I started with that same adapter and it did not work with NVMe drives at all, switched to Sintech and all ok.
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Upgrading 2013-2015 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe
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I started with that same adapter and it did not work with NVMe drives at all, switched to Sintech and all ok.
Would you mind getting this topic back on track on what NVMe SSD works, which adapter works and how to get power saving working ? I would recommend making a new topic for all these flashing posts. Not every one of us want to flash our chips and risk bricking our expensive Macbook.
It's not really off-topic. If you want power saving to work, you've got to do the flash.
Hi! I bought the same SSD, but I have a serious problem. When I woke up my mac, it had a blank screen and the fans was being loud and after I couldn't turn on. When I charged, it said the battery was dead. When I replaced to the old SSD, there was no problem. I use MacBook Air A1466 version. Do you have any idea why it is doing? What kind of version do you use? Did you updated the driver of SSD?
Thanks!
Hi everyone, I've browsed through a couple of pages of this thread and honestly I've become lost. Is there any step by step direct instructions, so we can minimalize possible problems such as heat and sleep? I have a MacBook Pro Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014, and I'm planning to upgrade its SSD. So far I'm thinking of buying these:
1. Samsung 960 EVO Series - 1TB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6E1T0BW)
2. Sintech NGFF M.2 PCIe SSD Adapter for Upgrade of 2013-2017 Macs (ST-NGFF2013-C)
The SSD and Adapter are recommended in this video tutorial on YouTube but later author recommends on his different video to fix problems such as sleep and system restart. Is it possible to avoid those future problems? I also saw someone installed Intel 760p SSDs or trying to flash hardware for some reason.
So, in general, what would you recommend me to do?
1. Samsung 960 EVO Series - 1TB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6E1T0BW)
2. Sintech NGFF M.2 PCIe SSD Adapter for Upgrade of 2013-2017 Macs (ST-NGFF2013-C)
The SSD and Adapter are recommended in this video tutorial on YouTube but later author recommends on his different video to fix problems such as sleep and system restart. Is it possible to avoid those future problems? I also saw someone installed Intel 760p SSDs or trying to flash hardware for some reason.
So, in general, what would you recommend me to do?
I've read through the thread as well, and think this the current status is:
- Make sure you have updated to High Sierra on the original Macbook ssd, to ensure latest firmware has been installed
- Get the Sintech adapter
- Apply the heat resistant tape (kapton tape) to the pins on the chip that is located on the adapter
- Install adapter and SSD
- Reinstall High Sierra
If you don't want to upgrade to High Sierra, you need to:
- Get an SSD that supports 4k blocksize
- Apply the heat resistant tape (kapton tape) to the pins on the chip that is located on the adapter
- Install adapter and SSD
- Boot in to linux from an external drive
- Format the SSD with nvme cli tools and set blocksize to 4k
- Reboot and reinstall MacOS
The SSD you have listed seems fine, and think it's been used before by users in this thread. As long as you are updated to high sierra, you should be fine. not sure if the 960 Pro supports 4k block size. I dont have one, so cant check for you.
I have the 970 EVO and it does NOT support 4k block size.
Not to sure about sleep problems, someone else might be able to shine some light on that. I haven't tested sleep on my machine yet.
In benchmarks the Intel SSD seems to have lower performance compared to the Samsung SSD. I guess it's up to your wallet If you want to experiment with the Intel SSD (appears to be a bit cheaper) or go with the "proven" Samsung SSDs.
Scandy (or some other kind reader), would you please say more about Kapton tape? My setup (SM951-NVMe in MBA) works well without Kapton tape but still I'm curious about this step and so far I don't understand much.
Kapton tape gets *wrapped* around one end of the adapter -- kinda like a scarf around someone's neck? Tape goes on the end of the adapter that connects to the computer -- or does it go on the end of the adapter that connects to the blade? Tape serves to make snug fit between blade and adapter -- in which case tape gets wrapped around the point where blade connects to adapter?
Thanks in advance!
Kapton tape gets *wrapped* around one end of the adapter -- kinda like a scarf around someone's neck? Tape goes on the end of the adapter that connects to the computer -- or does it go on the end of the adapter that connects to the blade? Tape serves to make snug fit between blade and adapter -- in which case tape gets wrapped around the point where blade connects to adapter?
Thanks in advance!
Look at the picture in this post for the tape location: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/page-44#post-25914547
The kapton tape serves to stop the adapters bare pins from shorting on the metal shield of the computers connector. At best this short slows down the drive. At worst it can damage your computer. So the tape is wrapped around the part that leads up to the plastic socket on the adapter that interfaces with your NVME drive. Its purpose is to cover the metal pins (not the gold plated contacts that slide into the computers connector) so they don't short on the metal shielding of the connector.
Not correct, the main purpose is to fix sleep/slow boot issues.
Just upgrated my iMac 5k 2017 with Samsung EVO 970, everything works perfectly without any issue.
Hi,
What year is your MBA? and what is the speeds of SDD (reading and writing).
Is the SM951-NVME similar to the Samsung 950?
Thanks!
Thanks for this response, TokMok3.
My device details: MacBook Air, Y2013, 11.6-inch screen, 8GB RAM, SanDisk 128GB storage originally. Last month I installed Sintech long black adapter (purchased new from Amazon -- good way to avoid long shipping) and 512-GB Samsung SM951-NVMe (purchased used from eBay). My device has run Mavericks and El Capitan mainly but as part of the hardware upgrade I moved to High Sierra. [This is a must--I think--because SM951-NVMe cannot be formatted to 4K blocksize?] On this laptop, with respect to 'smoothness' and 'snappiness', High Sierra feels the same as did earlier OSes -- I suspect because the hardware has improved even though, arguably, macOS has become bloated over the years.
Blackmagic numbers before upgrade: c. 200 MB/s write, c. 600 MB/s read. Blackmagic numbers after upgrade: c. 950 MB/s write, c. 1450 MB/s read.
Good experience overall but this upgrade not quite a slam dunk. If one doesn't mind the added cost and if one doesn't need more than 512-GB storage then I'd recommend buying a SSUBX product rather than going the NVMe route. SSUBX suitable for Apple firmware updates, compatible with Sierra (not just High Sierra), and I suspect makes for longer battery life.
EDIT: #1: Perhaps part of the reason for shortened battery life is the need for Y2013 MBA to have pmset standby set to zero?
EDIT #2: My understanding is that SM951-NVMe and 950 Pro the same thing except SM951-NVMe is an OEM product whereas 950 Pro a 'consumer' product?
My device details: MacBook Air, Y2013, 11.6-inch screen, 8GB RAM, SanDisk 128GB storage originally. Last month I installed Sintech long black adapter (purchased new from Amazon -- good way to avoid long shipping) and 512-GB Samsung SM951-NVMe (purchased used from eBay). My device has run Mavericks and El Capitan mainly but as part of the hardware upgrade I moved to High Sierra. [This is a must--I think--because SM951-NVMe cannot be formatted to 4K blocksize?] On this laptop, with respect to 'smoothness' and 'snappiness', High Sierra feels the same as did earlier OSes -- I suspect because the hardware has improved even though, arguably, macOS has become bloated over the years.
Blackmagic numbers before upgrade: c. 200 MB/s write, c. 600 MB/s read. Blackmagic numbers after upgrade: c. 950 MB/s write, c. 1450 MB/s read.
Good experience overall but this upgrade not quite a slam dunk. If one doesn't mind the added cost and if one doesn't need more than 512-GB storage then I'd recommend buying a SSUBX product rather than going the NVMe route. SSUBX suitable for Apple firmware updates, compatible with Sierra (not just High Sierra), and I suspect makes for longer battery life.
EDIT: #1: Perhaps part of the reason for shortened battery life is the need for Y2013 MBA to have pmset standby set to zero?
EDIT #2: My understanding is that SM951-NVMe and 950 Pro the same thing except SM951-NVMe is an OEM product whereas 950 Pro a 'consumer' product?
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I classify sleep problems and slow booting as performance issues although others may not.
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Will this also work for a 13” 2015 rMBP? I must admit the exact same problem as the OP except I only need to upgrade from 128 to 256GB (most of my daughter’s work is in the google cloud) and I simply refuse to pay the prices they’re asking for used memory with an unknown number of cycles.
Samsung 970, black Sintech adapter. Where do I find the kapton tape? TIA ..
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As long as you have upgraded the machine to High Sierra, and get a m.2 SSD that uses the nvme protocol, you are good to go. Not sure if the Mac mini is m.2 or just regular sata. Also, not sure what you paid for the 960 evo for your mini, but in Australia the m.2 nvme samsung 970 Evo is not a bad deal atm.. Well, its not as cheap as the Intel drives.
You can get the kapton tape from RadioShack (jaycar in Oz), eBay or any other electronics part supplier should have it.
My adapter came with some sort isolating of tape pre-applied, so did not have to purchase any.
Sorry those 2 comments got mixed. My bad. The Mac mini isn’t part of it - just a reference point that I was able to add a 960 to the open drive bay for about $150. A 256 GB 970 m.2 is about $110. The cheapest Mac SSD compatible is $228 for 256gb with God only knows how many cycles on it already. I saw a reseller selling a 256 GB m.2 used for $379 US. Insane. No way I’m going off brand (Not to mention names, but OWC), too many horror stories. Not thrilled about the adapter but it is what it is.
Thanks, everyone who has answered my previous questions. I've just updated my MacBook Pro, Mid 2014 to High Sierra version 10.13.5. Before that I had Sierra. In both cases Boot ROM Version: MBP111.0146.B00 remained the same. I don't know why it did not update to latest version (or is it a latest?). As I understood the problems with sleep/hibernate and 10 sec delay that some people encountered here were mainly connected with boot rom versions on 13/14 MacBook Pros. So, can I safely change my SSD to NVMe SSDs, and will I have any problems because of that? Also, has anyone tested OWC drives? It seems they are also NVMe drives and super expensive.
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My bootrom is current at MBP114.0177.B00 (2015 High Sierra)
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Forgot to mention, I just got my rMBP back from Apple a couple of days ago after a logic board replacement. This may be a very new version of the bootrom.
Firstly thank you to all the knowledgeable folks in this forum. My problem, the SSD in my MBP mid 2014 already died and was not updated to the latest OSX. My MBP can see the drive but cant boot from it, tried to setup the new drive in my daughters MBA and it works great (Intel SSD Black Sintech adaptor) high sierra sweet as.
So what are the options now to get the firmware updated on my paperweight MBP? I am just outside Sydney and I really don't have the funds to consult a repair shop right now and expect they would want to try and sell me an expensive Apple original drive?
The output log form the installer appears to confirm its a firmware issue, complaints are that it cant convert the drive to AFS and ids are missing etc. Considering it boots fine in my daughters updated MBA tells me the drive and adaptor are just fine.
So what are the options now to get the firmware updated on my paperweight MBP? I am just outside Sydney and I really don't have the funds to consult a repair shop right now and expect they would want to try and sell me an expensive Apple original drive?
The output log form the installer appears to confirm its a firmware issue, complaints are that it cant convert the drive to AFS and ids are missing etc. Considering it boots fine in my daughters updated MBA tells me the drive and adaptor are just fine.
Can you use the OEM air SSD in the MBP to update the firmware by installing High Sierra?
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It won't boot from that drive either it's not recognised, unless I boot from the usb high sierra boot drive then I can see it.
Are you saying wipe that drive and try to install onto it and it may update the firmware as it's a legit drive? It happens to be my daughter's school Mac so I'd be hesitant to do to much without knowing I'm good.