HOW TO : UPGRADE Macbook Pro SSD (with NVMe SSD)

I have been using Apple Macbook Pro 15 Retina Display (Mid 2015) laptop as my primary device for the last 5 yrs and I loved every day of it.

The configuration I had was

and along with this, I had the 256GB SSD.

I have managed with that configuration for quite some time and now I see need to upgrade my SSD to 1TB.

To continue on my pursue, I have to first check if my current version supports an upgrade of SSD. And found out that newer versions of Macbook's support NVMe SSD's.

PLEASE CHECK THE COMPATIBILITY BEFORE GOING AHEAD WITH THE UPGRADE PROCESS

I have then researched a lot on what SSD to buy and compare speeds and minimum OS versions required etc. And finally made the purchase and started my upgrade process.

NOTE: I don't know how it works for other models, but if you have what I have then you can follow along and it worked just fine for me

Before you start to get the following ready

1. Check the compatibility of your machine for the Upgrade
2. Your Macbook Pro 15inch Retina Mid 2015
3. NVMe SSD - I got the Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB SSD NVMe M.2 Plus
4. Tools - I have purchased iFixit Essentials Electronic Toolkit
5. Most importantly, an adapter that connects to the SSD to the Mac SSD Port (they are not the same). I have bought this and it is good. NVMe Adapter for Macbook Pro

Let's get started.

1. Get your iFixit Toolkit ready and take the P5 pentalobe screw in hand

2. TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER - NOT OPTIONAL
   

   Green marked screws are different from the Red marked screws. Please make a note of that. They are of different lengths.

3. UNSCREW

   

   GET YOUR SCREWS IN A SAFE PLACE. you can use the top of your toolkit

   

   THIS IS HOW IT LOOKS UNDER THE HOOD

   

   when you pull the back of your machine you will hear two clicks from the clips that the underneath has that holds the back shell.

   

   

4. Unplug your battery, use the blue tool from your toolkit to unplug.
   CANT INSIST MORE, PLEASE BE CAREFUL HERE. VERY VERY IMPORTANT STEP

   

   

5. Find the SSD, located left next to the battery plug. And get the T5 screw in hand to unscrew the SSD off the board.

   

   use your T5 screw

   

   

   

6. Get your New SSD. In my case Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB SSD NVMe M.2 Plus

   

7. Check out the pins of your SSD and Add the adapter

   

   

   

8. Now your new SSD pins match well with your Macbook Pro pins.

   CAREFULLY PUSH YOUR SSD INTO THE SSD PORT ON YOUR MACHINE

   

   now pins match too.

   

   screw in the SSD now AGAIN, T5 SCREW

   

9. Connect your battery now

   

   push the plug back in

   

10. Push back in the shell and put the screws back in.
    MAKE SURE OF THE DIFFERENT SIZES THAT ARE MENTIONED EARLIER

11. Turn ON the machine and HOLD the OPTION KEY.
    you will see something like this.

    

    And wait till you see the boot options window

    

    GOTCHA

    I PICKED THE "Reinstall macOS" option and end up at the following screen, unable to pick the disk destination to install the OS on.

    

    Go back to the boot options screen and pick the "Disk Utility" option to format the disk first before you install it.

    

    Give your SSD a name

    

    Format it with default options

    

    After the format is done, if you now go back to the "Reinstall macOS" option, you can see the destination disk, with the name given earlier.

    

12. Go ahead and install the new OS and have you go...

Hope you like this article and if you do please share it with your friends.

NOTE: All my links are Amazon Smile Links to an Organization I support and Volunteer. If you like the article and if you think it helped you upgrade your computer please help us by using this Amazon Smile link.

Thank you
Vijaya Malla
@vijayamalla