Macbook pro 2015 ssd upgrade

Can someone please let me know, when upgrading my 256gb ssd to a 1 tb ssd drive, do i format prior to installing into the macbook pro? I have tried using an nmve adaptor but it doesnt see it when i put it in. It sees it in a external case but not through the adaptor i got from Amazon. Fyi, its the second one i purchased due to the first doing the same thing.

Posted on Feb 15, 2023 02:18 PM

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Posted on Feb 16, 2023 10:20 AM

Jack-19 wrote:

The SSD in MacBook Pro isn't user-upgradable.

FYI, a 2015 model does have a removable internal SSD. OWC makes a third party drop in replacement SSD, but many people opt to use a standard M.2 NVMe SSD combined with an SSD Adapter (Sintech brand seems to be the best choice).

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Feb 16, 2023 10:20 AM in response to Jack-19

Jack-19 wrote:

The SSD in MacBook Pro isn't user-upgradable.

FYI, a 2015 model does have a removable internal SSD. OWC makes a third party drop in replacement SSD, but many people opt to use a standard M.2 NVMe SSD combined with an SSD Adapter (Sintech brand seems to be the best choice).

Feb 16, 2023 10:18 AM in response to Phxsuns99

You need to boot to a macOS 10.13+ installer in order to see a third party internal NVMe SSD. Plus, the laptop's system firmware must already been updated to firmware from a macOS 10.13+ installer prior to physically installing a third party NVMe SSD internally. Try booting into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R to attempt to access the online macOS 12.x Monterey installer (may not work since at one time the Monterey installer refused to update the system firmware when a non-Apple SSD was installed internally). Unfortunately sometimes even this key combination will result the Mac into booting the installer for the older version of macOS which originally shipped with the Mac from the factory (10.10 or 10.11) which is too old to work with an NVMe SSD.


You can try creating a bootable macOS 10.13+ USB installer using the instructions in this Apple article if your laptop still boots with the original SSD, or if you have access to another Qualifying Mac which is compatible with macOS 10.13, 10.15, or 11.x.

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


Maybe the SSD adapter is incompatible or bad. From reading these forums for years, the Sintech adapter seems to be the most reliable & compatible.


Not all SSDs are compatible with all computers.



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Macbook pro 2015 ssd upgrade

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