Replacement SSD for MacBook Air 2015 and/or 2017

[krs]

I would like to get some basic info on the SSD I can use to replace the 128GB SSD in both the 2015 and 2017 MBa.
I want to replace the existing drive with a 512GB or 1TB SSD

As I understand it, the SSD in those MBa's have a proprietary "Apple" pinout.so the following questions:

1. Is the pinout (or compatible rives) the same for the 2015 and 2017 MBa?
2. I have come across Corsair P1 and P2 SSD's which are supposed to be 100% compatible with the MBa - True or false
3. Alsocame across a "P5" which seems to be the standard pinout (not MBa compatible)
4. And then there are adapters to make the standard SSD compatible with the Aple MBa pinouts. Anybody use one of these and if so how well does that work?
Doesn't the adapter add to the overall length making mounting the drive non standard.

I'm going to research a bit more on the net but would love to get some first hand feedback here.

 

[MacInWin]

Check with OWC ( Apple Mac Upgrades - RAM, SSD Flash, External Drives and More ) for drives for that machine. They are Mac hardware experts. I think they ship to Canada, as well.

 

[krs]

Thanks,
I'm using OWC as one of my on-line resources.
Does anyone know who actually manufactures these SSDs for OWC?
I usually don't buy anything that gets less than a 4/5 rating; for something as important as the main drive in a Mac I like average reviews to be 4.5/5 or better.
The OWC drive ended up with 3.7/5.0 average review rating.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CU2UY4W/?tag=macforums0e4-20

I then checked some other review sites and the ratings for that OWC SSD were not much better

 

[krs]

This turning out more complicated than I expected.
Now I'm reading this at several places, I wanted to keep running on El Capitan:

• IMPORTANT NOTE: macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later macOS MUST be installed on the host computer before installing this Timetec MAC SSD. Otherwise, this new Timetec SSD will not work properly. This Timetec SSD is NOT compatible with Apple Boot Camp (Install a windows volume on that drive) on MacBookPro11,1 or MacBookAir6,1 or MacBookAir6,2.
• Compatible with Apple model year: MacBook Air (Mid 2013 / Early 2014 / Early 2015 / Mid 2017), MacBook Pro (Late 2013 / Mid 2014 / Early 2015 / Mid 2015), iMac (Late 2013 / Mid 2014 / Late 2014 / Mid 2015 / Late 2015 / Mid 2017 / Early 2019), Mac Pro (Late 2013), Mac Mini (Late 2014)

 

[MacInWin]

I say it again, check with OWC. Open a chat with them about what you want to do. I tend not to listen to reviews unless they give great detail on what the problem was. Lots of competitors post negative reviews to drive customers away from one and toward them. You can open a chat with them during open hours. I've never had any issue with OWC products.

 

[pigoo3]

Believe it or not...we have a Mac-Forums Blog article on this very subject from last year:

Upgrade 2013-2017 Apple Notebook/Laptop Storage on the Cheap - Mac-Forums Blog

Upgrade 2013-2017 Apple Notebook/Laptop Storage on the Cheap. To keep costs down...sometimes we pass on upgrades (that we later regret). One of these upgrades is internal storage.

www.mac-forums.com

Hopefully it answers most questions.

Nick

 

[krs]

Thanks Nick, your Blog article is great.
Answers at least some of my questions

1. Is the pinout (or compatible drives) the same for the 2015 and 2017 MBa?

Yes

2. I have come across Corsair P1 and P2 SSD's which are supposed to be 100% compatible with the MBa - True or false

False (as far as I can tell, those are the "standard" versions).

3. Also came across a "P5" which seems to be the standard pinout (not MBa compatible)

P1, P2 andP5 designators seem to be unique to Crucial and refer to different performance levels

tps://ssdsphere.om/crucial-p2-vs-crucial-p5/ (outdated link removed)

4. And then there are adapters to make the standard SSD compatible with the Apple MBA pinouts. Anybody use one of these and if so how well does that work?
Doesn't the adapter add to the overall length making mounting the drive non standard.

Answered in detail in Nick's blog

What I came across since posting the original questions was that on amazon.ca there are at least three SSDs with the special Apple pinouts - two "No Name" brands and some wit the OWC logo on it.
On all of those at least some users complain about these SSDs getting extremely hot,

 

[pigoo3]

On all of those at least some users complain about these SSDs getting extremely hot,

Do they say how they're determining the SSD's temperature/getting hot? Via a sensor & app...or just feels hot when MacBook Air is on their lap?

In my case it's my wife's computer (I don't use it). She hasn't complained.

Nick

 

[krs]

Do they say how they're determining the SSD's temperature/getting hot? Via a sensor & app...or just feels hot when MacBook Air is on their lap?

In my case it's my wife's computer (I don't use it). She hasn't complained.

Nick

Just to be clear - the comments about the Macs getting very hot after the 1TB SSD upgrade were from people who used the "Apple pinout" SSDs, not the standard SSD with an adapter like you did and as described in your blog.
The comments about the Mac getting very hot were both just a feeling where the user said he hadto add an external laptop fan support and others who actually quoted a temperature.
Reliability of those speial Apple compatible models seems to be an issue as well with failures reported after only 6 months.
Which macOS was your wife's Mac running when you upgraded her Mac to replace the SSD?
One thing about the Apple special pinout SSDs that bothered me when I first looked at them was that they were not compatible with any macOS less that High Sierra. I found that rather odd and was wonering if that restriction also applied to the standard SSD with the pinout adapter.

 

[pigoo3]

Just to be clear - the comments about the Macs getting very hot after the 1TB SSD upgrade were from people who used the "Apple pinout" SSDs, not the standard SSD with an adapter like you did and as described in your blog.

I see. You would think the Apple pinout would be a "smoother" upgrade.

Which macOS was your wife's Mac running when you upgraded her Mac to replace the SSD?

At least Mojave or Catalina (definitely newer than High Sierra).

One thing about the Apple special pinout SSDs that bothered me when I first looked at them was that they were not compatible with any macOS less than High Sierra.

That's rather unfriendly...since some of these MacBook Air's that these SSD's fit into can certainly run macOS versions older than High Sierra.

...was wondering if that restriction also applied to the standard SSD with the pinout adapter.

My gut feeling is the non-Apple SSD's + adapter shouldn't be a problem...since these items would be very "generic"...not something special/unusual like the Apple pinout SSD's where some sort of special instructions/coding might be necessary to use them.

2013 MacBook Airs (the oldest model that could use these SSD's)...could have been ordered/upgraded at the time of purchase with a 512GB SSD...thus a 512GB SSD upgrade should be super safe (if someone was running older than High Sierra)...only leaving the compatibility question with a 1TB upgrade (with older than High Sierra).

Again...my gut feeling with a non-Apple pinout SSD + adapter should work (if running older than HS)...since this hardware is very generic (works with lots of hardware brands).

As a reminder. The MacBook Air I upgraded with the non-Apple blade SSD + adapter was running a macOS newer than High Sierra...and it was a 512GB SSD.

Nick

p.s. Worst case scenario (if something shouldn't work)...return the items purchased for a refund. Just make sure to purchase from a seller that accepts returns.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Thanks,
I'm using OWC as one of my on-line resources.
Does anyone know who actually manufactures these SSDs for OWC?
I usually don't buy anything that gets less than a 4/5 rating; for something as important as the main drive in a Mac I like average reviews to be 4.5/5 or better.
The OWC drive ended up with 3.7/5.0 average review rating.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CU2UY4W/?tag=macforums0e4-20

I then checked some other review sites and the ratings for that OWC SSD were not much better

I used their 2.5" Mercury Electra SSDs in a couple 2010 iMacs and had no issues. Now, on a 2012 MacBook Air, that was a whole different matter. I replaced the Apple blade SSD with OWC's Aura SSD in that one and early on, it seemed fine. At some point, and my memory is a little fuzzy on this, I started seeing either kernel panics or random reboots. I did all the usual troubleshooting, reinstalled OS X a couple times even, all to no avail. I eventually bought a new MacBook Air and I decided to put the original Apple SSD back in, I think to sell the OWC SSD separately. And BAM! Problem resolved. Whatever was going on, the OWC SSD was at fault.

I also had problems with a Mac mini now that I think about it. I had replaced the HDD in that with an OWC Aura SSD and eventually had issues with it randomly rebooting I think? I can't recall as well since it was used mainly by my ex. I eventually replaced that with a WD SSD and no issues afterwards.

 

[krs]

As far as I am concerned, OWC has the same potential issues with solid state memory devices as Kingston - they buy theproduct from "whoever"and one usually never knows who the actual manufacturer is.
For the special Applepinout SSDsfor the 2015 and 2017 MBa I have not found aproduct offered by a mainstream SSD manufacturer, so it's likely some smaller company is putting those together amd they are sold under various 'non-brand' names.
I have upgraded my 2012 Mac Mini with a 1TB Crucial SSD and have had no issues, so for the 2015 and 2017 MBa upgrade, I'm going with the standard SSD by a major manufacturer and the pin adapter board.