Macbook air 2017 SSD Compatibility with Samsung SSD

[Macdctr]

Could you please check on your MBA whether you have AHCI controller Link width x2 or x4?
I assume this is the root of my problem. Thank you

I’m at work at present but will check and post what I have on my MBA this evening after I get home

 

[duncho]

I’m at work at present but will check and post what I have on my MBA this evening after I get home

Thank you, appreciated. Do you know whether there is any 1TB equivalent to your Samsung drive?

 

[Macdctr]

Thank you, appreciated. Do you know whether there is any 1TB equivalent to your Samsung drive?

I haven’t seen one or I would have ordered it instead of the 512GB drive I have. I think you would have to get the 970 EVO to get the 1TB...

 

[Macdctr]

Okay duncho,

You can see how my MacBook Air is set up is different from yours. I see your issues right now and I'm sure you will as soon as you see my picture...

I'm not on SATA/SATA Express. My drive is an NVMe drive so it's on NVMExpress. I think the Link Width is automatically set by which Express channel your drive resides...

Have you tried enabling TRIM for your new drive?

 

[duncho]

Well, now it's clear Good that I clarified this, otherwise I would be unhappy with my SSD selection. My MBA is 6.2 (mid 2013) so no wonder why chipset has x2 link width only. Thank you for your help!!
[doublepost=1521849132][/doublepost]So I researched a bit more about it and found out that MBA motherboard supports x4 controller speed. TurboJet SSD has support for x3 only, that is why I have x2 only :|
Looks like I will return the drive and buy the one you have, BUT - I don't want to upgrade to High Sierra

https://beetstech.com/blog/apple-proprietary-ssd-ultimate-guide-to-specs-and-upgrades

 

[Macdctr]

... Looks like I will return the drive and buy the one you have, BUT - I don't want to upgrade to High Sierra

I know how you feel... I did not want to upgrade to High Sierra either but then I wouldn't be able to use my Samsung 950 PRO drive so I went all in and got the drive, formatted it in APFS (drawback is that it takes about 25 seconds to boot into login screen) and now have native NVMe support. Once the computer is up and running everything works as expected... I'm happy with this...

So far I have not experienced any issues with my current setup. If you want to go with higher storage you have 1TB or 2TB but that's using the 970 EVO which I have no experience using... I stayed with my 950 PRO because of the price point.

 

[Macdctr]

Well I have been running my setup for about a month now so I ran Blackmagic Disk Speed Test again just to see how my NVMe M.2 drive is performing in my 2015 MacBook Air...

Here's my setup:
- Sintech M.2 Adapter
- Samsung 950 PRO M.2 512GB NVMe drive
- Mac OS 10.13.4 High Sierra

this is the result of my Disk Speed Test today:

Still pleased with the performance of this Samsung 950 PRO M.2 drive. After a months usage, I still have not had any issues regarding sleep, power on start up or anything else for that matter. The Sintech adapter I am using with this Samsung drive has been perfect so far

zekeyou and duncho, how are you guys doing with your setup? anything to report for the benefit of others?

 

[Macdctr]

Tonight I reinstalled my original Apple 256GB SSD drive so I can show the actual performance of this drive compared to my Samsung 512GB NVMe M.2 drive.

The Apple drive is on the left and the Samsung drive is on the right.

 

[Macdctr]

Here's another Samsung M.2 NVMe SSD I'm going to try in my MBA...

• 512 GB Samsung PM981

• M.2 (22x80) PCIe 3.0 (x4) NVMe SSD, PCIe Gen3 8Gb/s Interface, up to 4 Lanes

• Read 3500MB/s

• Write 3000MB/s

• Samsung Phoenix Controller

I'll soon find out if this will work on MBAs

 

[17Air<3]

Here's another Samsung M.2 NVMe SSD I'm going to try in my MBA...

• 512 GB Samsung PM981

• M.2 (22x80) PCIe 3.0 (x4) NVMe SSD, PCIe Gen3 8Gb/s Interface, up to 4 Lanes

• Read 3500MB/s

• Write 3000MB/s

• Samsung Phoenix Controller

I'll soon find out if this will work on MBAs

[doublepost=1526094437][/doublepost]Macdctr, can you please update us on your new SSD, whether it worked or not, and also if you like it better than the 950 pro? I am trying to beef up my MBA before returning to school. It's that or buy a completely new laptop and I REALLY don't want to do that. I don't know a ton but have been searching for the best solution for a few months now. This is the only confirmed successful solution I have seen yet. I have a 13" 2017 MBA 7,2. Can you also confirm which adapter you use?

THANKS!

 

[Macdctr]

[doublepost=1526094437][/doublepost]Macdctr, can you please update us on your new SSD, whether it worked or not, and also if you like it better than the 950 pro? I am trying to beef up my MBA before returning to school. It's that or buy a completely new laptop and I REALLY don't want to do that. I don't know a ton but have been searching for the best solution for a few months now. This is the only confirmed successful solution I have seen yet. I have a 13" 2017 MBA 7,2. Can you also confirm which adapter you use?

THANKS!

The Samsung PM981 does not work. I have reviewed efforts from the MacBook Pro forum and they have reported that the Samsung 960 PRO/EVO does work but I have not confirmed this for the MacBook Air. I do know that the Samsung 950 PRO does work however. I'm using this in my current MBA.

 

[17Air<3]

The Samsung PM981 does not work. I have reviewed efforts from the MacBook Pro forum and they have reported that the Samsung 960 PRO/EVO does work but I have not confirmed this for the MacBook Air. I do know that the Samsung 950 PRO does work however. I'm using this in my current MBA.

Have you looked at the 970 at all? I am considering trying it as it is fast and cheaper... Are there any reasons yon can think of for why it would not work?

 

[Macdctr]

Have you looked at the 970 at all? I am considering trying it as it is fast and cheaper... Are there any reasons yon can think of for why it would not work?

I have not looked at the 970's as of yet. The PM981 is supposed to be on par to the 970's performance wise from what I have gathered so I would assume that the 970's would not work since I could not get the 981 I have to format and install the new OS on (funny thing is that my OS installer thumb drive sees the PM981 but it can't format it - details as to why you can't use this drive are in the MBP forum).

The Sintech adapter I used for my MBA is here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/M2-M-Key-S...863013?hash=item33d50f0365:g:41sAAOSweZJaSPrL


As for the 950 I'm currently running, I have been very pleased with the performance of this storage drive in my MBA since it performs over twice the speed of the SSD drive in my retina MBP. My MBA is very responsive with this drive.

 

[17Air<3]

Samsung specs say it is M.2 2280

I have not looked at the 970's as of yet. The PM981 is supposed to be on par to the 970's performance wise from what I have gathered so I would assume that the 970's would not work since I could not get the 981 I have to format and install the new OS on.

The Sintech adapter I used for my MBA is here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/M2-M-Key-S...863013?hash=item33d50f0365:g:41sAAOSweZJaSPrL


As for the 950 I'm currently running, I have been very pleased with the performance of this storage drive in my MBA since it performs over twice the speed of the SSD drive in my retina MBP. My MBA is very responsive with this drive.

right. thats too bad.did you pay a better price than $390 for the 950 pro? thats all I can currently find as samsung doesnt seem to distribute anymore :/

Thank you very much for these Very fast replies by the way! really appreciate it!

 

[Macdctr]

Samsung specs say it is M.2 2280


right. thats too bad.did you pay a better price than $390 for the 950 pro? thats all I can currently find as samsung doesnt seem to distribute anymore :/

I paid $220 for my used 950 PRO drive on eBay.

Here's a used one for around $200

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-95...875768?hash=item3631cee1b8:g:oAkAAOSwLh9a9Aen

and it has free shipping...


M.2 2280 is what you want with the Sintech M.2 adapter I linked you.

 

[17Air<3]

I paid $220 for my 950 PRO drive on eBay.

Thank you very much! SUPER HELPFUL!

 

[Macdctr]

Thank you very much! SUPER HELPFUL!

Let me know if you have any other question. I built my niece her 13 inch MBA using the same Sintech M.2 adapter and Samsung 950 PRO M.2 2280 drive. She absolutely loves her MBA.

 

[17Air<3]

Let me know if you have any other question. I built my niece her 13 inch MBA using the same Sintech M.2 adapter and Samsung 950 PRO M.2 2280 drive. She absolutely loves her MBA.

So I have found a used one for decent price with low write according to samsung magician. He mentioned heat spreader is damaged. From what I can find it isn't a huge problem... Do you think its a good buy? Sorry for all the questions but you're the first person thats been able to help me at all on this.

 

[Macdctr]

So I have found a used one for decent price with low write according to samsung magician. He mentioned heat spreader is damaged. From what I can find it isn't a huge problem... Do you think its a good buy? Sorry for all the questions but you're the first person thats been able to help me at all on this.

There are other drives with no damage at close to the same price point... I would go with one of these below... no need to get one that has been damaged when you can get one that is undamaged at close to the same price or cheaper...

Here's another one to check out and it's even cheaper than the one you're looking at!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SAMSUNG-95...515953&hash=item285a5c938f:g:g4IAAOSw28pa9tIO

This one is close to the same price as the one you're looking at...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-95...515953&hash=item28594352d2:g:JuEAAOSw3pZa6Agc


Both of these also have free shipping...

 

[Non-Polar]

There are other drives with no damage at close to the same price point... I would go with one of these below... no need to get one that has been damaged when you can get one that is undamaged at close to the same price or cheaper...

Here's another one to check out and it's even cheaper than the one you're looking at!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SAMSUNG-95...515953&hash=item285a5c938f:g:g4IAAOSw28pa9tIO

This one is close to the same price as the one you're looking at...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-95...515953&hash=item28594352d2:g:JuEAAOSw3pZa6Agc


Both of these also have free shipping...

Hey, sorry to bother, but I'm interested in doing this upgrade for my 2015 MBA. Would the 950 EVO or 960 EVO/PRO work?

 

[Macdctr]

Hey, sorry to bother, but I'm interested in doing this upgrade for my 2015 MBA. Would the 950 EVO or 960 EVO/PRO work?

The 950 PRO/EVO will work with the 2015 MBA (I'm using this in mine right now). I have not tried using the 960 PRO/EVO but from reading in the MBP forum it was said that the 960 PRO/EVO works but you have more drain from the battery with this drive, so less battery life... Here is the link to the thread I read this in...

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/page-51#post-26057757

With this said, I'm not 100% positive it will work in the MBA but I can say that the 950 PRO will work in the 2013-2015 MBA since I have personally verified this (950 EVO should work as well). Chances are though that the 960 PRO/EVO will work fine...

EDIT: I have since gotten and tried the Samsung 2TB 970 EVO storage drive and this works out of the box. There are no firmware updates required to use this storage drive in the 2015 MacBook AIR that I have used to test this storage drive on.

 

[zekeyou]

Well done everybody for keeping this post. Soon I will try the 960 EVO edition on my MBA 2017 and will revert back (with pictures!)

 

[TahitianMacTastic]

With this said, I'm not 100% positive it will work in the MBA but I can say that the 950 PRO will work in the 2013-2015 MBA since I have personally verified this (950 EVO should work as well). Chances are though that the 960 PRO/EVO will work fine...[/QUOTE]
[doublepost=1526753023][/doublepost]

The 950 PRO/EVO will work with the 2015 MBA (I'm using this in mine right now). I have not tried using the 960 PRO/EVO but from reading in the MBP forum it was said that the 960 PRO/EVO works but you have more drain from the battery with this drive, so less battery life... Here is the link to the thread I read this in...

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ssd-to-m-2-nvme.2034976/page-51#post-26057757

With this said, I'm not 100% positive it will work in the MBA but I can say that the 950 PRO will work in the 2013-2015 MBA since I have personally verified this (950 EVO should work as well). Chances are though that the 960 PRO/EVO will work fine...

@Macdctr

Hello Macdctr this is a great thread I think I've learned a lot from reading it.

I have a MacBook Air 13-inch, 2017 model on macOS High Sierra version 10.13.4 and I'm looking to swap out the current ssd with a "Samsung 960 (or 950) EVO Series - 500GB NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD". I'm also considering using the sintech adaptor you used or the apple adaptor you recommended previously. since you said the 2017 MBA is simply a sped up version of the 2015 MBA do you think the samsung 960 or 950 ssd will be compatible with my 2017 mba along with the sintech adaptor?

 

[Macdctr]

@Macdctr

Hello Macdctr this is a great thread I think I've learned a lot from reading it.

I have a MacBook Air 13-inch, 2017 model on macOS High Sierra version 10.13.4 and I'm looking to swap out the current ssd with a "Samsung 960 (or 950) EVO Series - 500GB NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD". I'm also considering using the sintech adaptor you used or the apple adaptor you recommended previously. since you said the 2017 MBA is simply a sped up version of the 2015 MBA do you think the samsung 960 or 950 ssd will be compatible with my 2017 mba along with the sintech adaptor?

The MBA with the i5 processor are the ones that have been speed bumped. The i7 2.2GHz MBA from 2015 to current are spec'd the same. Since my 2015 13 inch MBA is the 2.2GHz i7 version I can only surmise that the 2017 2.2GHz i7 MBA would be the same as the 2015 2.2GHz i7 MBA functionally and what I have done to my 2015 MBA should also work on the 2017 MBA.

 

[mwilson87a]

I put this in my MacBook Air, formatted it in the APFS format then installed High Sierra and did all the updates. So far I haven’t experienced any issues.

Have you performed a benchmark to see if you hit the cards specification?