How to format a third party SSD to be compatible with High Sierra?

A few months ago, the hard drive in my 2011 MacBook Pro failed, and I replaced it with an SSD from a well known third party manufacturer.

I installed and reformatted the drive using Disk Utility, and downloaded Lion from Recovery Mode.

Initially, everything went well...but as I upgraded the OS through successive versions, it began behaving strangely...random system freezes, and boot problems. I kept taking upgrades, hoping they would fix the problems, but was unable to install High Sierra, without major boot problems.

After doing some research, I see that the problem seems to be that I formatted the SSD with an older version of Disk Utility, which doesn't support APFS. Additionally, apparently I need to enable TRIM on the third-party SSD.

How can I re-format the SSD & enable TRIM, on a machine that only has the OS Lion version of Disk Utility (no support for APFS)?

I am considering attempting to reformat the SSD from my MacBook Air (running High Sierra) via USB cable & Disk Utility, then install High Sierra from the App Store, then physically install back into the MacBook Pro...my question is, at what point would I enable TRIM? After the format, but before the OS install? Or should I wait until the OS is installed?

Also: Apparently Apple only supports it's own SSDs...due to TRIM compatibility issues. However, I don't see replacement SSDs for sale anywhere on Apple's web site...can I purchase an Apple-compatible SSD from my local store, to install myself?

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), third party SSD

Posted on May 30, 2018 11:48 AM

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18 replies

Tesserax

Level 10

161,268 points

May 31, 2018 10:14 AM in response to y_p_w

Hmm, in my case I was given the option to go with APFS or not. At least I believe that’s what happened but it’s been awhile since I initially upgraded to HS.

y_p_w

Level 6

17,944 points

May 30, 2018 12:43 PM in response to Shirley_LeGitte

Shirley_LeGitte wrote:

Also: Apparently Apple only supports it's own SSDs...due to TRIM compatibility issues. However, I don't see replacement SSDs for sale anywhere on Apple's web site...can I purchase an Apple-compatible SSD from my local store, to install myself?

Pretty much any SATA SSD should work, although there are some outliers that don't seem to work without the firmware on the SSD updated. TRIM can be enabled, although it's not strictly necessary.

Apple has never sold internal SSDs separately. The SATA SSDs that Apple used were never retail sale units. They were bulk units with plain labels. Also - Apple never installed or sold upgrade SATA SSDs for users. The SATA SSDs that Apple provided were either configured to order at the time of sale, or Apple would replace an OEM SSD under warranty or as a service item with the same size SSD.

y_p_w

Level 6

17,944 points

May 30, 2018 2:37 PM in response to Shirley_LeGitte

Are you using Internet Recovery? The proper keystrokes at power on are here. The last two are Internet Recovery. You should see a spinning globe and a progress bar.

How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support

Start up from macOS Recovery

macOS Recovery installs different versions of macOS depending on the key combination you use while starting up. Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately hold down one of these combinations:

Command (⌘)-R Install the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac, without upgrading to a later version.^*

Option-Command-R Upgrade to the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac.^**

Shift-Option-Command-R
Requires macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later Install the macOS that came with your Mac, or the version closest to it that is still available.

* If you're selling or giving away a Mac that is using OS X El Capitan or earlier, use Command-R to make sure that the installation isn't associated with your Apple ID.
** If you haven't already updated to macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later, Option-Command-R installs the macOS that came with your Mac, or the version closest to it that is still available.

Release the keys when you see the Apple logo or a spinning globe.

When you see the macOS Utilities window, continue to the next section to determine whether to erase your startup disk or begin installing macOS.

If you don't have those updates that will install High Sierra immediately, then you would probably need to just install Lion first, then upgrade to High Sierra using the Mac App Store.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/macos-high-sierra/id1246284741?mt=12

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How to format a third party SSD to be compatible with High Sierra?

Command (⌘)-R	Install the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac, without upgrading to a later version.^*
Option-Command-R	Upgrade to the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac.^**
Shift-Option-Command-R Requires macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later	Install the macOS that came with your Mac, or the version closest to it that is still available.
* If you're selling or giving away a Mac that is using OS X El Capitan or earlier, use Command-R to make sure that the installation isn't associated with your Apple ID. ** If you haven't already updated to macOS Sierra 10.12.4 or later, Option-Command-R installs the macOS that came with your Mac, or the version closest to it that is still available.