBookPro11,1 (13.3'' mid 2014). Everything is running well and my CORSAIR Force MP510 (2TB) works as usual. Since I didn't use the original mac HD to upgrade my EFI is still on 153.0.0.0.0 and—as SilentKnight suggests—needs to be updated to 478.0.0.0.0.

Now, I have two questions about this:
- If I swap HDs to install Big Sur on the original SSD to update the EFI version. Do I need to upgrade to Catalina first or can I go straight to Big Sur?
- And even more important: Since now everything seems to work fine, why do I need to update the EFI version at all? Are there any benefits? Or caveats in not doing so?

Thanks for an answer and for this thread anyway!

 

[rotten_appleseed]

Lots of factors could be causing this, these are a few of the possibilities:

- Mounting of the drive/adapter (contacts clean, is it or the adapter contacting any part of the case? Is the drive secure inside the adapter? Is the adapter shorting out on the case? - insulation may be needed for the top of the adapter)

i've got two different adapters each from different manufacturers, both of them work their magic with sn750 on Ventura as well as Sonoma; none of them works well with sn580 on either OS (crashes after a couple of hours, i couldn't give you the exact steps to reproduce the crash, seems random). IMHO, it has nothing to do with physical connectivity.

- Firmware up to date on drive? (check under Windows or in external enclosure linked to suitable device - usually these should improve operation of the controller)

yes, i've checked the drive on a Windows pc, the western digital dashboard shows the firmware is already up to date.

- Drive running within normal temps? (use MacsFanControl/TG Pro/iStat etc to check, if it is running abnormally or overheating, a thin piece of thermal pad or heatsink may be able to reduce temps especially on controller..)

temps are fine ranging from 30 to 45 give or take under constant surveillance of MacFanControl

- Tried using the "3rd party NVME power management" option within OCLP? (uses NVMEFix kext which may help with compatibility of some controllers, you can also add SSDPMEnabler as well if that further helps..

i just leave the OCLP setting as is, the option is checked by default.

thank you for your advice. i got what you mean, it might be too soon to jump to the conclusion and call the sn580 the culprit. since this macbook pro is my daily driver i might as well settle with sn750 and be done with sn580.

 

[natus.w]

Hey everybody,

I finally managed to upgrade from Mojave to Big Sur (11.7.10) on my MacBookPro11,1 (13.3'' mid 2014). Everything is running well and my CORSAIR Force MP510 (2TB) works as usual. Since I didn't use the original mac HD to upgrade my EFI is still on 153.0.0.0.0 and—as SilentKnight suggests—needs to be updated to 478.0.0.0.0.

Now, I have two questions about this:
- If I swap HDs to install Big Sur on the original SSD to update the EFI version. Do I need to upgrade to Catalina first or can I go straight to Big Sur?
- And even more important: Since now everything seems to work fine, why do I need to update the EFI version at all? Are there any benefits? Or caveats in not doing so?

Thanks for an answer and for this thread anyway!

The EFI payload for the final version should be loaded as part of 11.x (an install on a clean drive should be able to update the firmware if yours didn’t, it should be able to overwrite what you have)

 

[fanfzero]

So, people who are using a NVME drive on an unsupported system, are you using just "3rd party NVMe PM" on opencore legacy patcher or something else like ssdpowermanagement? I'm on a 2015 13" macbook pro with Sonoma

 

[xboxbml]

I've been running Sonoma on my 3 macs without any issues since day one of its release.
MBA Early 2015 (8GB RAM) plus the two ones on my sig.
the MacMini is a little bit slow if compared to my MBP and the MBA. The latter is my wife's and I transitioned it from Monterey (the latest supported) to Ventura + OCLP 0.6.8, and now Sonoma + OCLP 1.2.1. She never complained about sluggishness after an update.

How's Sonoma running on the 2015 MBA? I'm still on Monterey 12.7.2. I'm a bit leery of loading OCLP. This thing been running well on ADATA 2TB for 3-4 years now. If I had another drive I might try it just to see.

 

[ItsHal]

Samsung 980 still working with macOS Sonoma 14.1.1 and OCL 1.2.0
Pro Mid 2014 OCL 1.2.0 macOS Sonoma 14.1.1 .
Everything running fine. After first boot at the login screen the keyboard would not work so powered off the mac by holding down the power button.Powered it back on and it work.HAD to reinstall the post-root patch

New UPDATE from me
So updated to macOS Sonoma 14.1.2 and my problem seems to have now gone away. Tested for A week and not had the problem.

 

[natus.w]

So, people who are using a NVME drive on an unsupported system, are you using just "3rd party NVMe PM" on opencore legacy patcher or something else like ssdpowermanagement? I'm on a 2015 13" macbook pro with Sonoma

OCLP’s third party PM uses the NVMEFix kext (patched Apple NVME storage driver, which is developed by the OC team to address some issues with third party hardware)

GitHub - acidanthera/NVMeFix

Contribute to acidanthera/NVMeFix development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

SSDPMEnabler is the other one which mainly focuses on implementing power saving modes through the physical hardware on the laptop)

GitHub - kvic-z/SsdPmEnabler

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

github.com

You can use one or the other, some cases have used both, but your mileage may vary depending on hardware configuration (drive, adapter, laptop model, etc..)

 

[Cyberdoc71]

Hi guys,

Recently upgraded my MBP1.1 late 2013 notebook to Sonoma using OCLP and want more hard drive space and speed. The guide mentions Sintech adapters but Sintech has two adapters one that has a backing to support the m.2 card. Which one is best and probably go with a Hynix P31 Gold 1TB and concerned if it would fit?

Thanks

 

[natus.w]

Hi guys,

Recently upgraded my MBP1.1 late 2013 notebook to Sonoma using OCLP and want more hard drive space and speed. The guide mentions Sintech adapters but Sintech has two adapters one that has a backing to support the m.2 card. Which one is best and probably go with a Hynix P31 Gold 1TB and concerned if it would fit?

Thanks

I believe the longer adapter is designed to support single sided drives, the shorter one is designed for double sided NVME drives.

 

[Cyberdoc71]

So the question is weather the SK Hynix 1TB P31 Gold is single sided or double sided. Going to guess its single sided. Maybe I should order both adapters to be safe.

 

[dogen]

So the question is weather the SK Hynix 1TB P31 Gold is single sided or double sided. Going to guess its single sided. Maybe I should order both adapters to be safe.

I used the short Sintech adapter with the P31 in a 2013 MBA. I've had no problems. I decided against the longer version because of concerns about fit and heat, but it might be just fine.

 

[Cyberdoc71]

I used the short Sintech adapter with the P31 in a 2013 MBA. I've had no problems. I decided against the longer version because of concerns about fit and heat, but it might be just fine.

I bought both adapters just to be safe. Hopefully the hard drive will come before christmas.

 

[mdindestin]

I've got a mid-2015 mbp with retina and 16 GBs of ram. It came with a 512 GB blade hdd from the factory, but she is full to the brim and barely runs. I just purchased the upgrade items:

• 1 TB hynix P41, PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD hard drive
• Sintech NGFF M.2nV Late 2013-2015 adapter
• SSK M.2 SSD enclosure (USB 3.2)
• 32GB and 64 GB USB 3 thumb drives

By the time my upgrade supplies came in, I can't keep the mbp running long enough to make a USB boot drive and a time machine backup.

Since I've had icloud activiated for some time, do I even need to do a time machine backup?

Also, could I take any desirable files that were not saved on icloud, if any, and get them directly off the hard drive via an aftermarket enclosure for the original hdd?

 

[macpro_mid2014]

I've got a mid-2015 mbp with retina and 16 GBs of ram. It came with a 512 GB blade hdd from the factory, but she is full to the brim and barely runs. I just purchased the upgrade items:

• 1 TB hynix P41, PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD hard drive
• Sintech NGFF M.2nV Late 2013-2015 adapter
• SSK M.2 SSD enclosure (USB 3.2)
• 32GB and 64 GB USB 3 thumb drives

By the time my upgrade supplies came in, I can't keep the mbp running long enough to make a USB boot drive and a time machine backup.

Since I've had icloud activiated for some time, do I even need to do a time machine backup?

Also, could I take any desirable files that were not saved on icloud, if any, and get them directly off the hard drive via an aftermarket enclosure for the original hdd?

If you have iCloud activated, your personal files will be stored there (you can double check it on iCloud.com).
The apps you have installed are not backup to iCloud, you need a Time Machine backup for that part.
What you can do is to take note of all the apps you want to keep in the new installation and reinstall them when you replace the old drive.

 

[mdindestin]

If you have iCloud activated, your personal files will be stored there (you can double check it on iCloud.com).
The apps you have installed are not backup to iCloud, you need a Time Machine backup for that part.
What you can do is to take note of all the apps you want to keep in the new installation and reinstall them when you replace the old drive.

Great information, thank you. I'm hoping to be able to make a bootable USB drive. I wouldn't presume there is some other way than the USB drive to just swap the hard drive and get a fresh version of the OS installed.

 

[macpro_mid2014]

Great information, thank you. I'm hoping to be able to make a bootable USB drive. I wouldn't presume there is some other way than the USB drive to just swap the hard drive and get a fresh version of the OS installed.

The easiest way is to use a USB drive.
The other option would be Internet Recovery. Check the info on the link:

Use macOS Recovery on an Intel-based Mac

Learn how to use macOS Recovery on an Intel-based Mac.

support.apple.com