nvme gen 4 on mbp 15" mid 2015

Question

About two years ago I updated the original 256gb ssd on the mbp 15" mid 2015. Installed a transcend 855, 960gb nvme gen 3 x4. In contrast the original have the following specs:

  Vendor:   Apple
  Product:  SSD Controller
  Physical Interconnect:    PCI
  Link Width:   x4
  Link Speed:   8.0 GT/s
  Description:  AHCI Version 1.30 Supported

Besides the room space the change brings, I'll say perhaps the computer became a little faster. I haven't done any serious measurements so I don't want to overstate how better it became.

However since a few months ago I'm experiencing some failures (one described at macOS System Preferences crash/close) which seems to be telling ssd needs to be replaced.

After some google around I found these days we have nvme gen 4 (which seems to be even faster), so I thought may be I could install a 2tb nvme gen 4 on mbp. Is this going to work?

Side question: Is it normal to have just about two years of life span on an ssd? I few years ago I noticed ssd on a windows laptop was failing after four years. And I still use a hard disk on a linux laptop which is going over ten years.

Edit: To add DriveDx report, wondering if anything can be said about it.

### SYSTEM INFORMATION ###
Report Timestamp                     : June 15, 2022 7:07:17 AM GMT+8
Report Timestamp (ISO 8601 format)   : 2022-06-15T07:07:17

Application Name                     : DriveDx
Application Version                  : 1.11.0.730
Application SubBuild                 : 0
Application Edition                  : Standalone
Application Website                  : https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx
DriveDx Knowledge Base Revision      : 101/101

Computer Name                        : User’s MacBook Pro
Host Name                            : Users-MacBook-Pro
Computer Model                       : MacBookPro11,4

OS Boot Time                         : 2022-06-13T00:51:22
Time Since Boot                      : 2 days 06h 15m 55s
OS Name                              : macOS
OS Version                           : 10.15.7
OS Build                             : 19H1824
OS Kernel Version                    : Darwin 19.6.0

SAT SMART Driver Version             : N/A
ATA Command Support Tolerance        : verypermissive
N of drives in report                : 1



### DRIVE 1 OF 1 ###
Last Checked                         : June 15, 2022 6:49:54 AM GMT+8
Last Checked (ISO 8601 format)       : 2022-06-15T06:49:54

Advanced SMART Status                : OK
Overall Health Rating                : GOOD 100%
SSD Lifetime Left Indicator          : GOOD 99.0%
Issues found                         : 0

Serial Number                        : F01271D5F85170440008
WWN Id                               : 
Volumes                              : macOS
Device Path                          : /dev/disk0
Total Capacity                       : 960.2 GB (960,197,124,096 Bytes)
Model Family                         : Transcend JetDrive 850 SSD
Model                                : TS960GJDM850
Firmware Version                     : R1109
Drive Type                           : SSD

Power On Time                        : 10,573 hours (14 months 20 days 13 hours)
Power Cycles Count                   : 8,203
Current Power Cycle Time             : 54.3 hours



=== DEVICE CAPABILITIES ===
S.M.A.R.T. support enabled           : yes
DriveDx Active Diagnostic Config     : Transcend JetDrive 850 SSDs config [ssd.nvme.transcend.jetdrive.850.01]
Sector Logical Size                  : 4096
Sector Physical Size                 : 4096
Physical Interconnect                : PCI-Express (PCIe)
Logical Protocol                     : NVM-Express (NVMe)
Removable                            : no
Ejectable                            : no
NVMe Revision Supported              : 1.30
PCI Vendor Id                        : 0x126f
Thermal Throttling Supported         : no
Volatile Write Cache Supported       : yes
Maximum Data Transfer Size           : 32 Pages
Log Page Attributes                  : 0xf
Format NVM Attributes                : 0x0
Optional Admin Command Support       : 0x0
Optional NVM Command Support         : 0x5f (Compare, Wr_Unc, DS_Mngmt, Wr_Zero, Save/Sel_Feat, +)
Number of Power States Supported     : 4
Error Log Page Entries               : 255
Keep Alive Support                   : 0
Total NVMe Capacity                  : -
Unallocated NVMe Capacity            : -
Number of NVMe Namespaces            : 1
I/O Path                             : IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/PEG0@1/IOPP/SSD0@0/IONVMeController/IONVMeBlockStorageDevice@1
[Known device                       ]: yes
[Drive State Flags                  ]: 0x0


=== CURRENT POWER CYCLE STATISTICS ===
Time since computer startup         : 54 hours
Data Read                           : 94,174,990,336 bytes (94.2 GB)
Data Written                        : 68,472,983,552 bytes (68.5 GB)
Data Read/Write Ratio               : 1.38
Data Read/hour                      : 1.7 GB/hour
Data Write/hour                     : 1.3 GB/hour

Operations (Read)                   : 3,918,754
Read IOPS                           : 1,347
Operations (Write)                  : 4,744,041
Write IOPS                          : 1,630
Operations Read/Write Ratio         : 1
Throughput per operation (Read)     : 24.0 KB/Op
Throughput per operation (Write)    : 14.4 KB/Op

Latency Time (Read)                 : 0 ns
Latency Time (Write)                : 0 ns
Retries (Read)                      : 0
Retries (Write)                     : 0
Errors (Read)                       : 0
Errors (Write)                      : 0


=== PROBLEMS SUMMARY ===
Failed Indicators (life-span / pre-fail)  : 0 (0 / 0)
Failing Indicators (life-span / pre-fail) : 0 (0 / 0)
Warnings (life-span / pre-fail)           : 0 (0 / 0)
I/O Error Count                           : 0 (0 / 0)


=== IMPORTANT HEALTH INDICATORS ===
ID  NAME                                         RAW VALUE                  STATUS
  7 Data Units Written                           38,632,799 (19.8 TB)       100% OK
 14 Media and Data Integrity Errors              0x448A7                    100% OK


=== TEMPERATURE INFORMATION (CELSIUS) ===
Current Temperature                  : 48
Power Cycle Min Temperature          : 48
Power Cycle Max Temperature          : 53
Lifetime Min Temperature             : 48
Lifetime Max Temperature             : 53
Recommended Min Temperature          : 5
Recommended Max Temperature          : 70
Temperature Min Limit                : 5
Temperature Max Limit                : 80


=== DRIVE HEALTH INDICATORS ===
ID   | NAME                                        | TYPE      | UPDATE | RAW VALUE                  | VALUE | THRESHOLD | WORST | LAST MODIFIED        | STATUS          
   2   Composite Temperature                         Life-span   online            48 (48 °C)             52          20     52         6/15/22 6:49 AM   40.0%  OK          
   3   Available Spare                               Pre-fail    online               100                100          10    100                       -    100%  OK          
   5   Life Percentage Used                          Life-span   online                1                  99           0     99                       -   99.0%  OK          
   6   Data Units Read                               Life-span   online       46,208,616 (23.7 TB)       100           0    100         6/15/22 6:49 AM    100%  OK          
   7   Data Units Written                            Life-span   online       38,632,799 (19.8 TB)       100           0    100         6/15/22 6:49 AM    100%  OK          
   8   Host Read Commands                            Life-span   online          1,432,091,914           100           0    100         6/15/22 6:49 AM    100%  OK          
   9   Host Write Commands                           Life-span   online           957,390,571            100           0    100         6/15/22 6:49 AM    100%  OK          
  10   Controller Busy Time                          Life-span   online     25,592 (25,592 minutes)      100           0    100         6/15/22 6:49 AM    100%  OK          
  11   Power Cycles                                  Life-span   online              8,203               100           0    100                       -    100%  OK          
  12   Power On Hours                                Life-span   online      10,573 (10,573 hours)       100           0    100         6/15/22 6:49 AM    100%  OK          
  13   Unsafe Shutdowns                              Life-span   online                46                100           0    100                       -    100%  OK          
  14   Media and Data Integrity Errors               Pre-fail    online             0x448A7              100           0    100                       -    100%  OK          
  15   Error Information Log Entries                 Pre-fail    online                0                 100           0    100                       -    100%  OK          
  16   Warning Composite Temperature Time            Life-span   online          0 (0 minutes)           100           0    100                       -    100%  OK          
  17   Critical Composite Temperature Time           Life-span   online          0 (0 minutes)           100           0    100                       -    100%  OK          



=== DRIVE ERROR LOG ===
error log is empty

### SYSTEM INFORMATION ###
Report Timestamp                     : June 15, 2022 7:14:36 AM GMT+8
Report Timestamp (ISO 8601 format)   : 2022-06-15T07:14:36

Application Name                     : DriveDx
Application Version                  : 1.11.0.730
Application SubBuild                 : 0
Application Edition                  : Standalone
Application Website                  : https://binaryfruit.com/drivedx
DriveDx Knowledge Base Revision      : 101/101

Computer Name                        : User’s MacBook Pro
Host Name                            : Users-MacBook-Pro
Computer Model                       : MacBookPro11,4

OS Boot Time                         : 2022-06-13T00:51:22
Time Since Boot                      : 2 days 06h 23m 14s
OS Name                              : macOS
OS Version                           : 10.15.7
OS Build                             : 19H1824
OS Kernel Version                    : Darwin 19.6.0

SAT SMART Driver Version             : N/A
ATA Command Support Tolerance        : verypermissive
N of drives in report                : 1



### DRIVE 1 OF 1 ###
Last Checked                         : June 15, 2022 7:13:22 AM GMT+8
Last Checked (ISO 8601 format)       : 2022-06-15T07:13:22

Advanced SMART Status                : OK
Overall Health Rating                : GOOD 100%
SSD Lifetime Left Indicator          : GOOD 84.0%
Issues found                         : 0

Serial Number                        : S29CNYBGC04380
WWN Id                               : 5 002538 900000000
Volumes                              : Update
Device Path                          : /dev/disk3
Total Capacity                       : 251.0 GB (251,000,193,024 Bytes)
Model Family                         : Apple (Samsung-based) SSDs
Model                                : APPLE SSD SM0256G
Firmware Version                     : BXW1SA0Q
Drive Type                           : SSD

Power On Time                        : 19,301 hours (26 months 24 days 5 hours)
Power Cycles Count                   : 22,646
Current Power Cycle Time             : 54.4 hours



=== DEVICE CAPABILITIES ===
S.M.A.R.T. support enabled           : yes
DriveDx Active Diagnostic Config     : Apple (Samsung-based) g-series SSDs config [ssd.apple.samsung.g]
Sector Logical Size                  : 512
Sector Physical Size                 : 4096
Physical Interconnect                : PCI
Logical Protocol                     : SATA
Removable                            : no
Ejectable                            : no
ATA Version                          : ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 4c
SATA Version                         : SATA 3.0, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
I/O Path                             : IOService:/AppleACPIPlatformExpert/PCI0@0/AppleACPIPCI/PEG1@1,1/IOPP/UPSB@0/IOPP/DSB1@3/IOPP/UPS0@0/IOPP/pci-bridge@0/IOPP/pci144d,a801@0/AppleAHCI/PRT0@0/IOAHCIDevice@0/AppleAHCIDiskDriver/IOAHCIBlockStorageDevice
Attributes Data Structure Revision   : 1
SMART Command Transport (SCT) flags  : 0x0
SCT Status supported                 : no
SCT Feature Control supported        : no
SCT Data Table supported             : no
Error logging capabilities           : 0x1
Self-tests supported                 : yes
Offline Data Collection capabilities : 0x53
Offline Data Collection status       : 0x0
Auto Offline Data Collection flags   : 0x0
[Known device                       ]: yes
[Drive State Flags                  ]: 0x0


=== CURRENT POWER CYCLE STATISTICS ===
Time since computer startup         : 54 hours
Data Read                           : 285,036,032 bytes (285.0 MB)
Data Written                        : 5,525,504 bytes (5.5 MB)
Data Read/Write Ratio               : 51.59
Data Read/hour                      : 5.2 MB/hour
Data Write/hour                     : 101.6 KB/hour

Operations (Read)                   : 34,096
Read IOPS                           : 5,509
Operations (Write)                  : 414
Write IOPS                          : 67
Operations Read/Write Ratio         : 82
Throughput per operation (Read)     : 8.4 KB/Op
Throughput per operation (Write)    : 13.3 KB/Op

Latency Time (Read)                 : 0 ns
Latency Time (Write)                : 0 ns
Retries (Read)                      : 0
Retries (Write)                     : 0
Errors (Read)                       : 0
Errors (Write)                      : 0


=== PROBLEMS SUMMARY ===
Failed Indicators (life-span / pre-fail)  : 0 (0 / 0)
Failing Indicators (life-span / pre-fail) : 0 (0 / 0)
Warnings (life-span / pre-fail)           : 0 (0 / 0)
Recently failed Self-tests (Short / Full) : 0 (0 / 0)
I/O Error Count                           : 0 (0 / 0)


=== IMPORTANT HEALTH INDICATORS ===
ID  NAME                                         RAW VALUE                  STATUS
  5 Retired Block Count                          0                          100% OK
173 Wear Leveling Count                          0x11B01E9016A              84.0% OK
175 Host Writes MiB                              28,794,871 (30.2 TB)       99.0% OK
192 Unsafe Shutdown Count                        66                         99.0% OK
197 Current Pending Block Count                  0                          100% OK
199 UDMA CRC Error Count                         0                          100% OK


=== TEMPERATURE INFORMATION (CELSIUS) ===
Current Temperature                  : 34
Power Cycle Min Temperature          : 24
Power Cycle Max Temperature          : 35
Lifetime Min Temperature             : 24
Lifetime Max Temperature             : 35
Recommended Min Temperature          : 5
Recommended Max Temperature          : 65
Temperature Min Limit                : 5
Temperature Max Limit                : 70


=== DRIVE HEALTH INDICATORS ===
ID   | NAME                                        | TYPE      | UPDATE | RAW VALUE                  | VALUE | THRESHOLD | WORST | LAST MODIFIED        | STATUS          
   1   Raw Read Error Rate                           Life-span   online               0x0                200           0    200                       -    100%  OK          
   5   Retired Block Count                           Pre-fail    online                0                 100           0    100                       -    100%  OK          
   9   Power On Hours                                Life-span   online              19,301               96           0     96                       -   96.0%  OK          
  12   Power Cycle Count                             Life-span   online              22,646               77           0     77                       -   77.0%  OK          
 169   Total Bad Block Count                         Pre-fail    online          0x1F3054003C0           219          10    219                       -    100%  OK          
 173   Wear Leveling Count                           Life-span   online          0x11B01E9016A           184         100    184                       -   84.0%  OK          
 174   Host Reads MiB                                Life-span   online       28,414,750 (29.8 TB)        99           0     99                       -   99.0%  OK          
 175   Host Writes MiB                               Life-span   online       28,794,871 (30.2 TB)        99           0     99                       -   99.0%  OK          
 192   Unsafe Shutdown Count                         Life-span   online                66                 99           0     99                       -   99.0%  OK          
 194   Temperature (Celsius)                         Life-span   online                34                 66          30     27                       -   51.4%  OK          
 197   Current Pending Block Count                   Life-span   online                0                 100           0    100                       -    100%  OK          
 199   UDMA CRC Error Count                          Life-span   online                0                 200           0    199                       -    100%  OK          



=== DRIVE ERROR LOG ===
error log is empty


=== DRIVE SELF-TEST LOG ===
#   | LIFETIME (H)   | TEST TYPE         | PROGRESS | STATUS                          | LBA of 1st error
1         19301        Short offline         100%     Completed without error              -     

Answer 1

Generally, that Transcend isn't exactly a high quality drive.

It's likely that your system got faster anyway, due to the wear and tear that'll be on the original ssd after such a long time.

I had a Samsung 9A1 drive (1TB) which worked well but like all newer Samsung it absolutely needs a Firmware update for safety reasons. Which now means I need to borrow a Lenovo laptop as that is an OEM SSD.

Another I just tried was a WD 840 Black and it will not be recognized by the Yosemite OS in the system rescue mode. Will need to see if it works better if I boot something modern off USB. edit: WD black also worked once using a Mojave installer. The downside to this is when needing to boot into a rescue system. one will need to the internet rescue (booting the newest installer, not the original version) or a USB medium.

If I were you I'd try a Samsung 950 Pro as those tend to work absolutely everywhere.

Answer 2

There's an excellent summary of Mac SSDs here. However, It's difficult to know whether newer revisions of standards are going to work (at all, or any better) in hardware that is older than the revision.

It's likely that the newer NVMe drive will work, but you will only see the transfer rate that the computer can handle.

While you have certainly experienced some disk corruption, we don't know what's causing it, and whether it's indicative of underlying 'failure' or something else.

I'd say that SSDs are generally robust, and you should expect more than 2 years of life. Fears over 'natural death through usage' are over-stated, IMO.

There is always a risk with third-party hardware designed to replace internals that the differences in spec from the OEM parts can cause issues.

You can often find unused or lightly used 1Tb Apple OEM SSD blades on eBay or similar websites. For a 7-year-old Mac, I'd suggest going that route, and maybe offloading additional data onto secondary devices -- even SD card drives.

Answer 3

i am just using gen4 nvme ssd on iMac2019. there is no problem, but any nvme ssds are not able to use on macos.

And, gen4 nvme ssds can not drive full speed of their speck, because mac machines have not pcie4 port.