Apple does not perform SSD upgrades....even if they did, the price would be outrageously expensive.
OWC supports their SSDs in Macs so you should be Ok. Usually if there is a problem, then it will be during initial setup so you should be able to return it if it doesn't work correctly. Check the warranty and return policies to make sure you are comfortable with the terms. They also provide video installation guides so you can see what is involved in the upgrade. You do need to be very careful removing the Bottom Case and disconnecting & reconnecting the battery cable since the locking lever on the connect is easily damaged even when extreme care is used.
Just make sure you have already installed macOS Ventura on this laptop prior to installing the OWC SSD. It doesn't matter whether macOS Ventura is installed to the internal SSD or an external drive. The important part is that Ventura has been installed so that the laptop's system firmware has already been updated by the Ventura installer. The macOS 12.x+ installers will refuse to install with a third party internal SSD unless the system firmware has already been updated by a previous Ventura install.
I would question whether it is worth investing any money in this laptop. Here are some things to consider:
- This laptop is known to have a internal display cable with a design/manufacturing defect.
- This laptop uses a Butterfly keyboard mechanism which is know to have design/manufacturing defects. In addition the Butteryfly keyboard is prone to having issues with just a small particle of dirt/crumb or spot of liquid gets beneath the keycap, it will cause the key not to work properly.
- If you have not yet replaced the battery (or keyboard) on this laptop, then that is another expense that you will soon incur as well which will be at least $200 US.
- Another little known design defect is that the USB-C ports tend to wear so that USB-C cables won't stay in place. On this non-touchbar laptop, this means the Logic Board would need to be replaced to fix a loose USB-C port connection since the USB-C ports are part of the Logic Board.
- macOS 13.x Ventura is the last OS which Apple will support on a 2017 laptop. This means that Apple won't be providing security updates after 2025. Some third party app developers won't provide updated versions of their apps after Apple drops support for Ventura in late 2025....you definitely want to check if any critical apps you use will be impacted.
Personally I would not invest money in this non-touchbar laptop since money spent would be better invested in a new laptop. Normally I'm all for keeping older computers alive with reasonable upgrades, but I think the non-touchbar model has too many potential issues to risk it. I can tell you that the feel of the keyboard on the M2 laptop is one of the best keyboards Apple has provided in many years (I'm using a 14" MBPro M2).
Edit: Another option would be to get a USB3 SSD and install macOS to the external SSD so you can boot & work from the external SSD. So if anything ever does go wrong with this laptop, then you could re-purpose the external USB3 SSD to use with a new laptop as a data drive or backup drive.
