Putting a 2014 SSD into a 2015 rMBP

[Orange Turtle]

I am getting a 2015 rMBP with 512gb ssd. I would like more storage, so upgrading to 1TB is my preference. I've read the 2015 ssd is much faster than the 2014 due to "4 lanes instead of two lanes." Is this "lane thing" a result of the SSD or of the macbook pro (or both)?

The apple OEM 2014 SSD's are less expensive than the apple OEM 2015's (on Ebay), so I am thinking of getting one of them and putting it in the 2015 I am getting. What do you think? If I do a little video editing and some video streaming, along with internet browsing and general document work, will I notice any difference? Also, is it unwise to buy a used SSD?

Would I be better off with a third party like OWC than the 2014 version? Or should I just make sure I get the 2015 version apple OEM?

I'm trying to balance performance and price.

Greatly appreciate any and all insight into this!

 

[Audit13]

The "lanes" are a function of both.

 

[Orange Turtle]

The "lanes" are a function of both.

Thank you for explaining about the lanes. So the 2014 are 2 lanes, are the OWC 2 or 4?

Any suggestions or advice on what to consider on which SSD I should get?

 

[Audit13]

The 2015 rMBP will have 4 lanes so you would want to match that with a 4 lane nvme drive.

The OWC speeds aren't that good in benchmarks but it's an easy swap: https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/S3DAPB4MB10K/

You can use 3rd party nvme drives with an adapter but that involves compromises too: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/upgrading-2013-2014-macbook-pro-ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/

 

[Orange Turtle]

The 2015 rMBP will have 4 lanes so you would want to match that with a 4 lane nvme drive.

The OWC speeds aren't that good in benchmarks but it's an easy swap: https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/S3DAPB4MB10K/

You can use 3rd party nvme drives with an adapter but that involves compromises too: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/upgrading-2013-2014-macbook-pro-ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/

Thanks! I saw that post about 3rd party nvme.

Looks like my best options are OWC for simplicity (and price), though not the fastest speeds.

Otherwise I would be best served saving for a 2015 model.

Going slightly the other direction, could I put a 2016 Ssd into the 2015 model? Would that make it faster yet?

 

[Audit13]

Not sure about putting a 2016 ssd into a 2015. If you could, you won't notice a speed difference in most tasks.