Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

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

Status
The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
Hi dears

I upgraded my 2014 MBP with a Sintech adapter and Samsung SSD:
The adapter:
NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter, für Upgrade Macbook Air 2013 - 2017 Macbook Pro Late 2013 - 2015 iMac 2013 - 2017 Jahr (ST-NGFF2013C)
Click to expand...
www.amazon.de

Sintech NGFF M.2 PCIe 2280 SSD Card Replace SSD MZ-JPU128T SD6PQ4M-128G of 2013 2014 2015 MacBook

Note: Because too many customers can use it, we recommend that you try again if your Mac cannot recognize the nVME SSD. Please note that you insert the card fully into the SSD slot and you need to prepare a bootable USB disk (see third point) with High Sierra to format M.2 SSD first. It cannot su...
www.amazon.de
The ssd:
Samsung MZ-V7E1T0BW 970 EVO 1 TB
Click to expand...
www.amazon.de

Samsung MZ-V7E1T0BW 970 EVO 1 TB NVMe M.2 Interne SSD Schwarz

Samsung MZ-V7E1T0BW 970 EVO 1 TB NVMe M.2 Interne SSD Schwarz
www.amazon.de

I started to gradually have problems. First just hangs. Then some random logouts and lately reboots. Crash reporter showed that it was linked to the ssd.
Today the Macbook crashed and on reboot the SSD is not recognized anymore.

Anyone having similar problems?
I think SSD and adapter should be fully supported.

Edit: I opened my macbookpro. Took SSD and adapter out, brushed it with my fingers, put everything in again - and it works. Probably just bad contacts.
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Hi,

I've updated my Upgrade-success-or-fail chart, which did little to help me with my boud of paralysis by analysis. I'll quit updating, the answer remains the same: get a Sabrent Rocket.

Upgrading_MBP_SSD.png

The ADATA/XPG drives come out best (most entries, 0 problems) but consensus seems they runs hot. Runner up is the Samsung EVO but I did not split this up in EVO, EVO Plus or EVO Pro and most people claim it eats battery like there is no tomorrow so there's that.

I hope this helps someone but I doubt it. I'd be more than happy to share the files (Libre Office calc / .ods) format.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Teshika, notgonna and lawrencesmac
Nincompoep said:
Hi,

I've updated my Upgrade-success-or-fail chart, which did little to help my with my boud of paralysis by analysis. I'll quit updating, the answer remains the same: get a Sabrent Rocket.

View attachment 951044

The ADATA/XPG drives come out best (most entries, 0 problems) but consensus seems it runs hot. Runner up is the Samsung EVO but I did not split this up in EVO, EVO Plus or EVO Pro and most people claim it eats battery like there is no tomorrow so there's that.

I hope this helps someone but I doubt it. I'd be more than happy to share the files (Libre Office calc / .ods) format.
Click to expand...


This helped me. Im gonna order a Sabrent Rocket 2TB drive and a Sintech adapter and upgrade.

Now I need to figure out whether I should use boot camp or parallels for my Windows session which I only use to edit video using Magix Vegas.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nincompoep
Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to ask 2 things on this topic. I am attempting to upgrade a MacBook Pro 13" Late 2013. I do not have the password for the internal drive and need to keep the information in case the original owner ever wakes up from her coma (seriously).

1) There seem to be two major ranges of speed available for various ssd m2 makers: 2200/1600 and 3400/2300. For instance, I am probably going to purchase a Silicon Power ssd, and they have two models about $12 apart, the second one has the higher rating. My question is - is my MacBook Pro 13" Late 2013 capable of utilizing the higher speeds? Is there any reason to get the speedier one for that machine? Like a SATA 600 drive is wasted in a SATA 300 port.

2) The old internal drive is running Mojave. Does this mean that I should have no bootrom problems? Where can I find the bootrom version info?

3) Any opinions on the SP m2 drives? There have been a few sales of other normally pricier SSDs in the past week (Samsung, which I like, and ADATA, which I really don't want to touch). Would it be better to grab one of those?

Thanks!

Ridolph
 
macsound1 said:
When I installed my Adata SSD into my 2013 MBP it only showed up when I was in the MacOS installer as it had to be initialized. I tried in an external caddy via USB first and it didn't show up at all, just like you're saying. Only when booting from a MacOS installer via usb, with the SSD installed inside my mac, did the new SSD show up.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much, spend the last few hours and I got it to work with this HUGE tip, ones I created a boot drive USB I was able to see the SSD and was able to format it and then restore it using a portable hard drive with a copy of the old computer and I am now done. Thank you all for your helps and tips in this form and also this youtube video if you don't know how to format it(
This Disk Doesn't Use GUID Partition Table Scheme. Fix macOS Error) Thank you all.
 
Hi Everyone!
I installed a nvme sabrent rocket in my macbook air 7.2 for 1 year with macOS Mojave. I am currently in 192.0.0.0 and Mojave 10.14.6 bootrom. I wanted to know if I could upgrade to Catalina 10.15.6 by leaving the NVME SSD.
Thanks for your advices
Olivier
PS: I also have a windows bootcamp installed
 
Mojito40 said:
Hi Everyone!
I installed a nvme sabrent rocket in my macbook air 7.2 for 1 year with macOS Mojave. I am currently in 192.0.0.0 and Mojave 10.14.6 bootrom. I wanted to know if I could upgrade to Catalina 10.15.6 by leaving the NVME SSD.
Thanks for your advices
Olivier
PS: I also have a windows bootcamp installed
Click to expand...
Yes, you can upgrade to Catalina but I'm not sure if Windows will still boot.
 
Hello everyone,

I’m a newbie here. I’m trying to upgrade the SSD on a 2015 MacBook Pro 15" (MacBookPro11,4) with a hynix Gold P31 1TB SSD. I am using the long Sintech adapter (which does not seem to need tape).

This is what I have done so far:
- Fresh installation of Catalina on the original Apple SSD.​
- Created bootable USB stick with Installation for Catalina​
- Replaced the original Apple SSD with hynix SSD​
- Attempted to boot from USB, I get the Apple logo, the bar is filling ... Kernel Panic ("Your computer restarted because of a problem"), boot loop into Kernel Panic.​
- Reseated the hynix SSD and Sintech adapter, tried again, same behavior.​
- Reinserted the original Apple SSD, it boots just fine.​
- Cleaned the hynix SSD and Syntech adapter terminals with isopropyl alcohol, reinsert, retry... Kernel Panic.​
- Ran Apple Diagnostics, no problem was found.​
- Booted the MacBook Pro in Target Disk mode, from another MBP I was able to see the hynix SSD, I was able to create/delete partitions, copy and delete files. Created a new Mac OS Extended (Journaled) partition. Tried to USB boot, Kernel Panic.​
- Tried creating Mojave USB stick (same thing) and High Sierra USB stick (same thing) just for kicks.​

Any ideas of what should I try next?

Thank you!
 
  • Like
Reactions: curiosior
xxbass said:
It won't work - just got feedback from SK Hynix:

"Thank you for reaching out to SK Hynix support team.

Unfortunately, SK Hynix Gold P31 is not compatible with MacOS.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you.

Best regards,
SK Hynix support team."
Click to expand...

I think you will get that response from most SSD manufacturers. Everything discussed in this thread are not a typical use case for their products.
 
herb2k said:
I think you will get that response from most SSD manufacturers. Everything discussed in this thread are not a typical use case for their products.
Click to expand...

Hope you are right. I'm looking forward to the first tester - looks like a decent SSD. 😎
 
Superhai said:
it sounds to be the sintech adapter is not working properly. Could be defective.
Click to expand...

If the adapter was defective... wouldn't I have trouble to mount the SSD when the MBP is in Disk Target Mode? I was able to create/delete partitions, copy and delete files just fine.
[automerge]1599702328[/automerge]
herb2k said:
I think you will get that response from most SSD manufacturers. Everything discussed in this thread are not a typical use case for their products.
Click to expand...

Meaning we might have a chance to actually make it work or meaning that it won't work?
 
jorgrami said:
If the adapter was defective... wouldn't I have trouble to mount the SSD when the MBP is in Disk Target Mode?
Click to expand...
When I read through your issues maybe it is something with your USB? What does the kernel panic says? It may also help to diagnose if you hold in Command [⌘] and [V] when you boot.
 
jorgrami said:
If the adapter was defective... wouldn't I have trouble to mount the SSD when the MBP is in Disk Target Mode? I was able to create/delete partitions, copy and delete files just fine.
[automerge]1599702328[/automerge]


Meaning we might have a chance to actually make it work or meaning that it won't work?
Click to expand...

Yes - in that it's likely we can make it work 🙂

I suspect the adapter or the USB enclosure has an issue. Booting with CMD+V would help narrow down what causes the Kernel Panic as the previous poster mentioned.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jorgrami
Superhai said:
When I read through your issues maybe it is something with your USB? What does the kernel panic says? It may also help to diagnose if you hold in Command [⌘] and [V] when you boot.
Click to expand...
For good measure, I taped the Sintech adapter, just in case.
I prepared a different USB memory stick and made it bootable with Mojave, and then went on with the installation, it failed.
I think I managed to catch the panic reason —this pic was taken just before the boot loop started.
 

Attachments

  • 6E75AACD-6C35-4F10-BF66-FA2BDE354192.jpeg
    6E75AACD-6C35-4F10-BF66-FA2BDE354192.jpeg
    561.3 KB · Views: 375
Last edited:
5354 said:
Hello guys, any recommendations for external enclosures for the original Apple SSD?
Click to expand...
I only know of one brand and that is OWC. Personally, I would not use the Apple SSD as an external because the cost of the enclosure itself is way too high.
 
Audit13 said:
Yes, you can upgrade to Catalina but I'm not sure if Windows will still boot.
Click to expand...

The update to catalina went smoothly, thank you for your advice
I have a problem with my NVME sabrent rocket and the Sintech adapter (same with Mojave and Catalina). I have from time to time crashes of the IONVMeController, I had this problem for a few months (after 8-10 months without any problem). Do you have any idea where the problem could be?

The firmware is ECFM12.2, i dont know if updating the firmware to ECFM12.3 could solve my problem and if it is possible on mac without erasing all ssd?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Audit13
Has anyone noticed a gradual increase in the amount of unsafe shutdown reported by drivedx? I have been noticing a consistent increase in unsafe shutdowns on both SX8200 Pro and Sabrent Rocket Q. I have had fewer sleepwake errors incidences in comparison.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back