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

[Jobe454]

Yes, I did not change any sleep settings. I'm using everything at the factory defaults for my early 2015 air.

Awesome! Thank you very much Audit13 with confirming factory sleep settings!

Looks to be the same on mba A1466 so far. after an hour lunch and followed by an hour meeting mba woke from sleep as it should.

Would like to test an overnight sleep before reporting final conclusion on this upgrade. So for, this has been a great and easy upgrade!

Only downside I can nitpick now is shipping time for ngff adapter from sintech site.

 

[Audit13]

Awesome! Thank you very much Audit13 with confirming factory sleep settings!

Looks to be the same on mba A1466 so far. after an hour lunch and followed by an hour meeting mba woke from sleep as it should.

Would like to test an overnight sleep before reporting final conclusion on this upgrade. So for, this has been a great and easy upgrade!

Only downside I can nitpick now is shipping time for ngff adapter from sintech site.

I'm very happy with the upgrade in my MacBook. I know the Intel 600p isn't a quick drive but it replaced a 128 San disk drive which was not very fast either

 

[Jobe454]

Not greatest write speeds with Intel 6000p (360GB), but doesn't feel slower than stock. MBA uses are more reads than writes for work docs/sheets on the go.

As for batt drain, I am on 15% batt from yesterday morning's 100% charge. Workload was lighter today though. I will be plugging in tonight. Overall battery not an issue on my end. Setting hib back to 0 and using factory sleep settings helps.
Very nice having sleep back!

Setting hib to edit<25> was a miss interpretation on my end. No need for this with my config.

13" MBA mid2013 Config:
Adapter: long black Sintech NGFF adapter ($15)
NVMe SSD: 360GB Intel 6000p (FW HP01) ($89)
OS: HS 10.13.3
Bootrom: MBA61.0103.B00
Notes: First boot after new ssd install, OS saw Intel 6000p natively. No heat, KP, sleep, lag, issues as per Gilles, Audit13, and other reports on Intel 600p.
edit <Batt drain not an issue. If there is a drain it's small and not a deal breaker to upgrade mba ssd. I do not notice any more batt drain with upgrade than with previous usage on stock ssd. My earlier post with slight power drain was from setting display timeout higher (10min for batt) to prevent hib. Don't need to mod hib.>

Hope my contribution helps.

[

 

[aatoma]

Maybe I'm wrong, but if I boot from an external USB drive not NVMe the bootrom upgrade should work? Or is a good idea to keep the original ssd to be sure?

No, that won't work.

I'm stuck on a MBPR 15 Late 2013 I'm trying to restore since I discovered this thread.
The original SSD is gone. I was able to install Mac OS on an external USB HDD but, when I try to upgrade to High Sierra in order to get the latest BootRom, it always fails due to firmware verification error.

Everything I find on the topic suggests this is a dead end street.

How should I proceed? Any idea/suggestion?

Regards
Antonio

 

[Audit13]

No, that won't work.

I'm stuck on a MBPR 15 Late 2013 I'm trying to restore since I discovered this thread.
The original SSD is gone. I was able to install Mac OS on an external USB HDD but, when I try to upgrade to High Sierra in order to get the latest BootRom, it always fails due to firmware verification error.

Everything I find on the topic suggests this is a dead end street.

How should I proceed? Any idea/suggestion?

Regards
Antonio

I would try and borrow a drive to perform the firmware upgrade.

It is a long shot but maybe the apple store can help?

 

[yesnoj]

I've seen on amazon that 960 EVO is now outdate...is available the 970 EVO/PRO...Any info about this model?It is working?I still waiting for the adapter...hope to receive in the next week

 

[evanslify]

I've seen on amazon that 960 EVO is now outdate...is available the 970 EVO/PRO...Any info about this model?It is working?I still waiting for the adapter...hope to receive in the next week

It's a incremental upgrade to 960EVO, but since it's so new that we won't know about it's compatibility with Macs.

-------

I got my 960EVO a few days ago for my Macbook Pro 15" mid-2015. Bought a conversion adapter from a local seller, put on some kapton tape around pins, do fdisk and then time machine restore.
Everything works, including reboot, sleep. But SSD power draw went up from ~0.1 in stock to 0.4-0.5A with 960 EVO, as reported by iStats.

If I'm correct, that would be a difference of 1 watt. My model has a 99.5 Wh battery, and usually draws ~20W while on battery.... So that's a negligible amount of difference? I'm not quite sure since this laptop is plugged in most of the time.

I still have my old SSD around, but don't have time for benchmarks at the moment.

I'm starting a guide for doing this upgrade. Will post link when I'm ready.

 

[evanslify]

I have created a tutorial on Github. Please send issue or forum DM if there's any corrections to be made.

 

[sandrvoxon]

Guys, long black adapter is coming with kapton tape by default or no ? Cuz I’ve recived without. But I’ve asked them to apply on it.

 

[Transfusion]

I've seen on amazon that 960 EVO is now outdate...is available the 970 EVO/PRO...Any info about this model?It is working?I still waiting for the adapter...hope to receive in the next week

It's a incremental upgrade to 960EVO, but since it's so new that we won't know about it's compatibility with Macs.

The 970 EVO should basically be the retail version of PM981 (new generation phoenix controller and TLC NAND), which has been tested above already by gilles (KPs in macOS because it's impossible to write to the disk, perfect in Win10 and Linux: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/page-32#post-25752477)

 

[Jobe454]

Hi All. Would like to get some thoughts on compatiblitly with Intel 760p nvme. It was mentioned in someone's earlier post.

Has anyone looked into trying or tried the Intel 760p in a mba/mbp? Looking into helping a family member increase the 128gb drive in a mbp early 2015.

I am willing to be a guinea pig if there is no definitive details or thoughts of the 760p not working such as known fw not supported/recognized, etc.

Please let me know what you guys think?

Thanks

 

[gilles_polysoft]

Intel 6000p (HP) SSD Install Update:

Installed Intel 6000p (rev HP01) with long black sintech adapter in my mid2013 mba. It has been straight forward, from install to booting back via TM. I did not use Ktape, but will be getting some for PoM. So far so good.

This Intel 6000p (HP ver) not the fastest compared to 960s, but the extra space from original Apple 128G sata to Intel 6000p nvme is great. cold boot time can't tell, maybe a hair faster.. No heat issues at the moment. will be testing hib as I use mba. Will update if anything comes up.

Hi Jobe454,
thanks a lot for your update, may I add the 6000p in the table of tested SSD ?

Salut Gilles, thanks a lot for your informations. I have see the new 970 EVO and this seems to be a good choice form me... and I can wait. The toshiba XG5-P I cannot find to buy...
Someone noticed that samsung ssd with APFS caused long boot time. What is your experience?

Hi apemaia
Test have to be done with the 970 Evo (and pro), it hasn't been tested on any macbook pro yet. We need to be carefull because the PM981 I had in hands which has same controller seems not to work, but it has also an early firmware that I wasn't able to update.
I think we will have updates soon. Although, since I'm working with NVMe drives I quite always have better results and have prefered Toshiba drives.. (to my own surprise).

Maybe I'm wrong, but if I boot from an external USB drive not NVMe the bootrom upgrade should work? Or is a good idea to keep the original ssd to be sure?

BootRom upgrades provided from Apple seem not to work at all with NVMe drives, even in a Mid 2015 15" rMBP with genuine Apple NVMe SSD.
I'm not quite happy with this and working on it (I'm doing tests with a Netboot BootRom update that Apple offers to service provides and also tests on 21" 2015 iMac that where first shipped mac with NVMe SSDs).

 

[uintmax]

Hi guys. I am buying a long black sintech adapter to use with a Toshiba XG4 in my 2015 15" rMBP. I am wondering, is the kapton tape absolutely necessary?

 

[Jobe454]

Hi Jobe454,
thanks a lot for your update, may I add the 6000p in the table of tested SSD ?



Hi apemaia
Test have to be done with the 970 Evo (and pro), it hasn't been tested on any macbook pro yet. We need to be carefull because the PM981 I had in hands which has same controller seems not to work, but it has also an early firmware that I wasn't able to update.
I think we will have updates soon. Although, since I'm working with NVMe drives I quite always have better results and have prefered Toshiba drives.. (to my own surprise).


BootRom upgrades provided from Apple seem not to work at all with NVMe drives, even in a Mid 2015 15" rMBP with genuine Apple NVMe SSD.
I'm not quite happy with this and working on it (I'm doing tests with a Netboot BootRom update that Apple offers to service provides and also tests on 21" 2015 iMac that where first shipped mac with NVMe SSDs).

Hi Gilles. Yes please add Intel 6000p (HP) to your compatibility list.

I am planning to test 256G Intel 760p by end of next week. Need further research if any known compatibilty in our mbp/mba. Will keep all posted in 1.5 weeks or so.

Thanks

 

[Cmd+Q]

Seems like Samsung PM981 is not working well with High Sierra. Did anyone use it without any problem ?

It didn't work at all in my test - apart from being recognized by the High Sierra installer. I believe that also what others, including gilles_polysoft, experienced. I had a chance to test the Samsung PM981 (SAMSUNG MZVLB1T0HALR-00000, Firmware EXA7101Q, no OEM markings).

Thanks.
-Tim

 

[flemmingdjensen]

Hi All,

Now an update to all my latest confusing updates about Kernel panics several seconds after login using a MBP 2015 MID and EVO 960 1TB.

The pattern was the following: (Computer is shut completely down)

Turn on - booting - login - using the computer and then KP resulting in a reboot

Booting - login - click ignore on the crash report - using computer and the suddenly KP again

Booting - login - ignore crash report - using computer and then crash

Booting - login - OSX asks if I want to disable startup items - click yes - and start working and no more KPs

----------------------------------------------

So now when i start the computer from scratch - I do a login and then immediately hold shift down in order to prevent starting up startup items....

This seems to solve my KPs

So there must me a LaunchDaemon or LaunchAgent causing this KP -

How can I debug this - should I just move the items out one by one???

Or just do a complete reinstall ??

==========================

UPDATE: I have now moved all the files from /Library/StartupDaemons to a backup folder on the desktop in order to disable all the items under StartupDaemons

This seems to have fixes my problems!! So now I can log in without holding shift down and on KPs in the NVMeDisk driver

So this saved me from a complete reinstall

 

[My Dime Is Up]

I'm running an SM951 and I have little to no problems. The only problem is that when I set my hibernatemode to 3, the computer goes to sleep and wakes up normally MOST OF THE TIME. Sometimes it glitches and restarts (Not much of a problem for me but wondering if there is a solution). This seems to happen when the computer is in hibernate mode for more than 4 hours.

The only other question I had is if I can use bootcamp. Does bootcamp work fine with the SM951?

 

[Jilly Bowman]

I'm running an SM951 and I have little to no problems. The only problem is that when I set my hibernatemode to 3, the computer goes to sleep and wakes up normally MOST OF THE TIME. Sometimes it glitches and restarts (Not much of a problem for me but wondering if there is a solution). This seems to happen when the computer is in hibernate mode for more than 4 hours.

The only other question I had is if I can use bootcamp. Does bootcamp work fine with the SM951?

What macbook model is it?

 

[My Dime Is Up]

What macbook model is it?

Late 2013 MacBook Pro 15" A1398

 

[Jobe454]

Hi guys. I am buying a long black sintech adapter to use with a Toshiba XG4 in my 2015 15" rMBP. I am wondering, is the kapton tape absolutely necessary?

Hi uintmax. From my experience, I overlooked this when I upgraded my ssd. I purchased sintech adapter before teading this entire thread. After installing new ssdn pins on sintech adapter is very close if not touching the ngff interface on my mba. I have not experience any issue at the moment, but just purchase ktape last night for PoM, along with another adapter for another ssd upgrade on an mbp.

Per Gilles' testing, my understanding, he has been using ktape to resolve stability issues during testing.

Hi Gilles. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks

 

[Jilly Bowman]

Late 2013 MacBook Pro 15" A1398

Ok, I don't have experience with the 15" models, only the 13" ones but I suspect that the problem is the same.
There are a number of different levels of sleep in a macbook and these depend on various settings for timing of these levels. normally when you close the lid it will go in to a light sleep where the system memory is kept running and waking simply continues from where it left off. The deeper levels which happen when its been sleeping for some time and the memory contents are saved to disk so that memory can be powered down, on waking the memory content is restored from the disk file and as before it will continue where you left off.
Now on the 2013/14 models there is a problem with the NVMe recognition when the bootrom is used to wake up the system or indeed to reboot the system, either a bug or intentional, I don't know. The firmware in the bootrom runs at this time and sees an NVMe drive as an external drive, waking cannot take place from an external drive, only an internal drive.
When running, Mac OS has its own NVMe drivers which see the NVMe drive as internal so that when running, your drive is internal and allows saving for sleep but when booting / waking it sees it as external and this is why it fails to wake. If it cannot find the file used to make it sleep then it will reboot instead.
To check if this is the problem you have, you can boot the machine with the alt key pressed and see if your drive shows up as silver or orange in colour.
If orange then the drive is external at this point and will result in no wake up and also a longer period before the apple logo appears on boot. the 2015 models do not have this problem, only the 2013/14 ones.
Hope that helps but I don't have a solution, hopefully apple will issue an update to the bootrom to correct this but when or if is anyones guess.

 

[Cmd+Q]

Now on the 2013/14 models there is a problem with the NVMe recognition when the bootrom is used to wake up the system or indeed to reboot the system, either a bug or intentional, I don't know. The firmware in the bootrom runs at this time and sees an NVMe drive as an external drive, waking cannot take place from an external drive, only an internal drive. [...] If orange then the drive is external at this point and will result in no wake up and also a longer period before the apple logo appears on boot. the 2015 models do not have this problem, only the 2013/14 ones.

When we look at how the system goes into deep sleep (or hibernate) in IOHibernateIO.cpp, it really only sets the boot parameters in the NVRAM to point to the sleepimage (BootNext, Boot0082). So the MacBooks Pro goes through a regular boot when waking up from deep sleep as Jilly pointed out. My guess is that the boot parameters in NVRAM cause the firmware to use more aggressive boot timeouts, and if the device is not ready in time, waking up fails and the system falls back to the next boot entry.

I tried to play with some parameters, like Timeout, in the NVRAM (see Apple NVRAM variables on GitHub). But that didn’t get me anywhere - at least not on my 13” MacBook Pro (Late 2013) - on regular reboots so I didn’t even bother testing with deep sleep. Those standard variables do not seem to be honored by Apple’s EFI at all.

Thanks.
-Tim

 

[uintmax]

Hi uintmax. From my experience, I overlooked this when I upgraded my ssd. I purchased sintech adapter before teading this entire thread. After installing new ssdn pins on sintech adapter is very close if not touching the ngff interface on my mba. I have not experience any issue at the moment, but just purchase ktape last night for PoM, along with another adapter for another ssd upgrade on an mbp.

Per Gilles' testing, my understanding, he has been using ktape to resolve stability issues during testing.

Hi Gilles. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks

Thanks! I have some kapton tape and my sintech adapter (ordered from Amazon) arriving today. I look forward to trying it out. I'll probably just pop the adapter and XG4 in there without worrying about reformatting as ext4 using a Linux boot drive or updating my bootrom but if that fails I will try to do that.

Also random question but what do you guys plan on doing when your 2012-2015 retina MBP stops working? Do you plan on updating to the 2016/2017 model? I tried that model and hated it. I was not a fan of the touchbar or keyboard at all and I didn't like having to use dongles for my workflow. Also not a fan of the reduced battery size and worse battery life. Been a Mac user since 2010 so not sure what I should do when my 2015 finally dies

Edit: Called an authorized Apple repair center today to get a quote for an authentic Apple 1TB SSD for my 2015 15" rMBP and they quoted me for 1299 USD for the part plus the cost of labor for installation... I told the guy that it is literally more expensive than replacing the logic board along with the 1TB SSD when out of warranty and he said that unfortunately this is a common issue. I have Applecare so the cost of labor is free but $1299 for a 1TB SSD is criminal...

 

[uintmax]

I successfully upgraded my 2015 15" rMBP with a large black Sintech adapter (ordered from Amazon US) and a Toshiba XG4! The process was significantly smoother than I was expecting and it only took an hour or two when I got home from work. I first taped the exposed pins using some kapton tape. Then I created a MacOS High Sierra USB installer and a Ubuntu USB installer. I installed the SSD and adapter into the laptop and then formatted the XG4 as ext4 using the Ubuntu USB installer. Then I booted into the MacOS installer and partitioned the SSD as APFS and installed High Sierra.

Boot times are very fast, just as fast as the stock SSD in the laptop. Sleep/awake works just fine. The SSD is running at x4 speeds. I haven't done a benchmark just yet but I will do so and post it.

I am currently doing a battery life test as well as compared to the stock SSD and I will post that as well later.

 

[Transfusion]

Hi monofase,
Temperature is not linked in any way to the link width nor the protocol. Generally speaking Samsung drives run hot (my 2TB 960 Pro runs at 55°C idle and 73°C after huge transfers), but Kingston / Toshiba drives, even being fast NVMe drives with 4x PCIe 3.0 lanes, run at 39°C idle and 58°C after a long blackmagic test.

Very interesting. On Win10 1709, 2015 MBA 13 my 250GB 960 EVO runs extremely cool; it idles at 40C and rises up to 50C when I stress it with CrystalDiskMark 2GB. Could you please download CoconutBattery and tell us the power draw when doing various tasks with the Kingston/Toshiba drives (the figure below) and the MacBook model? I get 8-9W in HS 10.13.4 normally.

I successfully upgraded my 2015 15" rMBP with a large black Sintech adapter (ordered from Amazon US) and a Toshiba XG4!
I am currently doing a battery life test as well as compared to the stock SSD and I will post that as well later.

I eagerly await uintmax's battery life test with the XG4. I have seen tutorials on YouTube where people claim that there is no noticeable battery life drain with SM951 and rMBP because as stated above in this thread it's most similar to Apple's native UBX SSDs. 960 EVOs and 600p s are known to have higher than usual power draw based on experiences in this thread (I remember Audit13 mentioning this earlier.) If it really turned out to be the case that some SSDs have lower draw than others we should create a guide for people who need the extra battery life.