Upgrading 2013-2015 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

[devilsknight0417]

Hi there,

Thanks to everyone who replied. I was on vacation last week and I decided to step away from this project for a few days because well I was on vacation and I work enough with computers at work. Just for giggles I bought a SSD that was on the list of drives that work...received it today (Crucial 500GB P2), and just like magic it works. So adapter is fine it's the SEKC SM250 128GB NVMe M2 SSD I bought that's the problem. I tried googling for the possibility of a firmware update or anything at all about this drive but don't see much of a footprint on the web for this company.

I'll try to convince my buddy to spend that little bit extra but I know he purchased a couple of these MacBook Airs to fix up and resell but I'm not sure if he will go for it as it's getting a little outside his budget.

Too bad this SEKC drive didn't end up working. Thanks again everyone for the replies.

 

[EmptyBrain]

Hi there,

Thanks to everyone who replied. I was on vacation last week and I decided to step away from this project for a few days because well I was on vacation and I work enough with computers at work. Just for giggles I bought a SSD that was on the list of drives that work...received it today (Crucial 500GB P2), and just like magic it works. So adapter is fine it's the SEKC SM250 128GB NVMe M2 SSD I bought that's the problem. I tried googling for the possibility of a firmware update or anything at all about this drive but don't see much of a footprint on the web for this company.

I'll try to convince my buddy to spend that little bit extra but I know he purchased a couple of these MacBook Airs to fix up and resell but I'm not sure if he will go for it as it's getting a little outside his budget.

Too bad this SEKC drive didn't end up working. Thanks again everyone for the replies.

Out of curiosity, do you happen to know if the Crucial P2 you received is the TLC or QLC version? I'm planning on purchasing a NVMe M2 SSD for my MBP mid 2014 (11,1) and am debating on rolling the dice for a TLC Crucial P2 or just picking up the Corsair MP510 (or other).

 

[khgkjahsf234985]

In case anyone else is having trouble installing Lilu and NVMeFix in Big Sur post-11.3, here's an installation guide from the NVMeFix GitHub a couple weeks ago:

NVMeFix broken after installing macOS Big Sur 11.3 Update · Issue #1620 · acidanthera/bugtracker

The Big Sur 11.3 update seems to have broken NVMeFix for me on my MBP 2015 with Samsung Evo 970 Plus... I used to get idle 0.00 A with both SsdPmEnabler and NVMeFix/Lilu installed on 11.2 . After t...

github.com

...remember that Big Sur is snapshot based. Catalina's commands won't work unless there user has deleted all APFS snapshots and is booting a live filesystem. Otherwise no edits will be done to the root volume.

Corrected steps for snapshot based installs:

# Find your System volume
diskutil list

# From the below list, we can see our System volume is disk5s5

/dev/disk5 (synthesized): #: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER 0: APFS Container Scheme - +255.7 GB disk5 Physical Store disk4s2 1: APFS Volume ⁨Big Sur HD - Data⁩ 122.5 GB disk5s1 2: APFS Volume ⁨Preboot⁩ 309.4 MB disk5s2 3: APFS Volume ⁨Recovery⁩ 887.8 MB disk5s3 4: APFS Volume ⁨VM⁩ 1.1 MB disk5s4 5: APFS Volume ⁨Big Sur HD⁩ 16.2 GB disk5s5 6: APFS Snapshot ⁨com.apple.os.updat...⁩ 16.2 GB disk5s5s

# Mount the drive(ie. disk5s5)
sudo mount -o nobrowse -t apfs /dev/disk5s5 /System/Volumes/Update/mnt1

# Remove old kext if present
sudo rm -R /System/Volumes/Update/mnt1/System/Library/Extensions/Example.kext

# Copy over your kext
sudo cp -R ~/Desktop/Example.kext /System/Volumes/Update/mnt1/System/Library/Extensions/

# Fix permissions
sudo chmod -R 755 /System/Volumes/Update/mnt1/System/Library/Extensions/Example.kext
sudo chown -R root:wheel /System/Volumes/Update/mnt1/System/Library/Extensions/Example.kext

# Rebuild kernel cache
sudo kmutil install --volume-root /System/Volumes/Update/mnt1/ --update-all

# Create new bootable snapshot
sudo bless --folder /System/Volumes/Update/mnt1/System/Library/CoreServices --bootefi --create-snapshot

 

[camelia]

Hello

Quick question:
Why do you want to Upgrade your 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe
If 2013/2014 Macbook Pro are now unsupported for macOS Monterey?

Thanks
Camelia

 

[mdgm]

Why do you want to Upgrade your 2013/2014 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe
If 2013/2014 Macbook Pro are now unsupported for macOS Monterey?

Big Sur will still get security updates for a bit over 2 years. You don’t need to run a current macOS. Plenty of people still run older unsupported OSes.

Monterey beta can be run on these Macs using OCLP even though not officially supported if you really are desperate to run that.

Upgrading to a higher capacity SSD is much cheaper than getting a new Mac with a higher capacity SSD.

 

[herb2k]

In case anyone else is having trouble installing Lilu and NVMeFix in Big Sur post-11.3, here's an installation guide from the NVMeFix GitHub a couple weeks ago:

NVMeFix broken after installing macOS Big Sur 11.3 Update · Issue #1620 · acidanthera/bugtracker

The Big Sur 11.3 update seems to have broken NVMeFix for me on my MBP 2015 with Samsung Evo 970 Plus... I used to get idle 0.00 A with both SsdPmEnabler and NVMeFix/Lilu installed on 11.2 . After t...

github.com

You must disable kext signing (csrutil enable --without-kext in recovery OS) and then the Catalina instructions work for Lilu and NVMeFix.

 

[taozhong]

Hoping for some advice. I installed a Samsung 980 1TB in to my MacBook Air (6,2 13-inch Mid 2013) using one of the Sintech long adapters, and then installed MacOS Big Sur from a bootable USB. The install went well and completed without error. At this point I was pretty happy, the Macbook Air was working perfectly and I now had 1TB of size, woohoo! Prior to the upgrade the I was running the standard apple 512gb ssd and had upgraded to Big Sur, so bootrom is up to date.

First issue I found was performance. Still better than the original Apple SSD, but from what I have read in the forum I figured it should be better.

View attachment 1786764

The next thing is Windows. I create a bootcamp USB, got through the windows install only for it to BSOD at the last moment. I followed some instructions early on in this thread and used the shift + F10 method to alter a registry key.
After rebooting i was able to log in to win10, install the bootcamp drivers and then windows BSOD again. After booting back in to windows to change the pcie power settings, which i did, it worked for a while and then another BSOD.
So Windows is not usable, its too unstable and BSOD's randomly.

Here's the system info from my air:

Hardware:
Model Name: MacBook Air
Model Identifier: MacBookAir6,2
Processor Name: Dual-Core Intel Core i7
Processor Speed: 1.7 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 4 MB
Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled
Memory: 8 GB
System Firmware Version: 431.0.0.0.0
SMC Version (system): 2.13f15
Serial Number (system): C02LG21AFLCG


Generic SSD Controller:
Samsung SSD 980 1TB:
Capacity: 1 TB (1,000,204,886,016 bytes)
TRIM Support: Yes
Model: Samsung SSD 980 1TB
Revision: 1B4QFXO7
Serial Number: S649NJ0R344493X
Link Width: x4
Link Speed: 5.0 GT/s
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
Removable Media: No
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified


Storage
BigSur:
Free: 363.53 GB (363,525,165,056 bytes)
Capacity: 394 GB (393,999,998,976 bytes)
Mount Point: /
File System: APFS
Writable: No
Ignore Ownership: No
BSD Name: disk1s5s1
Volume UUID: 19D56539-794A-4CE1-9712-98E70DC29C2E
Physical Drive:
Device Name: Samsung SSD 980 1TB
Media Name: AppleAPFSMedia
Medium Type: SSD
Protocol: PCI-Express
Internal: Yes
Partition Map Type: Unknown
S.M.A.R.T. Status: Verified

Have you tried to update Samsung SSD firmware and test again?
For Samsung SSD use on Mac, they recommend to update firmware before installing.

 

[camelia]

Big Sur will still get security updates for a bit over 2 years. You don’t need to run a current macOS. Plenty of people still run older unsupported OSes.

Monterey beta can be run on these Macs using OCLP even though not officially supported if you really are desperate to run that.

Upgrading to a higher capacity SSD is much cheaper than getting a new Mac with a higher capacity SSD.

I have an SDD 500GB which capacity do you suggest?
Are M.2 NVE faster than a SDD?

Camelia

 

[mdgm]

The first post in the thread shows some performance benchmarks.

 

[olindacat]

Cool!

As for the OS install: I have cloned to a USB drive, then did a fresh install on the new SSD, then migrated the old system. For unknown reasons this has worked best for me. Plus I have a bootable clone on a USB drive just in case.
I have no idea though about that encryption problem.

Is there a post in this thread that explains this a little more clearly? I am a dummy when it comes to doing a "fresh install", making a "bootable clone" and migrating "the old system". I have been lurking this thread for about a year. I have the Sintech adaptor and a new SSD per the first page, but am afraid to do this!

 

[Audit13]

Is there a post in this thread that explains this a little more clearly? I am a dummy when it comes to doing a "fresh install", making a "bootable clone" and migrating "the old system". I have been lurking this thread for about a year. I have the Sintech adaptor and a new SSD per the first page, but am afraid to do this!

Which OS is the MacBook running? The MacBook must be running a High Sierra bootrom or newer.

 

[khgkjahsf234985]

You must disable kext signing (csrutil enable --without-kext in recovery OS) and then the Catalina instructions work for Lilu and NVMeFix.

Got it. For posterity's sake, do you have a link to the instructions you used? I started over completely from scratch after getting weird results (ie kext disappearing from L/E, graphical glitches during bootup, probably messed up nvram boot arguments, etc)

 

[herb2k]

Got it. For posterity's sake, do you have a link to the instructions you used? I started over completely from scratch after getting weird results (ie kext disappearing from L/E, graphical glitches during bootup, probably messed up nvram boot arguments, etc)

Pretty simple:

Reboot, hold CMD + R to enter recovery mode

Enter your password (if asked), if not, when you get to the recovery options screen go to the top menu and click "Open Terminal"

Type in the command below to disable SIP (System Integrity Protection):

csrutil enable --without-kext

and reboot.

You can verify in normal mode by opening terminal and typing

csrutil status

If gives you a listing and indicates kext is "disabled" then you have done it.

From there you can drop the .kext files into /Library/Extensions

You may see a pop up (If not, Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy), unlock the dialog and you should see a button that lets you approve the kext update, and then once you do that, it will ask you to reboot.

From there both should be loaded until you, or a Big Sur update re-enables SIP.

 

[daydreamerbox]

Hi!
My 2015 macbook pro (A1502) ended up getting the flashing folder with question mark and i sadly, i never ran time machine so my data is most likely lost. I have sent it to a data recovery specialist but they haven't had any luck yet.

In the meantime, I plan on replacing the SSD with a WD SN550 NVMe and the sintech adapter. I am an amateur to all of this so I will be watching some YT videos and relying on this forum to get me thru this .

The one question I have is the macos...what is the best way to approach that since i dont have anything saved in time machine? I'm not sure what i was running before..do i need to download it somehow? thanks for the help!

 

[herb2k]

The one question I have is the macos...what is the best way to approach that since i dont have anything saved in time machine? I'm not sure what i was running before..do i need to download it somehow? thanks for the help!

You would need to create a bootable macOS USB or SD card to reinstall macOS (Or try internet recovery, but it doesn't always work - depends on your firmware version).

A1502 can run any macOS out there right now. You would need at least Mojave, Catalina or Big Sur to format an NVMe SSD.

 

[mdgm]

You would need to create a bootable macOS USB or SD card to reinstall macOS (Or try internet recovery, but it doesn't always work - depends on your firmware version).

A1502 can run any macOS out there right now. You would need at least Mojave, Catalina or Big Sur to format an NVMe SSD.

You can use NVMe SSDs with High Sierra as well. However for the late 2013 and mid 2014 machines you want to have Mojave or newer with all security updates installed to get an EFI firmware update that fixes hibernation issues if this hasn't been done in the past. If your system has an old Boot ROM (doesn't start with a 4, I think) you'd need to use an OEM SSD (can be a small capacity one) to do the firmware update. This mentioned in the wiki post at the start of the thread.

For the mid 2015 it should already support NVMe SSDs without hibernation issues but it's still preferable to have the latest EFI to get security fixes etc.

 

[mike351]

Hi everyone.
I installed a Kingston A2000 1tb on my Macbook Air mid 2013, and Big Sur is running great, can't fault it.
Windows is another story. I used Bootcamp to install Windows 10, which crashed at the end of the install and I finished it off using the SHIFT + F10 method as documented in post #1.
It seems to be ok while I am using it, but if I leave it alone at almost the 5 minute mark it BSOD's.
I have set the PCI Express power settings to moderate as mentioned elsewhere.

I haven't installed the bootcamp drivers yet, but dont think that will stop the BSODs.

Is it just my set up that does this BSOD or have others had this issue?

 

[daydreamerbox]

You would need to create a bootable macOS USB or SD card to reinstall macOS (Or try internet recovery, but it doesn't always work - depends on your firmware version).

A1502 can run any macOS out there right now. You would need at least Mojave, Catalina or Big Sur to format an NVMe SSD.

Thanks for the help! i will look into creating a bootable macOS USB. Is there a preference of which macOS i should use (Mojave, catalina or Big Sur)?

 

[mdgm]

Thanks for the help! i will look into creating a bootable macOS USB. Is there a preference of which macOS i should use (Mojave, catalina or Big Sur)?

Mojave is good if you have 32-bit apps that you still need to run as it's the last version of macOS to support them. It will likely stop getting security updates in a few months or so when Monterey is released so if you don't need to run 32-bit apps and would like security updates I'd probably look at one of the other two e.g. Big Sur.

 

[discaublackout]

Hello, I installed a new Crucial P2 500 Go in my mbp 2014 with the sintech adapter. Everything went fine with formatting to OS Mojave and restoring my time machine backup. However when I do a sleep test with Black Magic, I get unexpectedly slow read and write speeds. It’s the same as with the original Apple ssd :/

 

[mdgm]

Which Boot ROM version do you have?

Maybe try a SMC reset?

 

[discaublackout]

Thanks for you swift answer. It’s ROM version 431.0.0.0.0 and SMC 2.16f68

 

[mdgm]

So the Boot ROM is up to date. That's good.

Did you try the SMC reset?: https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201295

Have you checked in Activity Monitor if other processes are accessing the disk?

 

[discaublackout]

I just did a SMC reset. The write and read speed aren’t faster. It’s strange I get an error message when I try to select my new HD for the speed test.

Here is a screenshot of the activity monitor.

 

[discaublackout]

Does this disk setup look OK? Apparently there’s unmounted volumes (I don’t know what they refer to)