I am sure there are many people out there that would love to increase the capacity of their Macs but is scared to do so due to lack of support from Apple and technical information. Apple don’t provide any support information for that kind of upgrade and I have been told they are not allowed to open the back cover of your Mac. Everyone I have asked that do business with Macs or fix Macs told me don’t do it as it will not work.
I got my first itch when I read Swiech (2018, Online) article “Samsung 960 PRO in MacBook Pro (Retina 15“, Mid 2015)”, that gave me inspiration and that’s where I have started with my investigations. I could only find bits and pieces of information available, but most blogs argue that it can’t be done. And then I found a YouTube video that demonstrated a Samsung 970 EVO in a MacBook pro 2015 model published by Denis Schiopu beautifully. That is the moment when I was convinced. That video demonstrate the exact steps contained in this article brilliantly. Be warned, if you have an older or different Mac model it will require some research but more about it later.
The purpose of this article is to guide you what to look for and to give you the confidence and guidance needed to be able do it yourself. All Macs come in different year models and technical specifications which can be quite confusing to determine which of the latest SSD is compatible with your Mac. Let alone that you have no idea what SSD is currently in your Mac.
Since Apple introduced the High Sierra macOS, one of the important features that come with the new macOS was the new filesystem APFS, NVME support for SSD drives without the need to install third party drivers along with some other features like 64-bit architecture and improved security for encryption (FileVault). That information is for your information only and doesn’t serve the purpose of this article and will not be covered.
For this exercise to work you need to determine if you can upgrade your old macOS to High Sierra. I have provided macOS hardware requirements links that will help you in that regard. If you cannot find your model in any of those articles, stop just there and forget about it. If it is possible to upgrade your model, here is some important advice, first, use the App Store to update your operating system to macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 or Mojave. Don't upgrade your Mac Pro (Mid 2010) or Mac Pro (Mid 2012) to macOS Mojave directly from macOS versions prior to 10.13.6. Newer models after (Mid 2012) shouldn’t be a problem. Also ensure that your graphics card is compatible with the upgrade. Please be aware that this upgrade is a big architecture change and I advise that you read up on those extra features that comes with macOS High Sierra.
To put this exercise in action, I will explain it in simple steps with detail information as possible.
Step 1 Identify you Mac
Find out which MacBook Pro you have, and where it fits in the history of MacBook Pros.Your Mac provides several tools to help you identify it. The simplest one is About This Mac, available by choosing About This Mac from the Apple () menu in the upper-left corner of your screen. The other is the System Information app. Learn how to use these tools to identify your Mac.
If you don’t have your Mac or it doesn’t start up, use one of these solutions instead:
- Find the serial number printed on the underside of your Mac, near the regulatory markings. It’s also on the original packaging, next to a barcode label. You can then enter that serial number on the Check Coverage pageto find your model.
- The original packaging might also show an Apple part number, such as MLH12xx/A (“xx” is a variable that differs by country or region). You can match the Apple part number to one in the list below to find your model.
Figure 1 System Information
Choose Apple menu () > About This Mac to get an overview of your Mac, including your Mac model, processor, memory, serial number, and version of macOS. To see the greater detail provided by System Information, click the System Report button.
To open System Information directly, hold down the Option key and choose Apple menu () > System Information. You can also use Spotlight to find System Information (Figure 2) or open it from the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
Figure 2 System Information
Step 2 Identify and understand your current SSD drive
While you are still in System Information, scroll a little down and click on SATA/SATA Express. You will notice all your SSD controller information will display here. Most Macs will come with a SATA/SATA Express SSD (Figure 3).If you are on macOS Sierra or higher, you will notice the NVME Express will show in your System Information as an indication that your Mac will support NVME (m.2) SSD drives. But in this scenario, it is not available.
Figure 3 SATA Example
I have found an interesting article “The Ultimate Guide to Apple's Proprietary Solid State Drives” written by Henderson (2017, Online) explaining the differences between SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) and PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) Interfaces. A lot of research have been done in that article and it is a must read and cover almost all models dating back to 2010.
Henderson (2017, Online), explains the difference between ACHI and NVME is and that ACHI was created when storage devices still used in spinning magnetic disks to store data. AHCI was versatile enough to work with SSDs and Higher transfer rates was limited as a result, started to reach a bottleneck.
NVMe on the other hand was created specifically to work with SSDs, reducing the latency and allowing for larger amounts of data to be transferred at a single time, making better use of modern multi-core processors. NVMe becomes especially important with PCIe SSDs. With the introduction of the PCIe 3.0, the performance of NVMe Drives has thrived.
All Macbook Airs and Pro models (mid 2013 – early 2014) will benefit from the PCIe 2.0 x 4 channel, opening up the possibility to upgrade to the faster four channel drives found in Generation 4 and 5. It is important to understand the limitation of your current configuration of your Mac and what your possibilities there are for you to upgrade. For example if you considering the latest M.2 SSD like the 970 EVO you won’t benefit the full performance of it in a PCIe 2.0 x 2 channel.
Many people incorrectly assume the connectors are one of the M.2 variants found in many PCs, but to date, Apple has still never used a standard M.2 connector. And unlike M.2 pin arrangements, Apple’s connectors were never given distinguishing names (Figure 4).
Figure 4 Apple's propriety SSD Connectors
Step 3 Determine the NVME M.2 SSD drive
Once you have determined your current configuration and understand the limitations of your Mac computer. The next step is to find the ideal SSD card that will add value to your Mac.The most important factor not to get confused here is that there are many different SSDs on the market and the ones we are referring to is M.2 and not the 2.5 inch SSDs.
In this step, you need to decide what is your budget and for which brand and size you are going for. Currently the Samsung M.2 SSDs are the top performers ranging from 950 to 970 EVO or Pro models.
Other brands to consider are as follows:
- WD Black
- Intel Optane
- ADATA XPG
- Toshiba
- OWC Aurora Pro X
Step 4 Identify the right adapter for your potential SSD
Before I carry on any further, this part is a bit tricky. For your easiest convenience, you can easily upgrade to one of the OWC SSD drives as they cater for almost all Mac computers. Most of these drives can be directly plugged into your Mac without the need of an adapter and it will work.Have a look on their website and find your Mac model and see what options you may have:
https://eshop.Macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc
Remember the OWC SSDs don’t provide the same performance as the Samsung SSD drives. As mentioned in step 3 you will have to do a bit of homework and compare the various SSD drives to come to a conclusion.
It appears that most of the 2013 Mac models up until 2017 will be compatible with NVME m.2 SSD drives. Here I will use the my MacBook Pro as an example which will caters for most 13”and 15” MacBook Pros.
The 2015 releases of the MacBook Pro laptops were relatively minor upgrades, but on the SSD front, brought a significant performance boost, especially for the 15″ model A1398.
Both the 13″ and 15″ Macs support a full range of drive capacities as well as four channel connections. The 15″ MacBook Pro enjoys a significant performance advantage due to its support for PCIe 3.0 that allows the NVMe technology to shine.
For the 13″ MacBook Air models, the Gen. 4A product lines have been used till some of the Mid 2017 releases with a lack of PCIe 3.0 support, the Early 2015 release still saw read/write speeds that were 90-120% faster than the 2013/2014 models. Many of MacBook Air laptops before the Early 2015 – Mid 2017 MacBook Airs lack the space to fit the wider 1TB SSDs, and are limited to the 128GB, 256GB and 512GB SSD options.
In my example (MacBook Pro 15”) I found the following adapters that will work with most 13”and 15”models.
- Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter Card for Upgrade MacBook Air(2013-2016 Year) and Mac PRO(Late 2013-2015 Year)
- Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter Card for Upgrade 2013-2017 Year Macs(Not Fit Early 2013 MacBook Pro)
- JSER 12+16pin 2014 2015 Macbook to M.2 NGFF M-Key SSD Convert Card for A1493 A1502 A1465 A1466
Step 5 Putting the upgrade to action
This step will contain technical information and will explain the “how to” in multiple smaller explainable steps.Task 1 Upgrade the OS Software
The first task here is to ensure that all Mac Pro (Mid 2010 - Mid 2012) models upgrade to macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 directly and then to Mojave 10.14.2 afterwards. Newer models after (Mid 2012) can be directly upgraded to Mojave 10.14.2 macOS. Ensure that your graphics card is compatible with the new macOS.The recommended method to do an upgrade is to go to Apple store and upgrade your current macOS.
Task 2 Make a Full backup with Time Machine.
This is quite an important task if you want all of your information back after the SSD upgrade. You will need an external hard drive for this and time Machine will format it and make a full back up of all your data on the newly upgraded macOS.Task 3 Create a bootable disk
After you upgraded the macOS, connect the USB flash drive or other volume you're using for the bootable installer. Make sure that it has at least 12GB of available storage and is formatted as Mac OS Extended. I recommend you use a 16 GB flash drive for this exercise.Format the flash drive as OS extended and then attempt to run the command line to create a bootable disk.
The first problem I have found after the macOS upgrade is that I was unable to create a bootable disk. The root cause for this is that during the OS upgrade the Install macOS file was never created in your /Applications folder and will result in a error as described below
sudo: /Applications/Install macOS Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia: command not found
If this happened to you I suggest make an appointment with your nearest Apple store and let them create you a bootable disk according to your macOS on your Mac.
If the Install macOS file exist, open Terminal, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Copy and paste one of the following commands in Terminal and rename “MyVolume” to the name of the USB flash drive you're using. It can be found using the disk volume utility.
Mojave:
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
High Sierra:
sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
Task 4 Replace the SSD card
For this task to work you’ll need the tools for it. These tools are not available at any shop but I managed to find one at a computer shop called Esquire based in Midrand South Africa. Some of the electrical wholesalers in your area might also have these.You’ll need the following tools:
- P5 screw driver to unscrew the back cover of the Mac
- T5 screw driver (have not seen any use of it)
- Star screw driver that fit to unscrew/screw the screw of the SSD card
- 2 pieces of plastic to lift up the battery connector
Figure 5 Tools
I have not seen a better YouTube video explaining the steps required to upgrade an SSD on a 15” MacBook Pro (2015) . This will provide you the hand on experience you need and I personally used that as a reference and did the upgrade myself without any issues.
Task 4.1 Unscrew the back cover of your Mac
For this you’ll need the P5 screw driver and unscrew the back cover of your Mac. The back cover is very easy to lift up.
Figure 6 Lift the back cover of your Mac
Task 4.2 Unplug the battery connector
The first thing you need to do here is to carefully lift the piece of plastic up that protects the battery connector.
Figure 7 Lift the plastic protector
Thereafter you can use the 2 plastic tools to unplug the battery connector to ensure there is no power. The reason for that is to ensure you don’t accidently damage any of the electrical circuits on board while working. After this unplug the battery connector.
Figure 8 Unplug the battery connector
Task 4.3 Replace the SSD
Figure 9 Unplug the old SSD
Figure 10 Plugin the new SSD in the adapter
Figure 11 Plugin the new SSD with adapter
Please ensure you plug it in properly and carefully.
Figure 12 Screw it in
Please note that you might need a slight longer screw (Figure 11) to screw in as bolt in the adapter and the SSD drive together. Usually the screw coming with the Samsung 970 SSD drive works fine.
Figure 13 Connect the battery
This is a very important step not to forget to put the battery connector back before you screw the back cover back on. After this put the back cover back and screw it in.
As you can see it is fairly simple and this whole exercise can be done in less than 5 minutes!
Task 5 Plug in your bootable disk
Right now your Mac won’t be able to boot up as it usually does. For this you’ll need to connect the bootable installer and boot up your Mac.During start-up “Startup Manager” will appear on the screen.
- Select the bootable installer as the startup disk, then start up from it. Your Mac will start up to macOS Recovery.
- Learn about selecting a startup disk, including what to do if your Mac doesn't start up from it.
- Choose your language, if prompted.
- A bootable installer doesn't download macOS from the Internet, but it does require the Internet to get information specific to your Mac model, such as firmware updates. If you need to connect to a Wi-Fi network, use the Wi-Fi menu in the menu bar.
- Select Install macOS (or Install OS X) from the Utilities window, then click Continue and follow the onscreen instructions.
Figure 14 Recovery Manager
Right now you need to select the Disk utility option and format your current SSD drive to the new APFS file system.
Figure 15 Format drive to APFS Files system
Task 6 Install new macOS or restore from full backup
Once you have successfully formatted your SSD drove to the new APFS file system. When you closed the utility it will take you back to Recovery Manager.In this exercise you have two options depending on your patience and how much time you have.
- Restore from time Machine
- Reinstall macOS
Please note: It is important to understand that you already need to be upgraded to the latest OS before you make a backup. As this is the OS you will do a full restore from.
There is a good article written by Apple Support where you can learn how to use macOS Recovery to reinstall the Mac operating system on your built-in drive or an external drive.
To start up from macOS Recovery, turn on your Mac and immediately press and hold one of the following combinations on your keyboard. Command-R is generally recommended, especially if you never installed macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later.
- Command (⌘)-R (Install the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac)
- Option-⌘-R (Upgrade to the latest macOS compatible with your Mac)
- Shift-Option-⌘-R (Install the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available)
Task 7 Sleep and restart test
For this you can restart your and put your Mac to sleep mode to ensure your OS function as it should. You can also copy and paste some big files and observe the speed difference in awe.Another test you can try is to test the speed of your SSD drive with Aja.
Figure 16 AJA Performance Test
I have also found that on the Samsung website there was no drivers and software (Samsung Magician) available for the 970 EVO for Macs. They are only available for Windows. But I am not disappointed with the performance so far even though my read performance was supposed to be close around 3500 MB/s as advertised and it doesn’t make any sense why it is lower than my write speed.
Lastly open the system report for your Mac, hold down the Option key and choose Apple menu () > System Information.
Click on NVME/Express and you will see the new information of your new SSD drive. Another thing to note is TRIM support is automatically enabled and there is no need to worry about enabling it. If it is not enabled in your case I would recommend enabling it. Read up on it before you attempt it as you need a backup plan.
Commands you can use in Terminal is as follows:
- sudo trimforce enable
- sudo trimforce Disable
Figure 17 NVME Example
Summary
For many MacBook Pro models especially those between 2013 to 2015, it is very simple to upgrade to the latest SSD drives. I believe most of the other Mac models work in a similar fashion but older models are a little tricky and require a bit of research. Older models come with limitations and you need to be able to obtain the correct SSD to be able to get the ultimate performance possible out of your Mac.I hope this article will guide you and serve as a single point of access point to all relevant information you will need to make that decision to upgrade to a bigger and faster SSD. From various articles I have read, I found that many have upgraded their Macs and is pleasantly happy about the performance. It is another way to say that you possibly extend the lifetime of your Mac perhaps for another two years.
References:
Apple Support. 8 November 2018. Mac startup key combinations. [Online]. Available from: https://support.apple.com/en-za/HT201255 [Accessed: 27 December 2018]Apple Support. 8 November 2018. How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery. [Online]. Available from: https://support.apple.com/en-za/HT204904 [Accessed: 27 December 2018]
Swiech, M. 4 March 2018. Samsung 960 PRO in MacBook Pro (Retina 15“, Mid 2015). [Online]. Available from: https://medium.com/@MaestroVolis/samsung-960-pro-in-15-Macbook-pro-retina-15-mid-2015-b858e7ef5fa3 [Accessed: 08 July 2018]
Henderson, C. Jun 6, 2017. The Ultimate Guide to Apple's Proprietary Solid State Drives. [Online]. Available from: https://beetstech.com/blog/apple-proprietary-ssd-ultimate-guide-to-specs-and-upgrades#hdr-1 [Accessed: 16 November 2018]
Bland, R. 11 February 2014. M.2 SSD Guide / Compatibility List. [Online]. Available from:
https://www.ramcity.com.au/blog/m.2-ssd-guide-compatibility-list [Accessed: 27 December 2018]
Schiopu, D. Samsung 970 EVO 1TB SSD and Sintech ST-NGFF2013-C Adapter upgrade on MacBook Pro A1502 early 2015. [Online]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU6yatTvyyk [Accessed: 27 December 2018]
Apple Support. 12 December 2018. Identify your MacBook Pro model. [Online]. Available from: https://support.apple.com/en-za/HT201300
Online Forum [Online]. Available from: https://forums.Macrumors.com/threads/upgrading-2013-2014-Macbook-pro-ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/page-65 [Accessed: 27 December 2018]
[Online]. Available from: https://everyMac.com/systems/apple/Macbook_pro/specs/Macbook-pro-core-i7-2.5-15-dual-graphics-mid-2015-retina-display-specs.html [Accessed: 27 December 2018]
Apple Support. macOS Sierra - Technical Specifications
[Online]. Available from: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP742?viewlocale=en_ZA&locale=en_ZA [Accessed: 27 December 2018]
Apple Support. macOS High Sierra - Technical Specifications
[Online]. Available from: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP765?viewlocale=en_ZA&locale=en_ZA [Accessed: 27 December 2018]
Apple Support. macOS Mojave - Technical Specifications
[Online]. Available from: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP777?viewlocale=en_ZA&locale=en_ZA [Accessed: 27 December 2018]
