Why won't macOS 10.13.3 update install on Samsung SSD?

So I finally got 10.13.3 to take. Instead of downloading the update, I went to the homepage of the app store and downloaded the entire High Sierra download, as if I was upgrading for the first time. I got a warning that I had High Sierra already, but I clicked install anyway. it was a 5 GB download, and it took about 40 minutes to install.

I noticed after I was done that when I went to disk utility, what once showed journaled now showed APFS (screenshot included)

Also, on the left navigation bar, I previously didn't have "Container disk1". Before, it would not show that gray are "other volumes". I had installed my SSD a few months ago, so when I copied my hard drive over to the SSD, I guess it didn't have that part? So look for the Container disk1, APFS volume... if you don't have those, you probably need to download the entire High Sierra file like I did.

Hopefully this helps others.

Based on other posts here it may be that the Samsung 850 is not notifying the OS that it is in fact an SSD rather than a Fusion drive. Just guessing.

It may also be that the 10.13.3 update is reading the drive incorrectly. Not sure.

Everything in the forums and Support says macOS 10.13 should install on SSD with no problem.

It does. However, that particular model SSD is particularly notorious for upgrade failures. The reasons are allegedly due to the firmware upgrade that accompanies High Sierra, and possibly subsequent updates on certain Mac models. Apple does not support replacing hard disk drives with aftermarket SSDs. Of course plenty of people do that, but you're on your own if you do.

Apple only develops firmware for the devices they incorporate in the products they sell. They are utterly disinterested in user-installed modifications. Either replace your SSD with one known to work with High Sierra, or a conventional hard disk drive. The only SSDs I use and can personally recommend are OWC's "Mercury Extreme Pro 6G" models. Complaints are literally unheard of, whereas upgrade failures are common on the Samsung "EVO" models.

That information is definitely not available, besides, Apple sources their components from a variety of manufacturers (including Samsung). They are also exclusively for Apple's use and contain proprietary firmware developed in cooperation with Apple. That explains their utter disinterest in user-installed modifications.

The OWC drives are definitely out of my price range for replacement of an otherwise functioning SSD.

I realize they are expensive. They are also worth every cent. I have yet to experience a single failure with any of them, and even the oldest ones are running as well as they ever did.

Will that continue, and for how long? Who knows. Considering many hard disk drives don't last as long they've paid for themselves many times over.

You—usually—get what you pay for. By comparison, Samsung's "EVO" models are junk out of the box. Maybe people install them in Windows PCs, never expecting to get more than a few years of life out of them anyway, but I wouldn't know. PCs are junk out of the box also.

OWC's are not the only SSDs that work well. Complaints about Crucial SSDs are also unheard of; I just don't happen to have any of theirs. There are other models including Intel or Vertex (Toshiba) and I have not heard of any complaints with them either. For whatever reason though, the "EVO" is just notorious.

acles003,

You have provided enough data to diagnose the problem and to demonstrate the fix..

Disk Utility indicated that your SSD had not been satisfactorily converted to APFS and 10.10.3 seems to want APFS on the boot drive but the update could not rebuild your existing system copy. Use of the entire 10.13.3 High Sierra installer allowed the update of APFS with all the fiddly parts to occur.

Another conclusion is that copying a system boot drive is non-trivial. Recent Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper! version can do it well, but make no claim to create proper APFS structures on their own. The use of the full install remedied that for you.

GhostImage wrote:

Does anyone have a definitive list of the SSDs Apple actually uses in their devices? The OWC drives are definitely out of my price range for replacement of an otherwise functioning SSD.

There has to be some teardown guide of some kind that shows what SATA SSD Apple has used. However, it was noted that they have multiple sources. Apple had used OEM hard drives from just about everyone in the past. There are a lot of bit players in SSDs that just buy the parts/controller and design the boards/firmware. I don't think Apple tends to work with them.

I would think Samsung is one of Apple's suppliers, but most Samsung OEM drives seem to be some nondescript-looking part that isn't available in a retail package and doesn't have a flashy label. Something like the internal drive (a Samsung PM581) in this teardown:

LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt 500GB External Storage SSD Review

Thanks for this, I finally managed to update to 10.13.3 in this manner. It also converted my toshiba SSD to AFPS without damaging any files on the drive. I then able to install the supplemental update using the standard method.

Sounds odd. I have a Samsung 850 SSD and no update issues.

I have a Crucial SSD, and while I agree I have not had any problems with it, High Sierra 10.13.2 and 10.13.3 refuse to install. I'm still on 10.13.1.

Oh my god! Thank you so much! This was bothering me for a month or so and I almost took it in for repairs before I found your solution. Worked well with my 500GB EVO 850 Drive.