Nope, they would only replace the SSD (and I don't know anybody willing to let me play with his SSD).
Would I still need the latest BootROM, should I give up with MacOS and go for Linux?
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Upgrading 2013-2015 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe
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Nope, they would only replace the SSD (and I don't know anybody willing to let me play with his SSD).
Would I still need the latest BootROM, should I give up with MacOS and go for Linux?
I understand your frustration. I'm not sure where you are located but it may be worth it to buy a used 128 GB Apple ssd to perform the firmware upgrade.
Yes, you could go with Linux but I think you would be missing out on a lot of features of macOS.
I bought a damaged Macbook Air just to have a spare 128 GB Apple Samsung SSD.
I don't have a lot of data just yet but so far I did a fresh install of High Sierra 10.13.4 on the XG4 and only installed amphetamine (to keep the screen on) and google chrome. The laptop is at 50% brightness and refreshing reddit.com/r/all every 15 seconds for two hours. In two hours the battery went from fully charged at 100% (8312 mAh) to 75% (5936 mAh).
I let the laptop sleep overnight for 8 hours and this morning when I woke up it is at 74% (5873 mAh). I'll try and test the stock Samsung SSD when I get home tonight.
Thanks Gilles. I have see the Intel 760p Series - 2TB: could this also be a good choice?
Merci
Andrea
I purchased a THNSN5512GPUK NVMe TOSHIBA 512GB that was pulled from a Dell laptop off Ebay for $140. Installed in tandem with green sintech adapter ordered direct from their website.
I have Macbook Pro Mid 2015. System would not recognize the drive. Booted system with Debian USB, and Debian could see it. Formatted to EXT4, as I was unsure of what options if any would jumpstart iOS into seeing this thing? Reboot, nothing. I made sure the new disk had current Toshiba firmware on Win 10 PC.
Hooked up an external drive, using carbon copy I cloned my stock SSD to it. Made that the boot disk, removed stock and swapped in the Toshiba. I then booted, and the system showed it in disk utility. Formatted it there for APFS etc. I then used carbon copy to migrate from the external drive on to it. Made it the default boot, and everything works great.
What could I of done to make the system recognize it without the headache of that workaround? Is there any way to get APFS options with Debian or any flavor of linux?
Also this drive is fine for someone trying to be cheap like me, but its a tad slower than the stock SSD.
I have Macbook Pro Mid 2015. System would not recognize the drive. Booted system with Debian USB, and Debian could see it. Formatted to EXT4, as I was unsure of what options if any would jumpstart iOS into seeing this thing? Reboot, nothing. I made sure the new disk had current Toshiba firmware on Win 10 PC.
Hooked up an external drive, using carbon copy I cloned my stock SSD to it. Made that the boot disk, removed stock and swapped in the Toshiba. I then booted, and the system showed it in disk utility. Formatted it there for APFS etc. I then used carbon copy to migrate from the external drive on to it. Made it the default boot, and everything works great.
What could I of done to make the system recognize it without the headache of that workaround? Is there any way to get APFS options with Debian or any flavor of linux?
Also this drive is fine for someone trying to be cheap like me, but its a tad slower than the stock SSD.
Yes, my Mac was running high Sierra with all recent updates.
No, I was booting with just the drive. And doing the internet install. Is that the kicker? (Usb) I assumed if it doesn’t see it, then I was dead in the water. And did my described workaround.
I had a 2015 13" Air running High Sierra with an original 128 GB Apple SSD. I removed the Apple SSD, installed the large, green Sintech, 256 GB Intel 600p, kapton tape, and booted from a High Sierra USB installer. Disk utility saw the Intel with no problem. I created a single partition, erased the drive, and installed High Sierra without having to use Linux.
I’m not sure why my machine didn’t see it, I recall another person in this thread using one of these Dell/Toshibas and having the same issue
Hey gang!
just ordered a 1TB PM981 to test with my Mid2014 MBP. I will also get my hands on a Mid2015 MBP for tests with both the PM981 and PM961.
just ordered a 1TB PM981 to test with my Mid2014 MBP. I will also get my hands on a Mid2015 MBP for tests with both the PM981 and PM961.
Just updated my 2014 MBP to 10.13.5 latest beta (4) and the bootrom has also updated to 146.B00 but sadly no changes to the NVMe state, still external on boot and internal when running.
I'm very interested in this test with the Samsung PM981 and I'm also very interested in anyone's experiences with the Evo 970 / Pro NOT the 960 since this is the newest technology. I'm assuming the 970 works just as well as the 960 since it's already compatible maybe even less heating / bottleneck issues since it's a newer build? Just waiting for confirmation from someone here...
Anyways, I feel we should start moving this thread discussion to the NEWER solutions since we already know the 960 evo works fine.
Don't buy the PM981 drive if you are planning to use in macbook. It is not compatible I have already tried 2 brand new PM981 drives, half way through OS install macbook always crashes and restarts. Tried 2 different PM981 drives, tried on all macbook 15" from 2013 and 2015 and also tried air and updating the ssd firmware does not help. Maybe the official Samsung 970 won't have this issue. Best drives to use for macbook right now are the samsung 960 no known issues with them.
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Right on man... thank you for the info about the PM981 I was just waiting for someone to confirm that has done actual test themselves, which it sounds like you have.
I still feel we need to find someone who’s done a test on the 970 evo because I just bought the 960 and I would return it if I knew the newer version worked.
As you know, 2013-2014 MBP or MBA and 2015 MBP or MBA behave quite differently with NVMe SSD. I saw what the difference is due to. Comparing the hardware, chips and circuits on the logic board shows the difference clearly. Chips and circuits are quite different regardless of which models are taken. I purchased junk and compare logic boards and We can compare logic boards on iFixit and other sites. If the chips and circuits that make up are not so different, I expected that it would be easier to port EFI firmware etc, but the expectation collapsed.
Given this situation, I do not think that Apple will take a lot of time and cost to properly operate NVMe SSD with the old model 2013-2014 MBP or MBA. Originally it was difficult to support NVMe SSD with 2013 - 2014 MBP or MBA hardware, so it seems that Apple developed 2015 MBP or MBA.
I am sorry to break my or your hopes, but I do not expect NVMe SSD to work without trouble at 2013-2014 MBP or MBA.
I understand fully about the hardware differences, but Apple could infact if they so wished, remap the bootrom/EFI firmware so that NVMe ssd's are seen as internal and not external at boot time. The Roms are not interchangeable between the 2015 and 2013/14 because as you say there are differences in the architecture including haswell/broadwell processors. The 2013/14 systems are perfectly capable of using NVMe drives, I have one running in a 2014 and when running, the drives are internal and work fine. It is only the long boot time and sleep problems that are a problem and this is because of the EFI firmware seeing the drives as external at wake/boot time where they were internal at run/sleep time. NVMe is a recent addition to the 2015 also but they somehow got this one right.
You would need to buy a USB enclosure which, in my opinion, is kind of expensive: https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MAU3ENPRPCI/Just a stupid question, is possible to use the MBP late 2013 SSD in an external case after the upgrade with the 960evo? If yes, how?!
The late 2013 and 2014 macbooks work fine for NVME. I have no issues with them and the only difference I see is that the 2013 and 2014 macbooks can only run on 5GT/s while the 2015 macbooks run it on full speed of 8GT/s. If you are having issues on late 2013 it's probably because you are not using the correct adapter. And depending on the ssd you use, there is like a small lag time of like 4 seconds when you turn on the macbook if you are using a toshiba ssd didn't notice on the samsung ssd.
Ofcause I use sintech large green adapter, so adapter issue is not there. NVMe SSD issue with 2013-2014 MBP or MBA are shown as external drive, so it takes lag time at startup (in my case it is about 10 sec). I don't allow that shown as a external drive and taking lag time.
I recognize ;
MacBook Air 11,13 2013, 2014, 2015 x4 5GT/s PCIe 2.0
MacBook pro 13 retina 2013, 2014, 2015 x4 5GT/s PCIe 2.0
MacBook pro 15 retina 2013, 2014 x4 5GT/s PCIe 2.0
MacBook pro 15 retina 2015 x4 8GT/s PCIe 3.0
Hello all, I just stumbled upon this thread, I have tried to read the last page or two but I thought it would be easier to ask. I have a late 2013 15' rMBP and I had just ordered the 970 Evo 2tb m.2 for my desktop, I was wondering if it would work with any adaptor with my mbp, or perhaps any of the newer M.2 Nvme drives. I don't mind buying the adaptor and trying the 2tb drive first just to see if it works, before I get a 1tb for macbook. I do have Mac OS Sierra on my pro. And i am happy to post results and try tinkering as required.
Thank you!
Thank you!
I recommend updating to High Sierra using the original Apple ssd before installing an name drive.
I also recommend getting the Sintech adapter (large green) and some kapton tape.
Thank you, I have updated to High Sierra. Is there any difference between this
https://www.amazon.com/Sintech-Adap...&qid=1526043676&sr=8-1&keywords=ST-NGFF2013-C
and the large green adapter,
https://www.ebay.com/itm/M2-M-Key-S...863013?hash=item33d50f0365&afsrc=1&rmvSB=true
Seems like some people prefer this vs the others. I did notice, it seems most people with the late 2013 15" MBPs till the 2015 models have issues when the laptop goes to deep sleep hibernation mode. Is there anyway we can increase that time to beyond 4 hours. Its one of my favorite features, and I will resume working on my laptop usually in a few hours, perhaps increase that to 24hours or something.
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I'm using the large, green Sintech in two Macbook Air 13" early 2015 models. Both have Intel 600p nvme drives and there have been no kernel panics, sleep issues, or excessive battery drain while others have had problems with the Samsung drives.
The larger black adapter appears to have Kapton tape pre-applied while the green adapter requires you to add your own tape.
I'm not sure about deep hibernation mode as both Airs are running a stock HS OS without any modifications to sleep mode.
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