macbook air early 2015 ssd upgrade

[Stephen46]

My macbook specs are

Hardware Overview:





Model Name: MacBook Air
Model Identifier: MacBookAir7,2
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 1.6 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2


L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB


L3 Cache: 3 MB


Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled


Memory: 4 GB


Boot ROM Version: 194.0.0.0.0

I have bought a samsung 860 1 TB ssd. I have installed catalina on it and backed up my macbook on the ssd. When I place the ssd inside the laptop and reboot it the drive is not located. If i put the ssd back in a usb adapter my laptop recognize the drive and I can used the external to run the computer. What can I do to rectify this?

 

[Audit13]

The 860 Evo is a sata drive and will not work inside any MacBook Air from 2013 to 2017.

 

[Stephen46]

Thanks for that

 

[Audit13]

Only a NVMe drive with an appropriate adapter, like the adapter sold by Sintech, will work in your Air.

Lots of good information is in this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/upgrading-2013-2014-macbook-pro-ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/

 

[Stephen46]

I got the sintech adapator but didn’t know the evo 860 wasn’t compatible. Thanks again for that

 

[LuisN]

Only a NVMe drive with an appropriate adapter, like the adapter sold by Sintech, will work in your Air.

Lots of good information is in this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/upgrading-2013-2014-macbook-pro-ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/

That's not true. The original SSD for MacBook Air 2013 has a sata interface. You are confusing sata/nvme with m.2 connector. That does not exclude any incompatibility with the 860 evo. I know cases where they were exchanged for the 850 model to make they work

 

[Audit13]

That's not true. The original SSD for MacBook Air 2013 has a sata interface. You are confusing sata/nvme with m.2 connector. That does not exclude any incompatibility with the 860 evo. I know cases where they were exchanged for the 850 model to make they work

Nope, the mid-2013 uses a proprietary Apple PCIe AHCI drive.

How to Upgrade MacBook Air SSD: 2013/2014/2015/2017: EveryMac.com

How to instructions and video to upgrade the PCIe SSD storage in Mid-2013, Early 2014, Early 2015 and 2017 MacBook Air models.

everymac.com

From the above article:

As first reported by AnandTech, the "Mid-2013" MacBook Air models all use a PCIe-based SSD rather than a SATA-connected one like earlier SSD-equipped MacBook Air models. The "Early 2014" MacBook Air models are practically identical to their predecessors and use the exact same internal storage.

I had a mid-2013 and I installed a NVMe drive.

 

[nicolodo]

Nope, the mid-2013 uses a proprietary Apple PCIe AHCI drive.

How to Upgrade MacBook Air SSD: 2013/2014/2015/2017: EveryMac.com

How to instructions and video to upgrade the PCIe SSD storage in Mid-2013, Early 2014, Early 2015 and 2017 MacBook Air models.

everymac.com

From the above article:

As first reported by AnandTech, the "Mid-2013" MacBook Air models all use a PCIe-based SSD rather than a SATA-connected one like earlier SSD-equipped MacBook Air models. The "Early 2014" MacBook Air models are practically identical to their predecessors and use the exact same internal storage.

I had a mid-2013 and I installed a NVMe drive.

I resume this thread

I have ready many articles in this forum, in this day and as you know i have many doubt.

But i think that @LuisN is right.
The Macbook Air have a ahci working protocol. AHCI is used on ssd m2 sata interface, and once improperly called pcie-sata. With the entry in the market of nvem pcie ssd, there has been a lot of confusion with the terms, because also they are m2 form factor.
The hardware difference is that the ssd sata m2 are pin different on Motherboard of "normal" pc ( M key & B key or B+M key).

The original stock apple ssd are all sata ahci in macbook air 2013-2014 ( i think that in 2015 are Nvem, but i'm not sure).
We all know that the firmware before the big update through BigSur in macbook pro and air 2013-2014 have some issue with total compatibility of nvme drivers ( sleep bug).
But i think and i bet that if buy a sata m2 ssd and use in macbook with the sintech adapator the system can works properly with no hibernate issue and the drive is dected like a internal drive.

I hope I was clear

 

[Audit13]

You can buy a m.2 sata drive but it won't work in any 2013 to 2017 Air. If you get it to work, please update this thread.

The original Apple devices are AHCI but they do not use the sata protocol. If they did, there is no way they would have read/write speeds that exceed the sata3 protocol.