MacBook Pro 2015 - New SSD, can't install macOS

Question

I installed a 500GB Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe M.2 into my MacBook Pro 13" 2015 (128GB). I followed instructions in a youtube video. (Boot-Stick created, case opened, battery disconnected, SSD removed, 970 Evo Plus with adapter installed, battery connected and booted from the boot stick).

But now I have my problem and maybe someone can help me.

After I have selected the boot stick in the boot menu, the white apple logo appears against a black background and a progress bar appears below it. However, the MacBook dies off after about half of the progressbar and the following error message appears:

"Your computer restarted because of a problem. Press a key or wait a few seconds to continue starting up"

I have already re-created the boot stick twice. And I tested it with my old Apple hard drive. As soon as the "old" 128GB disk is inside, the installation program downloads completely and I could reinstall macOS.

Maybe someone had a similar error here and can help me? Or do I have an incompatible combination of hardware?

Answer 1

The answer to the problem is the SSD itself!

Apparently MacBooks can't handle the Samsung 970 Evo Plus. After i used a 970 Evo it worked just fine.

So keep your eyes open when you buy new SSD for your "old" MacBook!

Answer 2

Make sure that your Evo 970 plus runs the latest firmware. Older firmware version seemed to have caused serious problem. See here.

I had no problems installing mac OS, however ... I have a 500GB Evo 970 plus installed in a 15" MacBook Pro Retina (Mid 2014). The NGFF M.2 PCIe SSD Adapter is a genuine Sintech ST-NGFF2013-C. The SSD was manufactured 10.2019 and came with the latest 2B2QEXM7 firmware. BootROM is 157.0.0.0.0, SMC Version 2.18f15 Everything works fine, the problem however is that the MacBook occasionally restarts (chime, Apple logo etc., boot procedure) when waking up from sleep. Never had this problem with the factory default Apple Samsung SSUBX-SSD. Any ideas or suggestions?