Apple MacBook Pro 13-Inch "Core i5" 2.3 Mid-2017 Ssd upgrade

[Letgomyleghoe]

So as I understand this MacBook has a pcie gen 3 drive, can I put any pcie gen 3 drive in it? I know Mac sometimes doesn’t play well with outside drives, also how would I go about transferring files? Just get an external enclosure and transfer everything?  Or do I have to something special for the os, I have never worked with a MacBook before, but my coworkers gonna pay me $50 to put in a fucking ssd lol.

[Darkseth]

From 2016 Pro generation, SSDs are soldered on the Motherboard.
You can not replace or upgrade them, because you can't even get it out.

If your SSD is defective or gives you errors, the whole Motherboard will have to be replaced.

[Letgomyleghoe]

50 minutes ago, Darkseth said:

From 2016 Pro generation, SSDs are soldered on the Motherboard.
You can not replace or upgrade them, because you can't even get it out.

If your SSD is defective or gives you errors, the whole Motherboard will have to be replaced.

No, my guy, please read what I wrote, I have confirmed that it is upgradeable it is also a mid 2017 not a 2016.

 

the current storage may be on the board, but I’m not sure about that.

[Darkseth]

How did you confirm it? Did you manage to pull it out? Do you have pictures from that?

 

I said, FROM 2016.
Meaning, 2016 and newer. The 2016 re-design had this Change.
2015 was the last one with an upgradeable SSD.

 

See iFixit: 

And they say: Everything is soldered into the Motherboard, literaly NOTHING can be upgraded.

 

[Letgomyleghoe]

7 hours ago, Darkseth said:

How did you confirm it? Did you manage to pull it out? Do you have pictures from that?

 

I said, FROM 2016.
Meaning, 2016 and newer. The 2016 re-design had this Change.
2015 was the last one with an upgradeable SSD.

 

See iFixit: 

And they say: Everything is soldered into the Motherboard, literaly NOTHING can be upgraded.

 

mid 2017 13 inch macbook has a slot for a drive which you can buy an adapter for m.2 

 

the storage looks like this https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/MacBook-Pro-13-Inch-Retina-Function-Keys-Late-2016-2017-SSD/IF123-079?o=3&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0rr4BRCtARIsAB0_48MJ_ar9BMXVh16bQ_GPLJMacuQ1AB6crjOHatqcBoVJytDJvHXaK3IaAmXjEALw_wcB

 

it is held in place with a stickie, not soldered on, you can buy a pcie adapter. so check your sources my gamer, and make sure youre looking at the correct model

[Darkseth]

True, you're right, sory. That is the non-touchbar model. I looked up the wrong device.

Then it should be this one: https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/405835/Can+the+SSD+be+replaced

 

It seems, it's also soldered, however on that Module itself. So you should need the whole "module" itself in the right SSD size.
Unless, there is an enclosure for that? I couldn't found one.

[Letgomyleghoe]

2 hours ago, Darkseth said:

True, you're right, sory. That is the non-touchbar model. I looked up the wrong device.

Then it should be this one: https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/405835/Can+the+SSD+be+replaced

 

It seems, it's also soldered, however on that Module itself. So you should need the whole "module" itself in the right SSD size.
Unless, there is an enclosure for that? I couldn't found one.

You’re all good, all this Mac shit confuses me to. there is an adapter you can buy that turns it into a normal m-key m.2, will any drive work or will The MacBook not recognize it. 
 

here is the adapter https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B089VVZ9YR/ref=ox_sc_act_image_4?smid=A2OKSEIX7OEK0B&psc=1

I’m planning on electrical taping a full sized m.2 down as I have seen it done a couple times in videos then place some thermal pads on top to transfer heat to the backplate. This drive will be used for 4K video storage so I’m expecting it will heat up quite a bit during transfers.

[Letgomyleghoe]

And @DrMacintosh can I use an external drive bay with the new drive and clone the drives then plug the new one in or do I have to do some special stuff.

[DrMacintosh]

4 minutes ago, Letgomyleghoe said:

And @DrMacintosh can I use an external drive bay with the new drive and clone the drives then plug the new one in or do I have to do some special stuff.

You can just make a time machine backup on any external drive and then once the new drive is installed, just restore from the backup when installing macOS from internet recovery. 

[Letgomyleghoe]

33 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

You can just make a time machine backup on any external drive and then once the new drive is installed, just restore from the backup when installing macOS from internet recovery. 

Would making a time machine back up on the drive I’m installing work?

 

i would like to avoid buying an external drive, but if I have to do it it’s whatever.

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, Letgomyleghoe said:

Would making a time machine back up on the drive I’m installing work?

No, you’re backing up the current internal drive. Unless you partition the new drive before you install it and can externally connect it to the Mac, you’ll need another drive to store the backup. 

[Letgomyleghoe]

18 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

No, you’re backing up the current internal drive. Unless you partition the new drive before you install it and can externally connect it to the Mac, you’ll need another drive to store the backup. 

Would an external m.2 enclosure work for that? 

[DrMacintosh]

23 minutes ago, Letgomyleghoe said:

Would an external m.2 enclosure work for that? 

Should work if everything is compatible 

[Letgomyleghoe]

4 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Should work if everything is compatible 

okay, thank you!