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jwar1976

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 29, 2019
237
77
Norwich
Hi all,

Now that I have started to use my Early 2015 13" MBP for putting together a internet radio show, as well as editing photos, it is now obvious that the 128gb is not fit for purpose and so I need to consider other storage options. Looking at the options it looks like my only options are :.

External HDD
High Capacity SD Card
Internal SSD

Looking at the choices of SSD, it seems that the only compatible ones are 480gb at £203 & 960gb at £305 Transcend Jet Drive. But I could be mistaken with this and there are other reliable possibilities ?.

Also there is a Mac expert that lives fairly local to me, and he is able to supply fit these drives, as well as backup & restore previous data. But he charges a little over £100 on top of the cost of the drives to do this. If it was a PC, I would have no issue in doing it all myself as I have built PC's and upgraded laptops since the late 90's. Been looking at videos and it does look quite simple to fit a new SSD, and then using Time Machine to backup and restore the data from the previous drive.

Am I correct in thinking that these are the only options, or is there another option that I have missed ?.

Many Thanks
 

Reytiros

macrumors member
Jun 10, 2015
34
40
Germany
i bought a Crucial P1 1TB M.2 PCIe SSD + a M.2 Adapter and it works fine with my 2015 13" MBP. (for about 150€)
if you buy an external M.2 USB enclosure, you can use SuperDuper! to clone your current drive (that's what i've done), before you exchange them

Edit: Another option is to use a micro sd card + nifty drive. But this was too slow for me, thats why i upgraded my internal storage.
 
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jwar1976

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 29, 2019
237
77
Norwich
i bought a Crucial P1 1TB M.2 PCIe SSD + a M.2 Adapter and it works fine with my 2015 13" MBP. (for about 150€)
if you buy an external M.2 USB enclosure, you can use SuperDuper! to clone your current drive (that's what i've done), before you exchange them

Edit: Another option is to use a micro sd card + nifty drive. But this was too slow for me, thats why i upgraded my internal storage.

Wow that is brilliant thank you, I cannot believe how much cheaper it is.


Thank you very much for that, I will take a look at the thread.
 

pshufd

macrumors G4
Oct 24, 2013
10,133
14,565
New Hampshire
i bought a Crucial P1 1TB M.2 PCIe SSD + a M.2 Adapter and it works fine with my 2015 13" MBP. (for about 150€)
if you buy an external M.2 USB enclosure, you can use SuperDuper! to clone your current drive (that's what i've done), before you exchange them

Edit: Another option is to use a micro sd card + nifty drive. But this was too slow for me, thats why i upgraded my internal storage.

That's a rather stunning price for 1 TB considering what Apple charges for storage. I was looking at an iMac and going from a 1TB Fusion drive to a 1TB SSD is about $700. I'd love to throw a 2TB SSD in my 2014 or 2015 MacBook Pro and just keep it running for another five years.
 

jwar1976

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 29, 2019
237
77
Norwich
After looking at the brilliant thread, I have decided that I am going to bite the bullet and go for it, seems ridiculous in paying over £400 ($520) for someone to supply and fit a 960gb drive. As it would only cost under £150 for me to do it all myself but with a 1tb drive and adapter.

Yes the thought of doing it, is quite daunting, but after seeing some YouTube videos, it looks easier than I first expected. Think it was due to me originally considering an iMac and seeing the process of replacing an SSD that horrified me. Hell if I am able to replace drives in certain laptops that require removing the keyboard to get access to the drive, then this looks a sinch in comparison.

In all honesty it has been a right ballache running out of space when transferring Raw files from my camera to my MacBook Pro before they have even synced to Creative Cloud. At least by installing a 1tb drive, I will be able to do that, organise & run a playlist for my Internet radio show, run bootcamp etc etc, with plenty of space to play with & without the worry of running out of space or having to sell one of my vital organs to pay for it.
 

jwar1976

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 29, 2019
237
77
Norwich
Don't be afraid it's really easy. Be sure you buy the right adapter and nvme ssd!

A few of the videos I have watched, seem to point to a Sintech NGFF adapter, which can be bought for under £20, so that could well be the adapter that I choose. The next step is of course to pick a NVMe drive, from the guide in the really long thread on here, it says the following drives have been tested.

  • Adata NVMe SSD : SX6000, SX7000, SX8200, SX8200 Pro etc.
  • Corsair NVMe SSD : MP500, MP510
  • Crucial NVMe SSD : P1
  • HP NVMe SSD : ex920, ex950
  • OCZ RD400 (and all Toshiba XG3-XG4-XG5-XG5p-XG6 line)
  • Intel NVMe SSD : 600p, 660p, 760p etc.
  • MyDigital NVMe SSDs : SBX - BPX
  • Kingston NVMe SSD : A1000, A2000, KC1000
  • Sabrent Rocket
  • Samsungs Polaris NVMe SSD : 960 Evo, 960 Pro, 970 Evo, 970 Pro
  • WD Black NVMe SSD v1, v2 and v3

So will take a look at those, the Crucial P1 can be purchased for a little under £120 from Amazon, so that looks to be a good starting point.
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And make sure you have the correct screwdrivers and always work on the interior of the machine with a disconnected battery.

Yes of course, whenever I have done major desktop upgrade, I have always unplugged the PSU from the motherboard and on laptops, have always removed the battery, so wouldn’t expect the MBP to be any different in that respect. As for the screwdrivers, I see that the needed Torx ones can easily be purchased at good prices.
 
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