New SSD not recognized in disk utility (recovery mode) after old SSD replacement on Macbook Pro 2017 (A1708)

Or the replacement SSD is also bad, however, there is no way of knowing without being able to test both SSDs in another laptop. On this specific model laptop, the SSD is usually the weakest link as long as there is no accidental liquid damage to the Logic Board (it is always something I consider when troubleshooting a computer since so many of the laptops I support have had liquid damage). You could try an OWC SSD which I linked in my previous post since it is less likely a new SSD would have the same issue so if it doesn't work, then the Logic Board is bad.

sorry, I misunderstood your question, which is why I deleted my first reply.

hugothecoco wrote:

No I didn't... I knew I had to do something like that, but how erase and reformat a storage if I can't see it on Disk Utility ?

it shouldn't matter which format is on the drive to see it in DU while regularly logged into the Mac. but while in recovery mode, I think it needs to be in a Mac format to be seen. but I may be mistaken.

I need USB enclosure for SSD M.2 NVMe, plug into my Macbook pro (to see it like external disk), format it, and install MacOS on it ?

yes, that would be needed. but as I said, I'm not certain that a drive in another format would be invisible due to being in recovery.

if that is the case, please see Erase and reformat a storage device in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

You are booting into macOS 10.12 Sierra installer which is not showing the physical SSD in your screenshot of Disk Utility. Either this SSD requires using macOS 10.13+, or the SSD is not working, or the SSD was not the part which failed. In the non-touchbar model the SSD does have a high rate of failure and is usually the component which fails.

Can you boot into Internet Recovery Mode using Command + Option + R to access the online macOS 13.x Ventura installer?

You can also create a bootable macOS 10.13+ USB installer if you have access to another Mac:

Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support

Generally you need a Mac from Late-2009 to 2018 to create a bootable macOS 10.13 USB installer. Or a Mac from 2012 to 2019 for macOS 10.15. For macOS 11.x a Mac from Late-2013 to 2020. Or a Mac from 2015 to 2023 for macOS 13.x. I omitted macOS 12.x Monterey since that installer may not work with third party SSD if Monterey had not been previously installed on the laptop.

Try an SMC Reset followed immediately by a PRAM Reset (hold the PRAM Reset for at least two chimes if possible). Sometimes it can be tricky to perform the PRAM Reset immediately after an SMC Reset on these USB-C Macs since the SMC Reset can sometimes cause odd power on behavior. Normally performing these resets separately is fine, but years ago OWC support had me perform these two resets back to back to get an OWC third party SSD seen by a very old MBAir which had the odd small hard drive/SSDs.

What SSD did you install?

Check the documentation for the SSD to know if macOS 10.12 is even compatible with this SSD.

Faithforney wrote:

Hi I am having the same problem on my laptop I can’t do anything on my computer

That indicates one of these:

• SSD does not have an APFS volume & GUID partition suitable for installing macOS
• SSD has failed (or has been removed if the Mac has a removable drive)
• Logic Board failure related to the SSD support circuitry

You first need to use Disk Utility to properly erase the SSD by erasing the whole physical SSD (Intel Macs only). Within Disk Utility you may need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" before the physical SSD appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. The physical SSD is usually identified by its make & model such as "Apple SM0512....". Erase the whole physical SSD as GUID partition and APFS (top option). If there are no errors, then quit Disk Utility and select the "Reinstall macOS" option.

There are no enclosures or adapters for this proprietary Apple SSD.

FYI, OWC makes a drop in replacement SSD for this model which usually tends to be less expensive than an original Apple SSD because even used prices tend to be expensive, plus some of the original Apple SSDs for this model have an extremely high rate of failure.

Hi,

I have A1708 which had a failed bluetooth chip almost 1 year after purchase. I did not asked warranty replacement at the time since Bluetooth was not too crucial for me. Later into 2.5 years it started to fail to boot from SSD. My logic board board and SSD were replaced free of charge since I have notified customer of the first issue while the device was still under warranty.

Now, after 2.5 years of using new board and SSD, machine started to do the same thing for the last month. I have send a dozen crash reports to Apple. Today it totally given up booting from internal SSD.

The problem turns out to be oxidation on the SSD connector. SSD connector needs to be cleaned gently with a soft rubber eraser on both sides. And here we go again.

Best Regards.

Hi I am having the same problem on my laptop I can’t do anything on my computer it shows this

deleted

I would say so.

Glad the OWC SSD is working for you.