PCIe-SSD for New Mac Pro 2013

Have you tried this in real, please clarify.

As the same model are listed in Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-XP941-512GB-Solid-state/dp/B00J9V521S

Clearly noted as follows:

This drive is not compatible to Macbook, Macbook Pro, Mac mini or iMac. If you intend to purchase this product as an upgrade for an existing smaller drive, you should check if the existing drive is a Samsung XP941 or other M.2 PCIe SSD. If not sure, please contact us via Amazon messaging for advise.

But the words are ambiguous. You can also read as "if the existing drive is in M.2 PCIe, then the SSD will be compatible"

Hi,

can anyone confirm that "Samsung XP941 512GB M.2 NGFF" fit and works in nMP late 2013 (Zylinder Mac Pro)?

Thx.

Jens

The "blade" form factor SSDs used in the absolute latest Macs have a PCIe-direct interface.

[Previous models had a special compact SATA interface.]

There is more demand for the compact SATA interface, and the seller is trying to be cautious.

Several hobbyists who have upgraded have determined that the black metal cover used in the Mac Pro has heat transfer tape on it, and a heatsink of some description will be required for good long life.

no,it can't work. Samsung XP941 is NGFF M.2 PCI-e SSD,it can't fit the 2013 macbook SSD slot. 2013 macbook SSD socket is bigger than NGFF M.2 SSD slot. Macbook SSD slot is as following:

but NGFF M.2 SSD slot is as following:

OWC is now taking pre-order for 1 and 2 TB storage modules.

http://www.macrumors.com/2014/12/09/owc-ssd-upgrades-2013-mac-pro/

get an 1 TB SSD: The XP941 does 1100 MB/s reads, 900 MB/s writes while Apple 1 TB does 900 MB/s reads and 1,000 MB/s writes.

What does OWC offier?

And, for $1479. It uses the x4 SandForce SF2281 controller the OWC SSD will be connected using only 2 PCIe lanes. not impressed at all. plus, the SandForce controller is a no-go in my book. also I expect that the OWC SSD won't support native TRIM for OS X.

OWC posted preorder for 2TB SSD for nMP6,1 today ( 1 2)

Is Samsung MZ-JPU512T/0A2 compatible with MZ-KPU1T0T/0A6?

I'm looking for SSD to upgrade my MBA 2013.

The SSD inside say a late 2013 rMBPro will work in a late 2013 Mac Pro BUT only 2 channel wide not 4 as it should. This means the write speed will drop about 80 megs/sec and the read 220

Hello there,

I am looking to upgrade my current 256gb original Apple SSD in the Mac Pro (black cylinder model). There seems to be only the OWC which claims to be certified compatible for Apple with their OWC AURA SSD 1TB. After much research online, I guess the best is to get hold of an Apple-Samsung SSD just like what is currently in the Mac Pro?

I saw the following links which claims to be offering genuine Apple SSD 1TB:

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Memory-Macbook-Retina-MZ-KPU1T0T/dp/B00O4CUI02/ref=s r_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1433321660&sr=8-3&keyw…

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151701291455?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STR K%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151605593746?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STR K%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

May I seek everyone's valued opinions on these? Are they suitable or reliable to purchase as compared to the OWC Aura SSD 1TB? because the OWC performance seems to be poorer than original Apple SSDs?

Thank you!

Hello there,

I am looking to upgrade my current 256gb original Apple SSD in the Mac Pro (black cylinder model) as well. There seems to be only the OWC which claims to be certified compatible for Apple with their OWC AURA SSD 1TB. After much research online, I guess the best is to get hold of an Apple-Samsung SSD just like what is currently in the Mac Pro?

I saw the following links which claims to be offering genuine Apple SSD 1TB:

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Memory-Macbook-Retina-MZ-KPU1T0T/dp/B00O4CUI02/ref=s r_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1433321660&sr=8-3&keyw…

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151701291455?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STR K%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151605593746?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STR K%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

May I seek your valued opinions on these and your experience on your purchases? Are they suitable or reliable to purchase as compared to the OWC Aura SSD 1TB? because the OWC performance seems to be poorer than original Apple SSDs?

Thank you!

The older pre-PCIe SSDs were either a full-size 2.5" SATA SSD, or a smaller mSATA SSD with m standing for 'mini'. These could be mounted on a PCIe card but the SSD itself was not a PCIe device, the card acts as a SATA converter.

The newer PCIe SSDs are also known as NGFF which stands for Next Generation Form Factor these do use the PCIe interface rather than SSD and are therefore faster, because an NGFF SSD is a PCIe device the PCIe card on which you mount it has almost no components on it, it is merely used to convert the connection. The Samsung XP941 is indeed a very fast SSD of this type but has already in theory been superseded by the SM951. There is little real difference between the two and the speed I believe is in the same ball park.

Note: While Apple use an NGFF PCIe SSD in the nMP and MacBook Pro Retina and iMac, they apparently use a slightly different form-factor so the Samsung SSD needs a different PCIe adapter card to that for an Apple SSD. The Apple NGFF cards would need this http://www.pc-adapter.net/products/747.html the Samsung XP941 or SM951 would use an 'M-key' style adapter like this one http://www.pc-adapter.net/products/736.html

There is yet another newer type of SSD called an NVMe or Non Volatile Memory express, apparently the new MacBook Pro 12" uses an NVMe SSD and is so far the only Mac model to do this. See http://www.anandtech.com/show/9136/the-2015-macbook-review/8 and http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/04/11/apple-enables-nvm-express-protocol-for -faster-ssd-performance-with-os-x-10103

The SM951 was originally expected to be an NVMe type SSD but apparently Samsung changed their mind at the last minute. Both NGFF and NVMe are PCIe type SSDs but the main difference is in the protocol they use, NGFF uses AHCI and NVMe uses its own new NVMe protocol which unlike AHCI is designed specifically for SSD drives, AHCI dates back to USB enclosed external hard disks i.e. traditional spinning metal hard disks.

PS. The new Mac Pro of course does not need a PCIe adapter, this is only needed for the classic Mac Pro or a desktop PC. The new Mac Pro still uses the NGFF style not the NVMe style. I am not sure the Samsung ones would fit due to Apple using their own slightly different shape as discussed above.

People should be wary of the OWC offering for 2 reasons.

1. It has its own onboard controller so will be seen my OS X as an external drive (even though it isn't). No way I've seen to get around this.

2. Because of #1 above you will have real difficulties if you want a Bootcamp partition. Bootcamp Assistant will refuse to do it so you have to do it yourself. I can do this on a USB 3 drive but I couldn't ever get it to work with the OWC drive.

dementiacs wrote:

People should be wary of the OWC offering for 2 reasons.

1. It has its own onboard controller so will be seen my OS X as an external drive (even though it isn't). No way I've seen to get around this.

2. Because of #1 above you will have real difficulties if you want a Bootcamp partition. Bootcamp Assistant will refuse to do it so you have to do it yourself. I can do this on a USB 3 drive but I couldn't ever get it to work with the OWC drive.

The following might help you, it should at least make the OWC drive look like an internal drive.

http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-pro-early-2008-upgrades.1701295/#post-18 703027

I used this with a SATA PCIe card but while it was then recognised by Bootcamp Assistant Windows would not boot from it. This is likely a firmware issue and I was half expecting that as most SATA cards do not support Bootcamp.

HI wanted to upgrade the ssd on my macbook pro 2013 .. I m super confused with all the compatibility stuff . till before reading your post I thought t would be only possible to upgrade by removing the ssd from a same year model laptop . but seems like you have gotten this samsung ssd which is working .. you think its possible for it to work on a macbook pro 2013. want to upgrade from 256gb to 512gb or higher .. thanks

The original poster i.e. aa33002 has it appears an Apple Mac Pro 2013 model, this is a desktop computer not a laptop. It appears you have a MacBook Pro 2013 model laptop.

Note: There are two versions of MacBook Pro Retina 2013, an 'early' 2013, and a 'late' 2013.

As it happens both computers will use the same type of PCIe SSD, both also require an SSD with Apple's proprietary and unique connector. A standard Samsung SSD as used for example in a Windows PC would not fit in Apple's proprietary connector. Samsung do actually make SSDs for Apple but then they would have Apple's proprietary connector. You cannot buy this SSDs normally because they are made specifically for and shipped to Apple and not sold in shops.

There are two ways to get a replacement genuine Apple SSD either buy a secondhand one that someone else has removed from another Mac, these are sometimes listed on eBay for example, or there are now some third-party one that also have the special Apple connector.

Here is an example of a brand new SSD which has the correct connector. (Choose the one that matches your model MacBook Pro.)

Early - https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro-retina-display/2012-2013

Late - https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro-retina-display/2013-2014-201 5