* I have a newer video on cloning a Mac system here: th-cam.com/video/nA04RfO4cmA/w-d-xo.html * If you have a late-2013 or 2015 Macbook Pro Retina, check out this video covering different drive options: th-cam.com/video/x13e-0TERVI/w-d-xo.html * Speed test video using this upgrade: th-cam.com/video/FyYyjP9glmM/w-d-xo.html * I WAS able to upgrade from Catalina to Big Sur after upgrading the SSD. I WASN'T able to upgrade to Monterey initially. It gave me a firmware error. I ended up reinstalling the original SSD and upgrading to Monterey. Then I put the NVMe SSD back in and the Monterey upgrade was able to complete. Installing Monterey with the original SSD apparently upgraded the firmware on the system which made the NVMe SSD work.
Just wanted to personally thank you man. Your video has the ONLY method that worked with my 970 evo plus, lots of online garb about how it just wasn't suitable for mbp 2015. followed your steps, works a charm! Thanks brother!!!
Rick, I'd like to personally thank you, I've just upgraded my old Macbook to Samsung 980 2 TB, using Monterey OS instead of Catalina. All worked like a charm!
Finally i can upgrade my Mac without spending on arm and a leg on the drive. I never really understood why apple gave you such small drives in the MacBook Pro. Just extended the life of my Mac 10 years.
Apple gave you such small drives in order to force you to purchase a much more expensive MacBook when it was new. The small drive you had was installed in all entry-level MacBooks at the time. Apple hoped few people would purchase that model they realized how small the drive was. Think of a new iPhone with only 16GB (a few years ago) and you'll get the idea.
I've heard that the adaptor sometimes causes boot problems while hibernating, I wanted to ask if someone have had this issue with the adapter shown in this video, thanks in advance and really nice tutorial
Well, I did it. I bought the parts Rick has links to including the tool kit. I followed his instructions and made notes to reference back to. It all went pretty much as he described. My only problem was not having enough room on the old 128Gb drive to install Catalina to the new SSD, so I had to clear up some space to complete the install. Once that was done it went really smooth and I now have 900Gb of space to play with! Yay! Thanks for the great video.
I just did this on the same MacBook. I does work without installing software on it first. If you do decide to install it immediately, just press Command + R and it will boot into "Internet Recovery" and will download necessary files to start an install. I had to do it a few times to get the current Catalina software to install so it would recognize the drive correctly.
Hey Rick, thanks so much for this amazing instructional video! Just upgraded my Early 2015 MacBook Pro 13 with the 2TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus and thrilled with the results! One area I struggled that might help others, I pre downloaded the OSX Monterey DMG and it wouldn't install. So I went back and followed your directions with doing the download install direct to the new 2TB drive and it worked flawlessly. Thanks again!
Hi James, I am going to do the same in few days as soon as the NVMe will arrive. Did you manage to migrate again from Catalina to Monterey OS, after the first upgrade?
I have the same setup 2015 Mac with 2tb evo… I noticed before the install where it says about this Mac it shows i7 quad core with extra graphics specs and after just says I7 core is anyone dealing with this? I wonder if its effects my speed
Such a brilliant video! I was very nervous to try this but my only other alternative was to buy a new MacBook Pro. I watched your video 420 times and followed along step by step… it worked a treat and my laptop is running better then ever! 10/10
Thank you, Rick. I like the idea of touching the case intermittently to ground the laptop. Will be doing my upgrade tomorrow. You are a great demonstrator! Simple and straight to the point. No unnecessary story telling or narratives. Will be coming back again tomorrow to watch when the stuff I ordered arrives from Amazon. Thanks a zillion!.
I think to actually ground it, the Magsafe adapter must be plugged into a power strip with it's power switch turned off? That's what I do when I work on my Macs.
Rick, I have viewed your video many times (thick skull, old body). Today, about 15 minutes ago, I replaced the SSD of my mid-2014 MacBook with a 1TB 970 EVO Plus. I followed just about every step and suggestion of yours and things worked out perfectly. I am using my updated Mac to write this. I had one scare: when inserting the 1TB SSD with adapter into the slot on the MB it seemed to not go far enough for me to screw the retaining screw in. I tried and tried but I was quite careful to not push hard. I finally thought I had bought the wrong adapter. I put the original SSD back and noticed I had to push harder to get the clearance I needed to insert the retaining screw. I took that SSD out and retried with the 1TB drive only pushing harder this time. It went in just enough. Perfect. Many, many thanks. Your video was quick, to the point, concise and complete. I wish they all were. Thank you for taking your time to make your videos.
just a tip: it would be much easier if you use superduper or carbon copy cloner to just clone your entire existing drive to the new drive. that way you get a perfect cloned drive. superduper works fine with the unpaid version for cloning devices, only smart update for backups is a paid upgrade...
Its makes the computer faster and its a clean install if you just install the MacOS on the new one. Then later on download or install personal files and apps you had and your good. A clean install is better on Mac and Windows.
That was an EXCELLENT tutorial video. My wife now has a 2TB SSD in place of her original 500 MB SSD in her MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015). Thank you for sharing your wealth of MacBook knowledge.
Just found this super helpful video, as I am in a position where I am considering what to do with my 2015 MacBook Pro. I have never had any issues, but I am running out of storage. This will give it a new lease of life, and super handy to know as I have never researched it before, the ability to upgrade to M.2. Really informative, with all of the links necessary for many countries. Turns out cheaper to the alternative I was looking at, with what should be superior performance. Nicely done!
Thanks Rick, your video gave me the confidence to have a go at upgrading my at-capacity 128Gb MacBook Pro - followed your instructions and it was easy - I now have a 1Tb capacity machine which runs so much quicker. The hardest bit was clearing enough boot space on the original HDD to be able to install the new MacOS on the new SSD in the external housing. Like prepping a room before painting it... Cheers 🍻
Followed the instructions step by step, doubled the speed of my mac. Fantastic tip. Also loved that we pre-loaded the SSD so when I installed it, it was a seamless experience from the second it loaded!
I know im randomly asking but does someone know of a tool to get back into an Instagram account? I was stupid lost the password. I would appreciate any help you can give me
To anyone planning on doing this upgrade, I would recommend the WD blue SN550 nvme ssd. It is quite a bit cheaper than the Samsung 970 evo plus and in my MacBook Pro retina 2015, I am getting 1300 MB/s write and 1400 MB/s read (these are about what this guy gets on the Samsung when he tests it in his separate video).
I’m back again! My wife has decided to replace her 2015 MacBook Pro so I get to inherit her old one. So I needed to replace the drive again so I’m back to say thanks for the instructions again. Still works, mostly… Apple makes you search more to get macOS but it’s still possible so everything still works properly. Thank you again!
Thank you so much. Great step-by-step instructions video. I followed every step and bought the same parts from your list. I successfully upgraded my 512GB to a 1TB Macbook Pro. I used MacOS Monterey since my Macbook Pro already had the Monterey version and the installation was pretty much the same.
Thank you. Successfully updated a MacBook Pro Early 2015 with your process. Only I changed was I used the larger full size adapter board to covert the SSD. Read that it eliminated any of the sleep and restart issues that the smaller adapter might cause.
I just did a battery replacement in my Early 2015 MBP, now after watching this I'm definitely going to go ahead with a storage upgrade. This is really THE way to do it, thanks for laying it out so well!
We needed a new battery on this model recently so opted for the expensive £199 GBP option as the DIY videos made it look too involved and Apple replaced the screen as well! The surface was slightly mottled but perfectly usable but was free so no grumbles.
@@M896 hello Mark , what does the screen had to do with the battery ? or was it in warranty ? can you provide more info please as i have an early 2015 MBP aswell thanks
@@M896 ah ok maybe it had the anti glare coating failure so they replaced it which is nice i guess haha . price was not too bad i guess considering the effort to replace one of these batteries and the cost of aftermarket ones ~50£ , thanks for your reply :)
Rick, your video is an absolute lifesaver. I bought a NVME SSD M.2, 2 x NVME to apple adaptors (2 just in case 1 failed) and did all the installation without knowing that I can't just "restore" onto the new NVME SSD. So now I'm waiting for the NVME external case to ship and I'll follow your method. Been cracking my brain for the last week why the damn MBP wouldn't recognise the new NVME drive.
Big thank you for this great tutorial! I upgraded my mb 15,4 mid 2015 with wd sn550 1TB exactly the way you did and it worked out very well for me. Thank you.
I've heard that the adaptor sometimes causes boot problems while hibernating, I wanted to ask if someone have had this issue with the adapter shown in this video, thanks in advance and really nice tutorial
Thanks Rick. I went with the following for my Early 2015 Macbook Pro. I have tons of space now 😊😊 SSD: Sabrent 1TB Rocket Nvme PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 Internal SSD Maximum Performance Solid State Drive (SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-1TB) SSD Enclosure: Sabrent USB 3.2 Type-C Tool-Free Enclosure for M.2 PCIe NVMe and SATA SSDs (EC-SNVE) Adapter: Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter Card for Upgrade MacBook Air(2013-2016 Year) and Macbook PRO(Late 2013-2015 Year)
Followed your clear instructions and used your link to purchase parts. Worked perfectly. Waiting for the OS to install was the longest wait. Very clear information. Thank you.
Very useful. An alternative would be to format the new blade drive (as you did) and use SuperDuper to clone the existing drive in your laptop to the blade SSD. I've done this many times (albeit with 2.5 form factor SSD's), works very well.
does it work just like that? without any command prompts? I have done HDD to SATA SSD for a 2011 mac book but i want to do it on this exact model. would i run into issues if i clone it?
Rick: Thanks so much for the video, it was incredibly helpful to enable me to successfully upgrade my original Apple drive in my 2015 MacBook Pro to a 1TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus.
This is the most instructive and high-quality vid I have ever seen in teaching me how to change a SSD in the macbook! the video is brilliant! Thank you so much!
Thank you Rick. Very good video which details everything. Great content. I installed my ssd 1 TB today before the Superbowl. I ordered the items on your link. Everything went smooth. My Mac 2014 128 gb now 1 TB with Big Sur os. Thank you once again. Subscribed and liked
Thank you so much. I’ve just successfully managed to upgrade my memory of my mbp, all thanks to you and your excellent video. I’ve watched your video about 5 times and then went for it. I’m so happy. Thanks again.
RickMakes Any ideas on how to remove the screw inside the MacBook, to input the new SSD for a MacBook Pro 2015? My screw appears to be stripped and the only thing preventing me from installing the new SSD.
I have successfully upgraded my ssd to 1TB on A1502. Had made a bootable Monterey usb and that made everything easier. Am using Syscom M.2 NVME SSD Convert Adapter Card and Western Digital WD SN550 1TB NVMe Internal SSD - 2400MB/s R, 1950MB/s W (WDS100T2B0C, Blue). It is faster than my original Samsung drive. My mac sound is also completely bad. I had tried searching for a replacement but price is not justifiable. I have resorted a middle path - JBL GO3, which conveniently replaces the sound as and when required. Thanks for this video!
I’m having kernel panic crashes on Mojave 14.6. Seems to be having to a lot of us who did this upgrade to our MBP 14-15.. Anyone else find a fix for it?
Am also having a lot of problems with Mojave. It's slowed down my 2012 iMac to a crawl, and on my wife's MBP 2013 it's incredibly bloated, using much more than half the space on her 256GB drive. Am going to try and downgrade to High Sierra when the MPB gets it's new SSD. Hard to get the Pentalobe screwdriver in S.Africa, so in the meantime I put High Sierra onto an external SSD with USB cable and both machines run quicker when that's used as the start up drive.
Thanks for this. This is very helpful. I'm able to upgrade my 2015 macbook pro with 980 PRO NVME M.2. Extended the life of my macbook pro for a couple of years.
ok so i think it worked, able to start up with updated memory installed and now shows 1tb of memory storage! thank you so much man this is awesome!! i wanted to download more programs like final cut but not enough storage cause of Logic and ProTools but now i have almost 10x storage THANK YOU!!!!
Quick question, would you be able to update the software in the future? like if i decided to use the new Big Sur and i updated from Catalina to Big Sur with this new memory already installed, would i have to remove the chip and redo this whole process again if i’m changing the OS? or would it simply update as normal with samsung chip installed?
I did this job, using all your parts recommendations on the exact model MacBook and it worked splendidly. But one question, I am seeing less time between charging on the battery. Is that to be expected with this newer Samsung EVO SSD? Edit. My battery only has 180 cycles on this gently used MacBook.
Yes, this evo is power hungry, more hungry than the standard samsung SSD, but much faster. If you want a less power hungry ssd you need the 980 series either cheap 980 with no cashe or 980 pro which is an overkill for this macbook -)
@@Whereirule my battery does drain faster than before, but I still get 7 hours of constant use and it will last over a day on standby. So I would highly recommend this. It’s also a great deal faster than the OEM drive.
@@olito_hb. Battery life did suffer a bit, maybe 25 percent quicker depletion. And it ran a little warmer, but nothing excessive. It’s a lot faster than the OEM drive.
Thank you for this great video @RickMakes ! Just upgraded my MacBook following your step-by-step tutorial. Went from Catalina to Monterey 🙂 Happy fellow here!
I have the same 2015 Macbook pro (Early 2015) and was looking for upgrading ssd from 128gig to a bigger size. Came around this video and damn! One of the quality content with all the details I was looking for with good quality (finally). Thank you son much for your work, Keep rocking (Y)
@@subigyashah982 I did a speed test video here: th-cam.com/video/FyYyjP9glmM/w-d-xo.html The drive is a little faster but I'm not sure most people would notice as the original drive is pretty fast. I mainly did the upgrade to add more storage space.
This is exactly what I needed to see for my Early 2015 MBP, thank you. When you touch the case to ground yourself, what is grounding the case to, well, ground? Ideally you should have a grounding strap on your wrist connected to the ground point in an outlet.
I think a better term would have been "bonding". You want to be at the same potential as the equipment you are working on. The equipment should be unplugged when working on it so there is no need to be at the same potential as earth ground.
Excellent video. I followed the steps on my late 2013 MBP worked like a charm. This video was right on time before I bought a new Mac and tossed the old one in the landfill. Thank you!
If you feel like the computer has slowed down after the upgrade even though it's showing good speeds with the speed test. Try Typing in : sudo trim force enable in the Terminal to have it enable the Trim for the SSD. Trim allows the OS to know which data blocks it can erase when they are no longer needed, making your ssd improve performance and have longer life.
Thanks Rick.. it was super helpful and with the links provided, easy to source the items required.. I could upgrade my 256 GB (Pro retina, 2015) to 1 TB and to the newest OS (big Sur, tbh, was scared to download to big Sur..) hope this helps others too.. it could work with big Sur too.. Really grateful for the video and keep up the good work..!! Kudos from India.. Sonu
Heya Sonu, Where Did you get the Converter from? There's no Amazon India link... Trying to do this myself but have no idea which would be a proper convertor to buy.
Thank you Rick! This is a great video. Im upgrading my 2015 Macbook pro 13" The mirgration process was stuck the first time. So I had to give it another run for it to work. Thank you!!
I don't know if this was mentioned, but it you want to use the old memory from the mac as extra storage. You will need to buy an enclosure from OWC, who are the only ones who have one that is compatible with the Apple specific memory. So that's another $90
It has been brought up a couple of times in the comments. I have seen a few other enclosures for the original SSD but they were only slightly cheaper than OWC's. Probably not worth it for people who had a small SSD from the factory. I'm keeping mine around so I can potentially put it back in the Macbook someday when I get rid of it. I can then take the NVMe upgrade and put it back in my NVMe enclosure and use it with any computer. I could also install the NVMe drive in a PC.
Thanks so much!! Loved the video.. got the parts I needed and I am up and running again. I initially had problems downloading macOS Monterey because I had automatic updates on... once I turned that off, I was on my way until I had to move some of my data off the old hard drive to make enough space to run the installation of the OS onto the new hard drive... Thanks a TON Rick!!!
This was harder to do than explained. For some reason installing to usb drive and then installing the drive to the Mac did not work. The new drive was not formatted correctly and it took me a few hours to get it right, but even still the local install didn’t work. I had to do an internet install to get it setup correctly. I was frustrated for a bit but finally got it to work. Your video got me on the right track though. Thanks
Awesome video! Have the exact same Mac, hardrive crashed. First tried making a bootable usb with OS from another video didn't work. Found yours thank goodness purchased the adapter, cloned the drive, reinstalled it and I'm back in buisness. Only thing I did different installed Monterey. Thanks so much for this video.
Thanks so much for this video! My experience in installing the Catalina onto the drives, for some reason it wouldn't let me. But it did let me put Mac Big Sur on to the SSD. I love this tutorial thank you so much.
....i just want to check that too... But i cannot see anymore of catalina in mac store...but only big sur ..for me to get....probably , every new version out, we are forced to go to the latest version of OS ?
@@mraz1017 i had the same problem but googled “download catalina mac” and used a link listed on various articles. The link opened the mac app store with the catalina download as seen on the video. For some reason i wasn’t able to access this particular catalina page (on the mac app store) when i simply typed macos catalina within the app store - i had to use the direct link and download the install. now my migration is complete and i signed in but it’s been loading for an hour since i signed into my computer and now i’m not sure if i should power down to try again SMH - UPDATE literally 5min after i posted this my computer signed in so don’t power down even if it’s taking forever to load up! LETS GO
Worked perfect for my „Mid 2014 MacBook Pro 13“ Retina“ Only thing to remark is that I needed to upgrade MacOS one by one. Couldnt install Big Sur directly. First I needed Mojave (came from Yosemite), then Catalina & now Big Sur
I come back and say thank you for sharing the method. The other method on youtube was not for me. I had the exactly 970 evo plus, up to date firmware, only this method help me successfully upgrade my 2015 macbook pro.
@@RaulSuecia You can do it after formatting and migrating data but if you purchased your drive recently, it likely has the updated firmware. I would still make sure you have a backup of your data before doing any firmware update.
For brand new fresh install, you do not need the enclosure to pre-format or install OS on your NVMe M.2 SSD. Actually all you need is this drive, the adapter and bootable USB with Big Sur OS X - that's it. After installing the drive correctly in the system (make sure to disconnect the battery first before you performing this task), connect the USB drive to the MacBook and turn on the machine while holding down the "option" key.. The system will recognize the bootable USB drive (Big Sur), select it and it will start loading. Once OS is loaded, then go to Disk Utility and this new NVMe M.2 SSD drive will be visible.. The rest I am sure you all know what to do. I believe that this same procedure that will work for MacBooks from 2013 to 2015.
Thanks for the info, I wondered the same. Why couldn’t you just reformat the drive via the bootable installer's own disk utility? Others have commented here that for whatever reason, the drive isn’t visible to them with this method. Can you confirm if it worked for you?
I wish I had done it sooner. I was moving gigabits of files around so I would have enough room to edit large videos. Now I have plenty of room to spare.
Very informative and accurate instruction I had 2 problems on the way there first was my MacBook couldn’t see the new drive when plugged into my usb, had to restart with it plugged in and then was able to see it this also happens when I plug in my normal back up drive, second problem was when clicking on the new drive to install the new system it told me not enough boot volume I mistakenly thought that was something I had to do to the new drive but it was because my original drive was almost full and it was the boot volume on it, after deleting a few things it all went as described I’m new to this sort of thing but the video made it quite easy thanks Rick
Sounds like you got it working but here is a tip if you run out of space again. On an Intel Mac, you can run the Boot Camp Assistant but then close it down before you do anything to help clear up some space on your drive. I have a video on the process here: th-cam.com/video/kon_F7qXQnE/w-d-xo.html The Boot Camp Assistant will clear out cache files and such to free up space on the drive. It is intended to do this before you install Bootcamp (and Windows), but you can quit out of it and retain the benefit of the cleaned up drive.
I have tried to find a suitable adapter for the same SSD, but I can't find one, the one you linked in the description US is not available anymore, and the German one is not compatible with Samsung 970 EVO Plus
Are you in the US or Germany? I am seeing the one in the US (JESOT) as available. I know there were compatibility issues with the Macbook and the Samsung 970 EVO Plus but a firmware update seems to have resolved those. I wonder if that is why you are seeing the German model as not compatible.
@@patrickhaft2242 www.amazon.de/gp/product/B087JLDTBK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This one by gigabase works with the 970 Evo Plus, but it doesn't allow the full speed of it. Write: 1256 MB/s Read: 1369 MB/s
@@Rickmakes I'm in Germany and somehow it says that the adapter is currently not available. But I'm now using another one. Thanks for the video and your answer.
@@stevenl9619 Hab sogar jetzt den bestellt der verlinkt war. Das er nicht kompatibel ist mit dem evo plus gilt anscheinend nur für Mac book pro 2013. Hab bei mir jetzt den Adapter von qnine mit der evo plus verbaut. Läuft super. Andere haben auch geschrieben dass sie den Adapter mir der evo plus verwendet haben und es gab keine Probleme. Read: 1490 MB/s Write: 1290 MB/s
Unfortunately, from what I have read, that model doesn't have an upgradable SSD. You could get decent performance out of an external SSD but that may not be very convenient.
The best simple video for a somewhat daunting task The step were clear and concise to the matter.It made it all seems easy - which by the end, indeed it was. Thanks
Did this yesterday awesome steps I used this hard disk WD WDS100T2B0C M.2 Pcie NVMe SSD, 1 TB Sintech adapter M.2 NVME SSD Enclosure Adapter BYEASY Only issue i faced was the screws were little old. Once again thanks.
Thank you very much for this. I did look at other videos and this was the easiest and best one. It was very easy to follow and the links were great. I guess i missed the firmware upgrade part but it works fine. Thanks again
I love your method so much more than the other videos. They were all saying to create a bootable drive, put the SSD in empty, install from the bootable and then restore from Time Machine. Your method allows the install and specific files to be copied before you swap the drives out. Way easier Cheers mate 👍
Just to confirm; After SSD is in encasement -Plug in to MacBook Pro -Reformat (Erase) via Disk Utility -Pull up App Store on main OS and drag that file to the new SSD and install -After that's done, does it automatically ask what files you'd like to transfer or do I have to initiate the transfer request -Transfer files (most of mine are Logic Pro X files, software plug-ins and audio files) -Once you've checked the new files and songs can open on the new SSD, unplug and turn off -Swap drive Did I miss anything? I'm ordering the upgrade kit off Mac Sales which includes the SSD, tools and pro-enclosure next week. Thanks in advance :)
Thanks for this procedure. I have an older imac 2013 installed bigsur using patchsur, i have an external nvme that installed on my MacBook Pro 2015, just use carbon copy cloner the bigsur from imac then installed it on my MacBook Pro 2015 and viola. I don’t have to update that Samsung 970 pro plus.
Great tutorial, but bad choice of nvme drive. Do not use this nvme if u are battery conscious. Choose another nvme like Crucial P1 or Sabrent for better battery life. And please get some thermal pad to paste over the NVME drive so it contacts the back cover and spreads the heat away.
Success! By far the best video tutorial I have watched in a long time. I just update my 2015 Macbook Pro. You Rock!! Thank you so much. Keep up the good work.
Excellent video,Rick,Thank you for it! I've tried to skip the step to put the evo plus in the enclosure and install the MacOs,but didn't work(even in tTerminal).I've installed it as i get it new,but the system could not detect it at all.Definitely have to follow all your steps and will be a success project.
What's the advantage of this approach compared to OWC - with all adapters and hoops to jump - the price of a 1TB SSD is the same but OWC can be plugged directly into MB Pro 13 2015?
When I have looked, the OWC was quite a bit more. If you can get it for the same price, it could be a good option. Here is one thing I have considered. Someday I can swap the original SSD back in, for instance, to sell it. Then I can use the 1TB NVMe SSD in an external enclosure or in a PC build. If I had installed the OWC SSD, it would mostly only be good in the Macbook. I determined that the NVMe drive could give me more value in the long run. That is just my thought process. Others may think different.
Thanks for this video. A question though, why it needs to be "setup" first before physically install it into the logic board? And why it can not be setup through recovery mood initially?
* I have a newer video on cloning a Mac system here: th-cam.com/video/nA04RfO4cmA/w-d-xo.html
* If you have a late-2013 or 2015 Macbook Pro Retina, check out this video covering different drive options: th-cam.com/video/x13e-0TERVI/w-d-xo.html
* Speed test video using this upgrade: th-cam.com/video/FyYyjP9glmM/w-d-xo.html
* I WAS able to upgrade from Catalina to Big Sur after upgrading the SSD. I WASN'T able to upgrade to Monterey initially. It gave me a firmware error. I ended up reinstalling the original SSD and upgrading to Monterey. Then I put the NVMe SSD back in and the Monterey upgrade was able to complete. Installing Monterey with the original SSD apparently upgraded the firmware on the system which made the NVMe SSD work.
I have a video on upgrading this computer to macOS Big Sur! You can view it here: th-cam.com/video/j7GA-7SJj6I/w-d-xo.html
If you are wondering if the Samsung 980 works in this model, I have a video here: th-cam.com/video/1xNEp1chIKk/w-d-xo.html
Just wanted to personally thank you man. Your video has the ONLY method that worked with my 970 evo plus, lots of online garb about how it just wasn't suitable for mbp 2015. followed your steps, works a charm!
Thanks brother!!!
Rick, I'd like to personally thank you, I've just upgraded my old Macbook to Samsung 980 2 TB, using Monterey OS instead of Catalina. All worked like a charm!
Finally i can upgrade my Mac without spending on arm and a leg on the drive. I never really understood why apple gave you such small drives in the MacBook Pro. Just extended the life of my Mac 10 years.
I dealt with the small drive for years but every once in a while I would run out of room. This upgrade breathed new life into my Macbook.
Apple gave you such small drives in order to force you to purchase a much more expensive MacBook when it was new. The small drive you had was installed in all entry-level MacBooks at the time. Apple hoped few people would purchase that model they realized how small the drive was. Think of a new iPhone with only 16GB (a few years ago) and you'll get the idea.
I've heard that the adaptor sometimes causes boot problems while hibernating, I wanted to ask if someone have had this issue with the adapter shown in this video, thanks in advance and really nice tutorial
@@Rickmakes Do you have to use Samsung m.2 or can I use another brand I have western digital and pny already
Well, I did it. I bought the parts Rick has links to including the tool kit. I followed his instructions and made notes to reference back to. It all went pretty much as he described. My only problem was not having enough room on the old 128Gb drive to install Catalina to the new SSD, so I had to clear up some space to complete the install. Once that was done it went really smooth and I now have 900Gb of space to play with! Yay! Thanks for the great video.
It really made mine feel new again. Glad everything worked out for you!
Another success story here! Just upgraded my 512GB 15" MBP to a 1TB WD Black SSD. It's crazy fast. Thanks for the rundown!
I feels good breathing new life into these machines.
Does it created any issues like sleep mode battery drain or creating heat? TIA
MahabubMithun yeah I’m concerned about the heat issue too!
And have you had any problems?
I just did this on the same MacBook. I does work without installing software on it first. If you do decide to install it immediately, just press Command + R and it will boot into "Internet Recovery" and will download necessary files to start an install. I had to do it a few times to get the current Catalina software to install so it would recognize the drive correctly.
Thanks used this trick since I did not have enough HD space
Hey Rick, thanks so much for this amazing instructional video! Just upgraded my Early 2015 MacBook Pro 13 with the 2TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus and thrilled with the results! One area I struggled that might help others, I pre downloaded the OSX Monterey DMG and it wouldn't install. So I went back and followed your directions with doing the download install direct to the new 2TB drive and it worked flawlessly. Thanks again!
Hi James, I am going to do the same in few days as soon as the NVMe will arrive. Did you manage to migrate again from Catalina to Monterey OS, after the first upgrade?
@@bernardoAmato Sorry for the late reply, I went straight to Monterey, no problems.
Thanks for the insight here. Have you noticed a significant speed increase from Flash storage? Considering going for the 2Tb myself.
I have the same setup 2015 Mac with 2tb evo… I noticed before the install where it says about this Mac it shows i7 quad core with extra graphics specs and after just says I7 core is anyone dealing with this? I wonder if its effects my speed
Such a brilliant video! I was very nervous to try this but my only other alternative was to buy a new MacBook Pro. I watched your video 420 times and followed along step by step… it worked a treat and my laptop is running better then ever! 10/10
Thank you, Rick. I like the idea of touching the case intermittently to ground the laptop. Will be doing my upgrade tomorrow. You are a great demonstrator! Simple and straight to the point. No unnecessary story telling or narratives. Will be coming back again tomorrow to watch when the stuff I ordered arrives from Amazon. Thanks a zillion!.
You haven’t needed to “ground” laptops for 13 years grandpa
I think to actually ground it, the Magsafe adapter must be plugged into a power strip with it's power switch turned off? That's what I do when I work on my Macs.
Rick, I have viewed your video many times (thick skull, old body). Today, about 15 minutes ago, I replaced the SSD of my mid-2014 MacBook with a 1TB 970 EVO Plus. I followed just about every step and suggestion of yours and things worked out perfectly. I am using my updated Mac to write this. I had one scare: when inserting the 1TB SSD with adapter into the slot on the MB it seemed to not go far enough for me to screw the retaining screw in. I tried and tried but I was quite careful to not push hard. I finally thought I had bought the wrong adapter. I put the original SSD back and noticed I had to push harder to get the clearance I needed to insert the retaining screw. I took that SSD out and retried with the 1TB drive only pushing harder this time. It went in just enough. Perfect. Many, many thanks. Your video was quick, to the point, concise and complete. I wish they all were. Thank you for taking your time to make your videos.
just a tip: it would be much easier if you use superduper or carbon copy cloner to just clone your entire existing drive to the new drive. that way you get a perfect cloned drive. superduper works fine with the unpaid version for cloning devices, only smart update for backups is a paid upgrade...
i just use a time machine backup
would it cause issues for booting?
Its makes the computer faster and its a clean install if you just install the MacOS on the new one. Then later on download or install personal files and apps you had and your good. A clean install is better on Mac and Windows.
This worked flawlessly. I used a 2TB drive and a different adapter but end result was the same. Appreciate the detailed video, thank you!
Hi Jason, which 2T drive and adapter did you use?
That was an EXCELLENT tutorial video. My wife now has a 2TB SSD in place of her original 500 MB SSD in her MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015). Thank you for sharing your wealth of MacBook knowledge.
Glad it helped!
500gb, Apple didn’t sell 500mb
I‘m thinking of the same upgrade to 2 TB. May I ask what SSD your wife got installed?
@@Kafkakerlake we installed a: SABRENT 2TB Rocket NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 Internal SSD High Performance Solid State Drive (SB-ROCKET-2TB)
@@HiPlainsDrftr Thank you for the info! I‘ll check that one out.
Just found this super helpful video, as I am in a position where I am considering what to do with my 2015 MacBook Pro. I have never had any issues, but I am running out of storage. This will give it a new lease of life, and super handy to know as I have never researched it before, the ability to upgrade to M.2. Really informative, with all of the links necessary for many countries. Turns out cheaper to the alternative I was looking at, with what should be superior performance. Nicely done!
Thanks Rick, your video gave me the confidence to have a go at upgrading my at-capacity 128Gb MacBook Pro - followed your instructions and it was easy - I now have a 1Tb capacity machine which runs so much quicker. The hardest bit was clearing enough boot space on the original HDD to be able to install the new MacOS on the new SSD in the external housing. Like prepping a room before painting it... Cheers 🍻
Just finished SSD upgrade in 2015 MBP15 with 2TB 970Plus and it works well. 2800MBs read, 2900MBs write. Many thanks for your awesome video!
Did you notice any performance improvements?
Followed the instructions step by step, doubled the speed of my mac. Fantastic tip. Also loved that we pre-loaded the SSD so when I installed it, it was a seamless experience from the second it loaded!
I know im randomly asking but does someone know of a tool to get back into an Instagram account?
I was stupid lost the password. I would appreciate any help you can give me
@Kyng Khari instablaster =)
I went to the store to upgrade my memory to 1TB but they told me that i couldn't upgrade it and would have to buy a new laptop... I'm glad I saw this!
This upgrade gave my Mac a new life.
To anyone planning on doing this upgrade, I would recommend the WD blue SN550 nvme ssd. It is quite a bit cheaper than the Samsung 970 evo plus and in my MacBook Pro retina 2015, I am getting 1300 MB/s write and 1400 MB/s read (these are about what this guy gets on the Samsung when he tests it in his separate video).
@TheMFTⓋ He' s using the EVO Plus. Take a look at the packaging in the video.
@TheMFTⓋ is it helping tho? doesn't the plus is a waste of money since the laptop can not convert it?
I’m back again! My wife has decided to replace her 2015 MacBook Pro so I get to inherit her old one. So I needed to replace the drive again so I’m back to say thanks for the instructions again. Still works, mostly… Apple makes you search more to get macOS but it’s still possible so everything still works properly. Thank you again!
Thank you so much. Great step-by-step instructions video. I followed every step and bought the same parts from your list. I successfully upgraded my 512GB to a 1TB Macbook Pro. I used MacOS Monterey since my Macbook Pro already had the Monterey version and the installation was pretty much the same.
is Monterey perform well on your mac? Im considering to upgrade OC
Do you notice speed differences?? Or just storage space?
@@drunkenmosquiro5585 Storage space. Speed would be the same because of the controller's limitation.
Thank you. Successfully updated a MacBook Pro Early 2015 with your process. Only I changed was I used the larger full size adapter board to covert the SSD. Read that it eliminated any of the sleep and restart issues that the smaller adapter might cause.
Could you share any URL for this "larger full size adapter board"? many thx.
I just did a battery replacement in my Early 2015 MBP, now after watching this I'm definitely going to go ahead with a storage upgrade. This is really THE way to do it, thanks for laying it out so well!
We needed a new battery on this model recently so opted for the expensive £199 GBP option as the DIY videos made it look too involved and Apple replaced the screen as well!
The surface was slightly mottled but perfectly usable but was free so no grumbles.
@@M896 hello Mark , what does the screen had to do with the battery ? or was it in warranty ? can you provide more info please as i have an early 2015 MBP aswell thanks
@@xalastras21 The screen was fine IMO but the surface was a little mottled. No idea why they changed it but they did!
@@M896 ah ok maybe it had the anti glare coating failure so they replaced it which is nice i guess haha .
price was not too bad i guess considering the effort to replace one of these batteries and the cost of aftermarket ones ~50£ , thanks for your reply :)
Simply followed the process blindly and it was super easy. Now no more pop up as we are running out of storage. Thanks a lot for the clear explanation
I just made a bootable Catalina usb and then booted into it, then installed it on the drive. It all works
do you need the external adapter? or can i just install macOS on it after installing it? my nvme ssd is formatted in NTFS (was used in a windows pc)
Rick, your video is an absolute lifesaver. I bought a NVME SSD M.2, 2 x NVME to apple adaptors (2 just in case 1 failed) and did all the installation without knowing that I can't just "restore" onto the new NVME SSD. So now I'm waiting for the NVME external case to ship and I'll follow your method.
Been cracking my brain for the last week why the damn MBP wouldn't recognise the new NVME drive.
It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me why you can't just do a restore. I'm guessing the people who make the NVMe enclosures are pretty happy. :)
@@Rickmakes Damn those manufacturers!
Success! Thank you for this video Rick. I must have watched 22 and a half times to make sure I did this correctly!
How is your experience im getting ready to do as well
Awesome video bro just updated my Mac, everything working great, now I have buttload of memory for all the Music 😈
Big thank you for this great tutorial! I upgraded my mb 15,4 mid 2015 with wd sn550 1TB exactly the way you did and it worked out very well for me. Thank you.
Excellent!
My Macbook is A1502 , that work with my computer ?
I would say it is the most clear and precise description how to upgrade SSD disc on Mac Book Pro. Tomorrow morning i am starting the work.
Amazing video! this helped me figure out exactly how i'll be installing an identical NVMe M.2 SSD
Glad it helped!
I've heard that the adaptor sometimes causes boot problems while hibernating, I wanted to ask if someone have had this issue with the adapter shown in this video, thanks in advance and really nice tutorial
@@martinsosa3453 I’m pretty sure this only happens on 2014 mbp models or earlier. The 2015 thankfully doesn’t have this issue as far as I know.
Thanks Rick. I went with the following for my Early 2015 Macbook Pro. I have tons of space now 😊😊
SSD: Sabrent 1TB Rocket Nvme PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 Internal SSD Maximum Performance Solid State Drive (SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-1TB)
SSD Enclosure: Sabrent USB 3.2 Type-C Tool-Free Enclosure for M.2 PCIe NVMe and SATA SSDs (EC-SNVE)
Adapter: Sintech NGFF M.2 nVME SSD Adapter Card for Upgrade MacBook Air(2013-2016 Year) and Macbook PRO(Late 2013-2015 Year)
Thanks this Instructions made it a whole lot easier to do compared to the other ones i have looked at.
I agree. I will certainly use your affiliate links.
Followed your clear instructions and used your link to purchase parts. Worked perfectly. Waiting for the OS to install was the longest wait. Very clear information. Thank you.
Very useful. An alternative would be to format the new blade drive (as you did) and use SuperDuper to clone the existing drive in your laptop to the blade SSD. I've done this many times (albeit with 2.5 form factor SSD's), works very well.
does it work just like that? without any command prompts? I have done HDD to SATA SSD for a 2011 mac book but i want to do it on this exact model. would i run into issues if i clone it?
You are my new hero. Thank you for making it easy to find the little adapter and explaining how to download and install the os ahead of time.
You're welcome. I'm always glad to help people get a little more life out of their computers.
Rick: Thanks so much for the video, it was incredibly helpful to enable me to successfully upgrade my original Apple drive in my 2015 MacBook Pro to a 1TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus.
What about speed, is it increased or the same as before
@@amitmalik1302 Noticeable faster.
This video is the best! Upgraded my computer to Mojave, as I still use Adobe photoshop/illustrator cs4. I now have 1T of storage vs 128gb. Thank you!
Thank you!
This is the most instructive and high-quality vid I have ever seen in teaching me how to change a SSD in the macbook! the video is brilliant! Thank you so much!
You're welcome!
Thank you Rick. Very good video which details everything. Great content. I installed my ssd 1 TB today before the Superbowl. I ordered the items on your link. Everything went smooth. My Mac 2014 128 gb now 1 TB with Big Sur
os. Thank you once again. Subscribed and liked
This video is the less hassle installment of the nvme ssd...thanks
You're welcome!
Thank you so much. I’ve just successfully managed to upgrade my memory of my mbp, all thanks to you and your excellent video. I’ve watched your video about 5 times and then went for it. I’m so happy. Thanks again.
Glad it helped!
Link for the tool kit you used? I like how it has all of the sized included.
Crud. I forgot to put that in the description. I'll have to add it. Thank you! Here it is: amzn.to/2rE02FP (Amazon Affiliate)
RickMakes Any ideas on how to remove the screw inside the MacBook, to input the new SSD for a MacBook Pro 2015? My screw appears to be stripped and the only thing preventing me from installing the new SSD.
@@Complexanxiety maybe you should go to a repair store, or like me, buy a stripped screw tool kit opener.
I have successfully upgraded my ssd to 1TB on A1502. Had made a bootable Monterey usb and that made everything easier. Am using Syscom M.2 NVME SSD Convert Adapter Card and Western Digital WD SN550 1TB NVMe Internal SSD - 2400MB/s R, 1950MB/s W (WDS100T2B0C, Blue). It is faster than my original Samsung drive.
My mac sound is also completely bad. I had tried searching for a replacement but price is not justifiable. I have resorted a middle path - JBL GO3, which conveniently replaces the sound as and when required.
Thanks for this video!
Hi man,
Where did you buy your converter from? trying to upgrade my macbook pro 13 inch early 2015
@@nishantrana2440 I believe that it does consume a bit more battery 🔋
I’m having kernel panic crashes on Mojave 14.6. Seems to be having to a lot of us who did this upgrade to our MBP 14-15.. Anyone else find a fix for it?
Am also having a lot of problems with Mojave. It's slowed down my 2012 iMac to a crawl, and on my wife's MBP 2013 it's incredibly bloated, using much more than half the space on her 256GB drive. Am going to try and downgrade to High Sierra when the MPB gets it's new SSD. Hard to get the Pentalobe screwdriver in S.Africa, so in the meantime I put High Sierra onto an external SSD with USB cable and both machines run quicker when that's used as the start up drive.
Thanks for this. This is very helpful. I'm able to upgrade my 2015 macbook pro with 980 PRO NVME M.2. Extended the life of my macbook pro for a couple of years.
It feels good extending the life of these computers.
ok so i think it worked, able to start up with updated memory installed and now shows 1tb of memory storage! thank you so much man this is awesome!! i wanted to download more programs like final cut but not enough storage cause of Logic and ProTools but now i have almost 10x storage THANK YOU!!!!
Quick question, would you be able to update the software in the future? like if i decided to use the new Big Sur and i updated from Catalina to Big Sur with this new memory already installed, would i have to remove the chip and redo this whole process again if i’m changing the OS? or would it simply update as normal with samsung chip installed?
I've since upgraded mine to Big Sur. It upgraded the same as the original SSD would have.
It really breathes new life into these older computers.
I did this job, using all your parts recommendations on the exact model MacBook and it worked splendidly. But one question, I am seeing less time between charging on the battery. Is that to be expected with this newer Samsung EVO SSD? Edit. My battery only has 180 cycles on this gently used MacBook.
Yes, this evo is power hungry, more hungry than the standard samsung SSD, but much faster. If you want a less power hungry ssd you need the 980 series either cheap 980 with no cashe or 980 pro which is an overkill for this macbook -)
Im scared will this damage my MacBook , I do notice my battery drains so fast *gulp* HELP
@@Whereirule my battery does drain faster than before, but I still get 7 hours of constant use and it will last over a day on standby. So I would highly recommend this. It’s also a great deal faster than the OEM drive.
Hey, what was your experience, did you have problems with the battery or the temperature?
@@olito_hb. Battery life did suffer a bit, maybe 25 percent quicker depletion. And it ran a little warmer, but nothing excessive. It’s a lot faster than the OEM drive.
i upgrade my MacBook pro to 1tb after watching your video .. thanks a lot.
You are welcome.
2024, followed steps. Worked perfectly! Had to use Monterary instead of Catalina. Used Crutial SSD instead
I bought the Samsung using your link. Thank you for doing this video. I hope I can replace mine just by watching this video over and over again. 💗
Thank you for this great video @RickMakes ! Just upgraded my MacBook following your step-by-step tutorial. Went from Catalina to Monterey 🙂 Happy fellow here!
I have the same 2015 Macbook pro (Early 2015) and was looking for upgrading ssd from 128gig to a bigger size. Came around this video and damn! One of the quality content with all the details I was looking for with good quality (finally). Thank you son much for your work, Keep rocking (Y)
Thank you!
Just finished installing a new SSD on our MacBook and I just wanted to say thank you. Your video was very helpful.
Thank you! I appreciate it.
Will it turn macbook faster?
@@subigyashah982 I did a speed test video here: th-cam.com/video/FyYyjP9glmM/w-d-xo.html The drive is a little faster but I'm not sure most people would notice as the original drive is pretty fast. I mainly did the upgrade to add more storage space.
This is exactly what I needed to see for my Early 2015 MBP, thank you.
When you touch the case to ground yourself, what is grounding the case to, well, ground?
Ideally you should have a grounding strap on your wrist connected to the ground point in an outlet.
I think a better term would have been "bonding". You want to be at the same potential as the equipment you are working on. The equipment should be unplugged when working on it so there is no need to be at the same potential as earth ground.
Thank you! You made this process super-easy for me. I would probably have spent 3 hours researching which drive to buy :)
Excellent video. I followed the steps on my late 2013 MBP worked like a charm. This video was right on time before I bought a new Mac and tossed the old one in the landfill. Thank you!
You're welcome!
Tossed? Why not sell it BRUH
If you feel like the computer has slowed down after the upgrade even though it's showing good speeds with the speed test. Try Typing in : sudo trim force enable in the Terminal to have it enable the Trim for the SSD. Trim allows the OS to know which data blocks it can erase when they are no longer needed, making your ssd improve performance and have longer life.
sudo trim command not found?
Thanks Rick.. it was super helpful and with the links provided, easy to source the items required.. I could upgrade my 256 GB (Pro retina, 2015) to 1 TB and to the newest OS (big Sur, tbh, was scared to download to big Sur..) hope this helps others too.. it could work with big Sur too..
Really grateful for the video and keep up the good work..!!
Kudos from India..
Sonu
Thank you for the comment!
Heya Sonu, Where Did you get the Converter from? There's no Amazon India link...
Trying to do this myself but have no idea which would be a proper convertor to buy.
Thank you Rick! This is a great video.
Im upgrading my 2015 Macbook pro 13"
The mirgration process was stuck the first time. So I had to give it another run for it to work.
Thank you!!
Very clear instructions. I did this with Big Sur without a hitch.
I don't know if this was mentioned, but it you want to use the old memory from the mac as extra storage. You will need to buy an enclosure from OWC, who are the only ones who have one that is compatible with the Apple specific memory. So that's another $90
It has been brought up a couple of times in the comments. I have seen a few other enclosures for the original SSD but they were only slightly cheaper than OWC's. Probably not worth it for people who had a small SSD from the factory. I'm keeping mine around so I can potentially put it back in the Macbook someday when I get rid of it. I can then take the NVMe upgrade and put it back in my NVMe enclosure and use it with any computer. I could also install the NVMe drive in a PC.
@@Rickmakescan you use another adapter to fit in enclosure, like the one used to fit the ssd in the MacBook?
I don't have any MacBook but watching you doing that is so satisfying and you explained it very well step-by-step, 1 like from me.
Thank you!
Thanks so much!! Loved the video.. got the parts I needed and I am up and running again. I initially had problems downloading macOS Monterey because I had automatic updates on... once I turned that off, I was on my way until I had to move some of my data off the old hard drive to make enough space to run the installation of the OS onto the new hard drive... Thanks a TON Rick!!!
Super video! I applauded for $5.00 👏👏
Thank you! I appreciate it.
Best upgrade video ever seen.. straight to the point. Love your work. I am going to upgrade my ssd..
Have you upgraded ? 22 speed ghat te nai gae mac di ? Ssd da adoptor kithe milo veer. Jo apan ssd de agey laga k mac ch fit karna aa
This was harder to do than explained. For some reason installing to usb drive and then installing the drive to the Mac did not work. The new drive was not formatted correctly and it took me a few hours to get it right, but even still the local install didn’t work. I had to do an internet install to get it setup correctly. I was frustrated for a bit but finally got it to work. Your video got me on the right track though. Thanks
Awesome video! Have the exact same Mac, hardrive crashed. First tried making a bootable usb with OS from another video didn't work. Found yours thank goodness purchased the adapter, cloned the drive, reinstalled it and I'm back in buisness. Only thing I did different installed Monterey. Thanks so much for this video.
Thanks so much! My computer has so much space now and runs so much better. Saved myself a lot of money not having to buy a brand new computer.
It really breathes new life into these older computers.
Thanks so much for this video!
My experience in installing the Catalina onto the drives, for some reason it wouldn't let me. But it did let me put Mac Big Sur on to the SSD. I love this tutorial thank you so much.
....i just want to check that too...
But i cannot see anymore of catalina in mac store...but only big sur ..for me to get....probably , every new version out, we are forced to go to the latest version of OS ?
@@mraz1017 i had the same problem but googled “download catalina mac” and used a link listed on various articles. The link opened the mac app store with the catalina download as seen on the video. For some reason i wasn’t able to access this particular catalina page (on the mac app store) when i simply typed macos catalina within the app store - i had to use the direct link and download the install. now my migration is complete and i signed in but it’s been loading for an hour since i signed into my computer and now i’m not sure if i should power down to try again SMH - UPDATE literally 5min after i posted this my computer signed in so don’t power down even if it’s taking forever to load up! LETS GO
Your the best!!! This is the best video! N it works!! Very explained details!! I’m sooo happy now I have an upgraded Mac!!! 👍🏻👍🏻🙌🏻thank you!!
Worked perfect for my „Mid 2014 MacBook Pro 13“ Retina“
Only thing to remark is that I needed to upgrade MacOS one by one. Couldnt install Big Sur directly. First I needed Mojave (came from Yosemite), then Catalina & now Big Sur
I come back and say thank you for sharing the method. The other method on youtube was not for me. I had the exactly 970 evo plus, up to date firmware, only this method help me successfully upgrade my 2015 macbook pro.
Glad it helped!
@@Rickmakes the firmware upgrade... can I do it AFTER formatting the SSD and migrate all my mac content into it?
@@RaulSuecia You can do it after formatting and migrating data but if you purchased your drive recently, it likely has the updated firmware. I would still make sure you have a backup of your data before doing any firmware update.
For brand new fresh install, you do not need the enclosure to pre-format or install OS on your NVMe M.2 SSD. Actually all you need is this drive, the adapter and bootable USB with Big Sur OS X - that's it. After installing the drive correctly in the system (make sure to disconnect the battery first before you performing this task), connect the USB drive to the MacBook and turn on the machine while holding down the "option" key.. The system will recognize the bootable USB drive (Big Sur), select it and it will start loading. Once OS is loaded, then go to Disk Utility and this new NVMe M.2 SSD drive will be visible.. The rest I am sure you all know what to do. I believe that this same procedure that will work for MacBooks from 2013 to 2015.
Thanks for the info, I wondered the same. Why couldn’t you just reformat the drive via the bootable installer's own disk utility? Others have commented here that for whatever reason, the drive isn’t visible to them with this method. Can you confirm if it worked for you?
What you failed to mention certain models only support Gen 3 nvme drives not Gen 4 with the adapter
Correct. Gen 4 wasn't around in 2015.
Great Video! I’m planning to upgrade the SSD on my MacBook Pro 2015.
I wish I had done it sooner. I was moving gigabits of files around so I would have enough room to edit large videos. Now I have plenty of room to spare.
@@Rickmakes Yeah same here! I have been watching videos on upgrading the SSD multiple times before I do it. Also I’m learning about computer repair.
Good instructions. Fixed my wife's Macbook. Now she is happy as can be, Thank you!
Can't argue with that!
Followed this and had no problem updating my daughters MacPro Retina. Great Video! Thanks!
You're welcome!
Thanks! Worked perfectly! Now I have 2TB storage.
Very informative and accurate instruction I had 2 problems on the way there first was my MacBook couldn’t see the new drive when plugged into my usb, had to restart with it plugged in and then was able to see it this also happens when I plug in my normal back up drive, second problem was when clicking on the new drive to install the new system it told me not enough boot volume I mistakenly thought that was something I had to do to the new drive but it was because my original drive was almost full and it was the boot volume on it, after deleting a few things it all went as described I’m new to this sort of thing but the video made it quite easy thanks Rick
Sounds like you got it working but here is a tip if you run out of space again. On an Intel Mac, you can run the Boot Camp Assistant but then close it down before you do anything to help clear up some space on your drive. I have a video on the process here: th-cam.com/video/kon_F7qXQnE/w-d-xo.html The Boot Camp Assistant will clear out cache files and such to free up space on the drive. It is intended to do this before you install Bootcamp (and Windows), but you can quit out of it and retain the benefit of the cleaned up drive.
I have tried to find a suitable adapter for the same SSD, but I can't find one, the one you linked in the description US is not available anymore, and the German one is not compatible with Samsung 970 EVO Plus
do you have found another adapter which is compatible with the evo plus ?
Are you in the US or Germany? I am seeing the one in the US (JESOT) as available. I know there were compatibility issues with the Macbook and the Samsung 970 EVO Plus but a firmware update seems to have resolved those. I wonder if that is why you are seeing the German model as not compatible.
@@patrickhaft2242
www.amazon.de/gp/product/B087JLDTBK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This one by gigabase works with the 970 Evo Plus, but it doesn't allow the full speed of it.
Write: 1256 MB/s
Read: 1369 MB/s
@@Rickmakes I'm in Germany and somehow it says that the adapter is currently not available.
But I'm now using another one. Thanks for the video and your answer.
@@stevenl9619
Hab sogar jetzt den bestellt der verlinkt war. Das er nicht kompatibel ist mit dem evo plus gilt anscheinend nur für Mac book pro 2013. Hab bei mir jetzt den Adapter von qnine mit der evo plus verbaut. Läuft super. Andere haben auch geschrieben dass sie den Adapter mir der evo plus verwendet haben und es gab keine Probleme.
Read: 1490 MB/s
Write: 1290 MB/s
Thank you for a very informative video. Didn't know you could migrate existing data into the new iOS installation, saved me from cloning.
No problem. You're welcome!
Would this setup work for an early 2015 12” Retina Macbook???
Unfortunately, from what I have read, that model doesn't have an upgradable SSD. You could get decent performance out of an external SSD but that may not be very convenient.
RickMakes so only pro models have upgradeable SSD’s?
The best simple video for a somewhat daunting task The step were clear and concise to the matter.It made it all seems easy - which by the end, indeed it was. Thanks
Did this yesterday awesome steps
I used this hard disk WD WDS100T2B0C M.2 Pcie NVMe SSD, 1 TB
Sintech adapter
M.2 NVME SSD Enclosure Adapter BYEASY
Only issue i faced was the screws were little old. Once again thanks.
Thank you very much for this. I did look at other videos and this was the easiest and best one. It was very easy to follow and the links were great. I guess i missed the firmware upgrade part but it works fine. Thanks again
Thank you!
I love your method so much more than the other videos. They were all saying to create a bootable drive, put the SSD in empty, install from the bootable and then restore from Time Machine. Your method allows the install and specific files to be copied before you swap the drives out.
Way easier
Cheers mate 👍
Just to confirm;
After SSD is in encasement
-Plug in to MacBook Pro
-Reformat (Erase) via Disk Utility
-Pull up App Store on main OS and drag that file to the new SSD and install
-After that's done, does it automatically ask what files you'd like to transfer or do I have to initiate the transfer request
-Transfer files (most of mine are Logic Pro X files, software plug-ins and audio files)
-Once you've checked the new files and songs can open on the new SSD, unplug and turn off
-Swap drive
Did I miss anything? I'm ordering the upgrade kit off Mac Sales which includes the SSD, tools and pro-enclosure next week.
Thanks in advance :)
Does anyone use Timemachine? Restarting you MBP holding command+r, using disk manager to format then TimeMachine to restore you old system and files🤔
Definitely use it! You must backup
Awesome step by step, I followed and it worked with a 2tb drive. THANK YOU SO MUCH
on a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)?
Thanks for this procedure. I have an older imac 2013 installed bigsur using patchsur, i have an external nvme that installed on my MacBook Pro 2015, just use carbon copy cloner the bigsur from imac then installed it on my MacBook Pro 2015 and viola. I don’t have to update that Samsung 970 pro plus.
Great tutorial, but bad choice of nvme drive. Do not use this nvme if u are battery conscious. Choose another nvme like Crucial P1 or Sabrent for better battery life. And please get some thermal pad to paste over the NVME drive so it contacts the back cover and spreads the heat away.
Thanks for this comment. I was wondering about these 2 things.
Success! By far the best video tutorial I have watched in a long time. I just update my 2015 Macbook Pro. You Rock!! Thank you so much. Keep up the good work.
Thank you!
Thanks for the video. I’m about to get one of these with a 128 Gb HD. I’d like to go much bigger with HD storage.
how much gb is your mac? mines is 128 but went for 500. 128 is good for normal use but not editing
Prite Media 128. I’m going to try it for awhile before I decide how much bigger I’m going to go.
Excellent video,Rick,Thank you for it! I've tried to skip the step to put the evo plus in the enclosure and install the MacOs,but didn't work(even in tTerminal).I've installed it as i get it new,but the system could not detect it at all.Definitely have to follow all your steps and will be a success project.
Thank you! I used this technique using Monterey and it worked.
I tried upgrading to Monterey but it failed. You installed from scratch, correct?
thank you. wouldnt have known about the adapter without you.
You're welcome!
This video (AND ALL LINKS!) was very useful! Thank you Matt!
Thank you!
What's the advantage of this approach compared to OWC - with all adapters and hoops to jump - the price of a 1TB SSD is the same but OWC can be plugged directly into MB Pro 13 2015?
When I have looked, the OWC was quite a bit more. If you can get it for the same price, it could be a good option. Here is one thing I have considered. Someday I can swap the original SSD back in, for instance, to sell it. Then I can use the 1TB NVMe SSD in an external enclosure or in a PC build. If I had installed the OWC SSD, it would mostly only be good in the Macbook. I determined that the NVMe drive could give me more value in the long run. That is just my thought process. Others may think different.
@@Rickmakes Thank you! Makes sense. And a great video. Appreciated.
Thanks for this video. A question though, why it needs to be "setup" first before physically install it into the logic board? And why it can not be setup through recovery mood initially?