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MacBook Pro SSD Death
- Thread starter Miltz
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Even if you write more data than TBW values, good quality SSDs don't die easily.
Actually it is very hard to kill them. There are many videos on youtube which they are constantly writing huge data 24/7, even in such cases, it does not die easily. So, dont worry about it.
Actually it is very hard to kill them. There are many videos on youtube which they are constantly writing huge data 24/7, even in such cases, it does not die easily. So, dont worry about it.
I'm not worried about it at all. I'm just curious if anyone has had an SSD die on a modern MAC with the soldered SSD.
I've also read reports from users here, that would seem to indicate failure of the SSD portion of fusion drives that use the smaller-sized SSDs (24gb or 32gb) -- probably due to excessive amounts of data being "pushed through" these small drives...
Good news though for those is that they are replaceable.
However, if I had one of those machines open (which may take some effort), I’d probably just remove the defective SSD and replace the hard drive with an SSD.
The SSD Endurance Experiment: They're all dead
I never thought this whole tech journalism gig would turn me into a mass murderer. Yet here I am, with the blood of six SSDs on my hands, and that’s...
Interesting reading for those who are curious how long it really takes to wipe out SSDs. And most of these were 240GB range (older too).
It takes a lot to kill an SSD device. I've used some SSDs for over 12+ years and they still had 98% life.
Yeah, I bought a used Apple OEM SSD (made by Samsung) to increase the storage on my kid's 2015 MacBook Pro which was made in 2016. I wasn't overly worried about buying used since the data isn't mission critical. The important stuff is stored in the cloud anyway.The SSD Endurance Experiment: They're all dead
I never thought this whole tech journalism gig would turn me into a mass murderer. Yet here I am, with the blood of six SSDs on my hands, and that’s...techreport.com
Interesting reading for those who are curious how long it really takes to wipe out SSDs. And most of these were 240GB range (older too).
It takes a lot to kill an SSD device. I've used some SSDs for over 12+ years and they still had 98% life.
I had bought the MBP used - and remember, this is a 2015 model manufactured in 2016, which I just bought in 2021 - and interestingly the 128 GB drive had only about 4 TB written. The used 256 GB SSD I bought had about 100 TB written, but I believe the 256 GB SSD has an endurance rating of 300 TBW.
I also bought a 2017 MacBook Air used in 2021. Its 128 GB drive only has about 9 TB written. It was a refurb purchased in 2019, but the drive could by significantly older, since it's a refurb.
Since my kid's needs are light, I suspect by the time the 2015 MacBook Pro is retired many years from now, less than 150 TB will have been written total on that used 256 GB drive, including the 100 that was already on it when I got it.
I believe Apple is now striping across two drives for additional performance, which technically doubles your chance of a failure. That said, it's still exceedingly rare, and I haven't personally seen a Macbook drive fail. Modern, high-quality drives have amazing endurance. I have had external SSDs fail, though.
The SSD on my spanking new MBP 16 M1 Max (with 1TB drive) died on me after using it for a week. After hours on the phone with the "Geniuses" to no avail, I had to FedEx it back to Apple and fair play for them, they repaired and returned it to me within 48 hours.
The reason it died was apparently something to do with corrupted system firmware but as I couldn't boot from it or recovery, I was unable to fix it myself. I suspect Apple simply replaced the drive but I'm not sure. When it was returned, the drive was completely wiped without even an OS on it.
Anyway, I have since created an external thumb drive with an installation of Monterey so I'm well prepared for the worst. Hope this won't happen again. YMMV
The reason it died was apparently something to do with corrupted system firmware but as I couldn't boot from it or recovery, I was unable to fix it myself. I suspect Apple simply replaced the drive but I'm not sure. When it was returned, the drive was completely wiped without even an OS on it.
Anyway, I have since created an external thumb drive with an installation of Monterey so I'm well prepared for the worst. Hope this won't happen again. YMMV
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What does "striping across two drives" mean to a non-tech person like me? Please explain...
He's talking about RAID 0.
And Apple is most definitely not doing this. That would be completely foolish. The performance of current MacBook Pro SSDs is exactly what would be expected for single drives of the current generation.
You are not missing anything. He was saying he thought the very fast SSD speeds of current MacBook Pros was due to Apple shipping them with two drives in RAID 0, making them less reliable, but that is not true. There is no RAID, and it is unnecessary anyway, even for the most demanding of Pros.
The reason the drives are in the M1 Pro/Max machines are so fast is simply because SSD technology really is this fast these days. Off the shelf SSDs you can buy at Best Buy really are this fast now too, so it should not be surprising that SSDs in expensive MacBook Pros are this fast too.
Wow… this is very interesting. How did the replace the drive? Maybe they replaced the entire motherboard.
As I said previously, I have no idea what they did. The unit was returned to me within 48 hours with the HD either totally wiped or new without any explanation. I had to install the OS and restore all my files from a TM backup.
You are indeed correct. I misread some information. Thank you for the prompt correction.
I've not had any SSDs die and I've been using them since 2009 or so. I have 15 of them.
I’ve had a SSD die, completely wiping out all data all at once. It was a Samsung 830 I believe and it was due to a firmware bug. It was at the worst possible time too since I had just started my tropical vacation.
My Intel 330 SSD still works but is just junk. I had significant compatibility problems with it on both Windows (BSOD) and Mac (negotiates only at SATA I speed). I hate Sandforce.
I back up the important SSDs on Time Machine or make copies of important files with Windows systems. I have spares lying around for experimenting with operating systems on external drives. I have some Intel 330s and 530s as well. They are better than thumb drives for performance but the older ones are just usually for experiments.
Oz wrote:
"I simply expected the SSD as a single drive in my new MBP to perform as it should. It didn't. Am I missing something?"
It may not have been a drive failure that prevented your MBP from booting.
I'll guess that Apple either
- reset the machine using something like Apple Configurator2
or
- replaced the logic board.
The drive (as far as I know) is not "removable" from the board, short of "desoldering", which I don't think they do...
"I simply expected the SSD as a single drive in my new MBP to perform as it should. It didn't. Am I missing something?"
It may not have been a drive failure that prevented your MBP from booting.
I'll guess that Apple either
- reset the machine using something like Apple Configurator2
or
- replaced the logic board.
The drive (as far as I know) is not "removable" from the board, short of "desoldering", which I don't think they do...
What was the model and year? The SSD can be replaced on my 2014 and 2015 MacBook Pros.