You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Macbook pro 2015 13" Upgraded SSD not found

Hi, I have twice purchased a larger SSD for the above MacBook and neither can be seen on Recovery Boot up. I have gone into Terminal and tried diskutil and the SSD still can't be seen, just the recovery partition. I thought the first SSD must have been faulty but both behaved exactly the same on installation. I can't have been so unlucky to have 2 faulty DDSs? The SSDs are

https://amzn.eu/d/2pAqa91

and

https://amzn.eu/d/byCBoPx


Any ideas what is going wrong? all help and advice appreciated.


thanks

paul


MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.5

Posted on Aug 15, 2022 5:21 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 16, 2022 5:54 AM

As I suspected you are booting to an older OS which does not support an NVMe SSD (hard to tell from the low resolution picture of the SSD, but it appears to say NVM express on the label). Beginning with macOS 10.13, Disk Utility now has a "View" option on the toolbar just above the left pane of Disk Utility. You can try booting into the online macOS 12.x installer by using Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R. If that does not provide you with the Monterey installer, then you will need access to a Qualifying Mac so you can create a bootable macOS 10.13+ USB installer:

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


If the original SSD still boots, then reinstall it so you can create the bootable macOS USB 10.13+ USB installer, otherwise you will need access to another Qualifying Mac. A Qualifying Mac is one when is compatible with the OS installer you want to download. For example to download & create a macOS 10.13 USB installer you will need a Mac from 2010 to 2018 or to create a macOS 12.x USB installer you need a Mac from 2015 to 2022. You can use this article to determine a Qualifying Mac as it lists macOS compatibility with various Apple hardware:

https://eshop.macsales.com/guides/Mac_OS_X_Compatibility


Remember, if this laptop has never had macOS 10.13+ installed, then you will not be able to use this NVMe SSD until you install an original Apple OEM SSD and install macOS 10.13+ to it so the laptop's system firmware is updated to work with an NVMe SSD.


Similar questions

14 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 16, 2022 5:54 AM in response to Pauljsgreen

As I suspected you are booting to an older OS which does not support an NVMe SSD (hard to tell from the low resolution picture of the SSD, but it appears to say NVM express on the label). Beginning with macOS 10.13, Disk Utility now has a "View" option on the toolbar just above the left pane of Disk Utility. You can try booting into the online macOS 12.x installer by using Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R. If that does not provide you with the Monterey installer, then you will need access to a Qualifying Mac so you can create a bootable macOS 10.13+ USB installer:

How to create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


If the original SSD still boots, then reinstall it so you can create the bootable macOS USB 10.13+ USB installer, otherwise you will need access to another Qualifying Mac. A Qualifying Mac is one when is compatible with the OS installer you want to download. For example to download & create a macOS 10.13 USB installer you will need a Mac from 2010 to 2018 or to create a macOS 12.x USB installer you need a Mac from 2015 to 2022. You can use this article to determine a Qualifying Mac as it lists macOS compatibility with various Apple hardware:

https://eshop.macsales.com/guides/Mac_OS_X_Compatibility


Remember, if this laptop has never had macOS 10.13+ installed, then you will not be able to use this NVMe SSD until you install an original Apple OEM SSD and install macOS 10.13+ to it so the laptop's system firmware is updated to work with an NVMe SSD.


Aug 17, 2022 3:59 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Hi both. managed it all last night using the latest advice.


The MacBook was running monterey but when I did cmd+R it must have gone into the older version of macOS (the one the MacBook shipped with??) and didn't see the SSD as HWTech explained.


When i used internet recovery, as advised, Command + Option + R, i had a much better experience.


It saw the SSD, installed monterey on it (over the internet?) and i'm now restoring from time machine.


Hopefully that goes ok and I've got there with all of your help, particularly HWTech.


thanks again

paul


Aug 16, 2022 1:45 AM in response to HWTech


hi again all. tried again last night but no change. i have attached pictures. disk doesn't show in disk utility and i have no VIEW option in the main menu


it doesn't show in terminal diskutil list. it physically fits fine - see image


thanks for all the help so far, but any more ideas. that's 2 SSDs from amazon i've tried - links in first post.


thanks again

paul


Aug 15, 2022 6:48 PM in response to Pauljsgreen

If you are using an NVMe SSD, then you need to boot into macOS 10.13+ in order to see the NVMe SSD. In fact, you must already have had macOS 10.13+ installed on this laptop at some point in the past since the laptop needs a system firmware update from a macOS 10.13+ installer in order for the laptop to even communicate at a hardware level with an NVMe SSD.


If you are using an M.2 SSD, then you should use a Sintech SSD adapter.

Aug 17, 2022 8:19 AM in response to Pauljsgreen

<supplemental background information>


Where did Recovery HD on the Boot drive go? Why is it so hard to find after 10.12 Sierra?


The HFS+ Extended disk structure is used on the boot drive through 10.12 Sierra, and it leaves Recovery as a separate partition (out in the open) where the ROM-based Startup Manager (aka Boot Picker) can always find it. Diskutil disk numbers will change, as they are re-derived at boot time. Diskutil list output can look like this:


/dev/disk1 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *80.0 GB disk1

1: EFI ⁨EFI⁩ 209.7 MB disk1s1

2: Apple_HFS X12-Drv80⁩ 79.1 GB disk1s2

3: Apple_Boot ⁨ Recovery HD⁩ 650.0 MB disk1s3


--------

By the time you get to about 10.14 Mojave and later, APFS is firmly entrenched and Recovery HD is no longer a partition, it has disappeared inside an APFS Container, where older ROM-based Startup Manager (left over from the HFS+ Extended age) may not be able to recognize it.


/dev/disk5 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *240.1 GB disk5

1: EFI ⁨EFI⁩ 209.7 MB disk5s1

2: _APFS ⁨Container disk7⁩ 239.8 GB disk5s2

-AND-

/dev/disk7 (synthesized):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: APFS Container Scheme - +239.8 GB disk7

Physical Store disk5s2

1: APFS Volume ⁨ X14-SSD240⁩ 96.7 GB disk7s1

2: APFS Volume ⁨ Preboot⁩ 26.5 MB disk7s2

3: APFS Volume ⁨ Recovery⁩ 507.6 MB disk7s3 no longer a partition, also not tagged as Apple_Boot

4: APFS Volume ⁨ VM⁩ 20.5 KB disk7s4




Macbook pro 2015 13" Upgraded SSD not found

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.