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The March 2015 update of Apple's 13" MacBook Pro Retina Display, model A1502, features fifth-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and introduces the Force Touch trackpad.

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Will the WD Black PCIe SSD work with MacBook Pro 2015?

Will the WD Black PCIe SSD work with MacBook Pro 2015?

Or is it not compatible?

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Sorry No, The WD SSD is a M.2 drive.

Apple uses a custom SSD design. Review this IFIXIT guide: MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2015 SSD Replacement You can see the physical difference between them.

Your choices are either finding an Apple SSD on eBay, Amazon, or a 3rd party which offer a SSD designed to work in your system: Transcend - JetDrive 820 or OWC - Aura SSD

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8 Comments:

M.2 Storage drives can be used with a Sintech adapter in a 2015 MacBook Pro or 2015 MacBook Air. Answer above is not correct.

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@Chuck Kuhn - Not a wise move!

These drives just don't last via the these adapters. While day one they work and are impressive! But! The other shoe here is the lack of all of the signal lines interferes with the systems I/O, Apple has other lines the M.2 interface & SSD's don't offer! So the drives wear-out prematurely as the housekeeping processes and wear leveling won't work properly.

Don't get me wrong I love M.2 SSD's! But not inside Mac's. I use a RAID box with them which is a dream on my Mac Pro.

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@Dan: I’ve had a Samsung EVO970 with a Sintech adapter in my mid-2015 MacBook Pro Retina running on Catalina since April 2020 with no issues whatsoever. I have recently discovered on another forum that my drive isn’t compatible with the latest MacOS for my box, Monterey. So I’m going with a WD Black SN770.

(The issue with the OS is it doesn’t support TRIM on the Samsung drives which means they may have less drive life)

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@consciouschange - Sounds like you need to get a real Apple, Trancend or OWC drive.

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I Have been taking these computers apart for years, the cost of ssd nvme drives, has dropped to a point that I just replace them when they act up. However they never do. WD drives work very good in Macbook pros 2015.

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Most Helpful Answer

Im using a 1tb WD black SSD in my MacBook Pro 15” (mid2015) using an adaptor bought off amazon and is working absolutely fine……

Update (12/06/2018)

the adaptor is Baoblaze 12+16pin to M.2 NGFF M-Key SSD Convert for Macbook Pro retina 2014 2015 MF839 MF840 and the ssd is WD Black WDS100T2X0C 1 TB High-Performance NVMe Internal SSD

Update (12/06/2018)

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sorry for the late reply here’s a screenshot

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What is the adapter that needs used?

Which WD Black drive did you get?

I am looking at:

WD Black 1TB High-Performance NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD - Gen3, 8 Gb/s - WDS100T2X0C

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write speed 2723mb/s read speed 2879mb/s

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Hi, what is the actual measured SSD speed? Thx

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sorry for the late reply ive added a screen shot below my answer of disk speed

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Would the 15inch macbook work the same or do would I need something else?

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@Dan Nonsense. I am happily using a NVME 970 Evo Plus with my 13 inch Macbook Pro 2015. It's purely a rerouting of signal paths that this adapter does. Working for 2 years without issue. Fast, no compatibility issues and no slow down or whatever weird wear.

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Peter - Just because it appears to work and in your case you haven’t pushed the SSD that hard so just like a frayed rope it can hold up for awhile.

I deal with some very heavy users, and I’ve had to replace a ton of these M.2 and adapters from their systems putting in real Apple or OWC drives.

There’s a bit more than moving the wires! Don’t get me wrong! I love M.2 SSD’s I have a couple of RAID boxes which use them. The issue is Apple didn’t embrace them and as such the reliably of the adapter as well as it is not able to service the maintenance lines Apple use with in their SSD’s creates issues once you get below 1/4 of the drive being unused and how wear leveling works.

So I would strongly recommend you make a strong effort to backup as one day you will get the dreaded drive failure.

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@Dan I’m a heavy user of video, photography, and other apps that put the EVO970 drive through it’s paces and like @Peterdk it’s a flawless solution. Until you want to go past Catalina to Big Sur or Monterey, at which point the Samsung drives have issues. Because it’s now EOL for OS upgrades, the MBP 2015 should be perfectly fine with WD blades and a good adapter (which IS just wires) and should lay as long as any external SSD drive.

You’re right that anyone should make regular backups with ANY drive!

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@consciouschange - EOL doesn’t mean they stopped working! It Just stops you from the next macOS release as the driver interface is being changed.

As I tried to explain Apple does their own thing so you need to stick with their drives or ones that fully emulate Apple’s drives.

Just before xmas I had a friend call me in a panic as his system crashed in the upgrade process. He too couldn’t believe Apple would not implement the interface to the M.2 spec only altering the physical interface.

Got him to order an OWC SSD, helped him over the phone getting it working in his 15” 2015 MacBook Pro. He tried accessing the M.2 SSD using a case no luck!

So while you’ve been lucky if you are a pro or an advanced amateur who can’t afford to loose your work then saving a few dollars is not worth it.

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A whole lotta false info in here about these aftermarket drives failing with normal use in MacBook...

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Why is there always someone who always goes by what the manufacturer says. It's not your laptop and the person is asking for help on how to do something. No need for negative post. If you can't help stay off the forum.

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