Affordable SSD replacement for 2015 Macbook Air 13" - Please help me verify this option will work?

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Affordable SSD replacement for 2015 Macbook Air 13" - Please help me verify this option will work?

Hi.
Will try to keep this as short as possible.

1. Seems to be SSD failure on 2015 Macbook Air 13".

2. Need most affordable option (so this rules out Apple store).

3. Found an adapter on Amazon (see this Amazon link (pic below): https://amzn.to/2WRIwMM

4. Now looking affordable decent SSD (if I understand this correctly, I will need a PCIe-based NVME SSD drive?)

5. Will something like this drive work? (See link: https://amzn.to/2KlkcvL - Samsung 970 EVO Plus Series - 250GB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD)


I am worried about buying and than realizing this will not work since I am out of the states (stationed abroad currently, middle east), so I really can't afford to get the wrong adapter + ssd.

Thanks SO MUCH!


Sintech Adapter.JPG

Samsung SSD PCIe NVME.JPG
 
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I still don't think the SSD you have has failed. SSDs don't work sometimes and then not sometimes. It works or doesn't. In your case, it works. The installer fails. That's most likely a problem with the installer files or process, not the SSD.

Did you take the Mac to Apple to have them test as was suggested in the other thread?

I would NOT put Samsung in a Mac--there have been issues with some Samsung products.

I would NOT put a drive in that requires any adapter to fit. Don't add complexity to a problem.

"Affordable" may not be cheapest, given where you are located. Buying something that doesn't work isn't affordable.

If you are determined to get a new SSD, try OWC (macsales.com) for a guaranteed Apple-compatible drive.
 
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I still don't think the SSD you have has failed. SSDs don't work sometimes and then not sometimes. It works or doesn't. In your case, it works. The installer fails. That's most likely a problem with the installer files or process, not the SSD.

Did you take the Mac to Apple to have them test as was suggested in the other thread?

I would NOT put Samsung in a Mac--there have been issues with some Samsung products.

I would NOT put a drive in that requires any adapter to fit. Don't add complexity to a problem.

"Affordable" may not be cheapest, given where you are located. Buying something that doesn't work isn't affordable.

If you are determined to get a new SSD, try OWC (macsales.com) for a guaranteed Apple-compatible drive.


Hi again. Thank you for your reply. I do appreciate it.

1. It's 100% not the installation USB. It worked both when installing on the external SSD and on another mac. So the installation USB is fine.

2. I am no SSD-genius, but couldn't it be that the SSD itself hits some sort of a threshold (when trying to install or trying to run a test) and then hits a limit and throws a fit?

3. I do recognise one other plausible option might be a power delivery issue (from mobo to drive)?

4. I wish I could have taken it to an Apple store but currently cannot since I am stationed outside the states.

5. I tend to agree on the adding complexity to the system. The problem is, I can't get OWC to ship the item to my location, while the other options are available to me.


I know, it's quite the jam.

Thx again!
 
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I'll take your thoughts in the same order:

1. The USB itself may be fine, but something in your system is not the same as those other machines and is causing the installation to fail. Until/unless we find that difference, changing SSDs won't make any difference. Just refresh me, have you used Disk Utility from the booted USB stick to erase/format the internal SSD? I wonder if it is some incompatibility in the present format and what the installer is expecting. You won't see that if you boot from the USB and just try to read the internal because in that case it's not critical, but installing Mojave forces the SSD to be converted to APFS format, and that may well be what is failing.

2. No. That's not how SSDs work. There are no mechanical parts, just memory chips that work or don't. About the only "intermittent" nature might be heat, but you drove the chips hard playing back a video with no ill effects, so I don't think heat is an issue. And if the software controlling them finds a bad set of locations, it automatically disables them permanently and activates a back up set left unused for just that purpose. That swap takes place silently so you don't even know it happened. You said you could play hours of video from the SSD, which pretty much eliminates any "threshold" being hit. Every SSD I've ever heard of failing died/dead/gone with no warning. Yours allows you to read from it except when trying to boot from it. That fact alone tells me pretty strongly that it's not the SSD.

3. Not likely, again because any power fluctuation in power to the interface should have manifested during the video playback test. And if it were to be a power issue, that will make the new SSD fail in exactly the same way, so that's not a solution for you in any case.

4. OK, that's a bummer.

5. Have you actually tried to get OWC to ship and been denied? According to the OWC website:
Free US Postal delivery on select lightweight orders $29.00 & up, to all 50 US States and US Territories; discounted international delivery rates starting from $2.99.
I added the emphasis. That indicates at least some international delivery. If you are at an APO/FPO address, I think they ship there, too. In any event, you'd be better paying the Apple price and getting something KNOWN to work rather than cobbling something dodgy together in a circumstance already dicey.

But it's your money and your machine. You need to do what you feel is best for you. If you replace the SSD and that solves the issue, that's great! Good luck sorting it out.
 
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I'll take your thoughts in the same order:

1. The USB itself may be fine, but something in your system is not the same as those other machines and is causing the installation to fail. Until/unless we find that difference, changing SSDs won't make any difference. Just refresh me, have you used Disk Utility from the booted USB stick to erase/format the internal SSD? I wonder if it is some incompatibility in the present format and what the installer is expecting. You won't see that if you boot from the USB and just try to read the internal because in that case it's not critical, but installing Mojave forces the SSD to be converted to APFS format, and that may well be what is failing.

2. No. That's not how SSDs work. There are no mechanical parts, just memory chips that work or don't. About the only "intermittent" nature might be heat, but you drove the chips hard playing back a video with no ill effects, so I don't think heat is an issue. And if the software controlling them finds a bad set of locations, it automatically disables them permanently and activates a back up set left unused for just that purpose. That swap takes place silently so you don't even know it happened. You said you could play hours of video from the SSD, which pretty much eliminates any "threshold" being hit. Every SSD I've ever heard of failing died/dead/gone with no warning. Yours allows you to read from it except when trying to boot from it. That fact alone tells me pretty strongly that it's not the SSD.

3. Not likely, again because any power fluctuation in power to the interface should have manifested during the video playback test. And if it were to be a power issue, that will make the new SSD fail in exactly the same way, so that's not a solution for you in any case.

4. OK, that's a bummer.

5. Have you actually tried to get OWC to ship and been denied? According to the OWC website:I added the emphasis. That indicates at least some international delivery. If you are at an APO/FPO address, I think they ship there, too. In any event, you'd be better paying the Apple price and getting something KNOWN to work rather than cobbling something dodgy together in a circumstance already dicey.

But it's your money and your machine. You need to do what you feel is best for you. If you replace the SSD and that solves the issue, that's great! Good luck sorting it out.



Can't thank you enough for this very helpful answer. I see your point about the drive, and you did change my view on this. BTW - yes, I did try to install the OS the way you said I should. A number of times. Never works.

What we know for sure is that EVERY time I try to do some meaningful process to the ssd (in lack of better definition) it crashes the drive (not only will the app crash, but the OS itself will send a notification as if I ejected the drive (see here for example: Imgur: The magic of the Internet).

So if I try to run a test on the drive - it crashes. If I try to speed test the drive - it crashes (see here: Imgur: The magic of the Internet). If I try to clone to the drive - it crashes (see here: Carbon Software - Error during cloning - Disk was seemingly ejected during process. - Imgur). This suggest to me (again - I can def. be wrong) that something about this drive is not working properly. I don't have the knowledge to explain this though.

But yes, I definitely see your point and I do fear i'll buy these parts "for nothing".

PS - will try the OWC site again - I did not see this last time I visited, or perhaps I did try to ship and they don't ship to where I am.

Funny part - I got this MBA for it's reliability over a ThinkPad :) I find it rather funny right now :)
 
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I recommend getting the short Sintech adapter. Using the long adapter could cause problems when using a nvme drive that has memory chips on both sides of the circuit board.

Do not use any Samsung Evo Plus drives as they are known to be incompatible with MacBooks. Go with an Adata sx8200 pro, Intel 760p, or HP ex920.

You need to run ensure that the MacBook is running the latest bootroom to ensure the highest degree of success when using a nvme drive internally.

You must run High Sierra or Mojave in order to internally use a nvme drive.
 
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I recommend getting the short Sintech adapter. Using the long adapter could cause problems when using a nvme drive that has memory chips on both sides of the circuit board.

Do not use any Samsung Evo Plus drives as they are known to be incompatible with MacBooks. Go with an Adata sx8200 pro, Intel 760p, or HP ex920.

You need to run ensure that the MacBook is running the latest bootroom to ensure the highest degree of success when using a nvme drive internally.

You must run High Sierra or Mojave in order to internally use a nvme drive.


Thx so much! What is a bootroom? Is that something I need to manually update? I assume you mean the Mojave installer already contains the latest "bootroom"?

Thanks
 

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He misspelled the word "bootrom".

What is a bootrom?

Bootrom (or Boot ROM) is a small piece of mask ROM or write-protected flash embedded inside the processor chip. It contains the very first code which is executed by the processor on power-on or reset.
 
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He misspelled the word "bootrom".

What is a bootrom?

Bootrom (or Boot ROM) is a small piece of mask ROM or write-protected flash embedded inside the processor chip. It contains the very first code which is executed by the processor on power-on or reset.


Thank you for replying.

So he wrote "you need to run ensure that the MacBook is running the latest [Boot Rom]".

So how do I do this? how do I get/install the latest?

This is the first time I hear of this.

Thank you!
 
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Thx so much! What is a bootroom? Is that something I need to manually update? I assume you mean the Mojave installer already contains the latest "bootroom"?

Thanks
My apologies, I meant to write bootrom:[
Thank you for replying.

So he wrote "you need to run ensure that the MacBook is running the latest [Boot Rom]".

So how do I do this? how do I get/install the latest?

This is the first time I hear of this.

Thank you!

The simplest way to update the bootrom would be to install the latest Mac OS release with the original SSD inside the Air.

The bootrom included with 10.14.5 is 186.0.0.0.0 for the the early 2015 13" Air.
 
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Curious, I am on 10.14.5, my bootrom version is 192.0.0.0. Wonder if it's model-specific?
 
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Curious, I am on 10.14.5, my bootrom version is 192.0.0.0. Wonder if it's model-specific?

The MacBook Air And Pro have different bootrom versions.
 
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Nope, it's the one in my specs. Which is why I asked about it being model-specific.
 
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Nope, it's the one in my specs. Which is why I asked about it being model-specific.

Thanks for the reply. I edited my post to add clarification about the bootrom version I mentioned.
 

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