MacBook Pro SSD Upgrade - will it affect speed?

I find that hard to believe! I've put in more than 100 OWC drives in many different Mac's and haven't encountered any issues. The only drives I've had issues with are people using M.2 drives with an adapter. I've pulled out a ton of them often replacing with either an Apple or OWC blade drive.

Hey Dan, I wish you had been in my shoes! Not to wish on you the same problem I had, but to hear how you handled the experience, if you tried installing that particular SSD in an MBP mid-2015.

I certainly did not expect something like this, or to be treated the way they did. I bought many, many HW items, HDs, SSDs, and even computers from them over many years, without issue.

It still hurts to think that if I want a new drive or some other hardware, I pretty much have to go to OWC. How can I be sure if there's a problem, they'll live up to the 'warranty'. It really soured my on them. Once bitten, twice shy.

I also wondered about who was going to next receive it. I hope that on some Monday morning, when they knew they didn't have to come clean to me, that they decided it was in fact defective.

@prreitz - what is your exact model and which OWC drive did you use? They did have some issues in the first gen drives and some people tried using them in the newer models.

Dan, sorry it's taken so long. (Took another failure to bring me back here.)

After the second motherboard failure I replaced the failed 2.2 GHz with a used 2.5 GHz (11,5) version.

The SSD was what OWC provided as correct for my computer. They had all the info, all I could do was take their word for it. In retrospect, I'm convinced the results indicate it was not the right one. I had read elsewhere that there were several subtle iterations in the SSDs used in this model MBP (mid-2015) that made it difficult to know what would actually work.

Since my original goal was to increase storage from 256 to 512 GB, I bought a used Apple 512 removed from another mid-2015 MBP. And it mated perfectly— snug, but only modest force to seat. After it was over, I measured the OWC SSD board to be 100 µm thicker, which would make a tighter fit. It had a profound effect in this case.

Anyone can make a mistake, but it was the stiff-arm from OWC that was most disappointing. To settle, they refunded my money. All-in, it cost ~ $1,000 for board replacement and 512 GB SSB. I took that route because I was unwilling to risk a 3rd motherboard failure (they insisted, without further detail that it "met Apple specifications!), and they were unwilling to do the installation to experience it for themselves.

In answer to your question, here's the System Information with the replacement motherboard:

Model Name: MacBook Pro

  Model Identifier: MacBookPro11,5

  Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Core i7

  Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz

....etc.

  Memory: 16 GB

  System Firmware Version: 476.0.0.0.0

  OS Loader Version: 540.120.3~22

  SMC Version (system): 2.30f2

  Serial number xxxxxxxx

FYI - I have two of these which I use in the field when shooting (one is a backup) both have the OWC 1TB SSDs! Not a lick of trouble!

I can’t explain what happened here, OWC has been selling these drives for awhile. The PCB thickness does drift a bit in the manufacturing process. A 100 µm difference is quite small, but it’s on the edge of the tolerance window I would expect. For reference review the M.2 physical board standards as you can see there it’s not excessive. That’s not Apples spec as I don’t have access to that but it’s basically the same.

While you won’t want to hear this, I have encountered logic boards damaged by people lifting/inserting the drive at to sharp an angle causing the socket to become damaged. I think I’ve replaced three or four across a few different series over the years.