[29] SSD upgrade in an Apple MacBook Air A1466 (11-inch, early 2014) 

OMG you're right! I've just corrected the video title, description, and thumbnail. Sadly I can't change the video content to correct my mistake. Thank you!

@@ComputerHelpNI😊

That's great -- I'm so glad you found it to be helpful!

I'm so glad my video has helped!

Glad it was helpful!

You're welcome!

I used this adapter: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FYY3H5F/ I used this SSD: www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT1000P1SSD8-Solid-State-Drive/dp/B07J2Q4SWZ/

I didn't notice any obvious difference, and unfortunately I didn't' think to run a before and after speed test either. Next time I'll try to remember to run Blackmagic Speed Test or something similar before and after...

​@@ComputerHelpNI Oh. That'll be nice. My concern was if there's any drop in performance. But if you haven't noticed any obvious difference with the new setup, I'll take it that there hasn't been any drop in performance. Thanks for the prompt response!

Thanks for your kind words! Yes, if you remove the new SSD and replace the old SSD, the computer should work exactly as it did before the upgrade. The old SSD had a previous version of Mac OS, so when that old SSD is installed again, the MacBook will once again be running that older version. Is that what you're asking?

@@ComputerHelpNI Yes that's exactly what I mean! Thanks for the explanation! In case of my MacBook, there are 2 computer accounts. My sister made another computer account to save several docs. However, I'd like to replace the SSD with the new one. Assume that I have installed the new SSD. do you think the computer account will appear as before (2 computer accounts) if I put back and reinstall the old SSD? Thank you

@@billyprabowo5031 If you clone the original SSD (which has two accounts on it) to a new SSD, both accounts will appear on the new SSD. I don't understand why you would put back the old SSD, as the new one will be an exact copy of the old one -- accounts and all..

Yes, exactly: If you have an external (bootable) SSD plugged in, you can hold Option (⌥) or Alt during startup to choose which drive to boot from. MacOS runs surprisingly well / fast from an external SSD.

And thanks for the compliment--I'm thrilled that my videos are helping people!

If it can boot from the ext SSD that back up from the original Macbook Air drive, then should it be better and time saving if we back it up in the first place into the M2 connect externally via ext adapter and swap in after that?

@@danphan0827 If you have the correct adapter (internal M.2 -> USB/M.2) then yes, what you describe would be more efficient than the way I did it (internal M.2 -> USB/SATA and then USB/SATA -> new internal M.2).

In cases like this one, the bottom cover didn't want to stay on by itself, so I just replaced the screws. It does get annoying, however, so you're right that double handling is inefficient.

I'm not sure. I might follow up with this customer to see if they have noticed any issues. Thanks!

Crucial claims that the internal garbage collection in their SSDs means that you don't need to force TRIM to turn on. Here's their article on the subject: uk.crucial.com/support/articles-faq-ssd/trim-and-os-x-operating-systems

Yes, I suspect that would work just fine.

I'm not sure which (Mac or standard NVMe) is better, but NVMe is going to be less expensive. While you *should* be able to restore to the new NVMe drive through the USB adapter, sometimes those adapters don't work very well. If the Mac sees the NVMe drive when you plug in that adapter, you should be able to restore to that drive. Good luck!

That computer has its RAM soldered to the system board and was not intended by Apple to be upgradeable. I do not offer this service--sorry.

Yes, you will need an adapter. Be sure the adapter is designed for your specific model, or it might not work.

Yes: As long as the adapter is compatible, you *should* be able to use any M.2 NVMe SSD.

I'm not sure, as I haven't upgraded a 2017 MacBook. The adapters I bought specifically say they work in "2013-2015" MacBooks, so it would be safer to buy a M.2 SSD that says it's designed for newer MacBooks. Also, be sure you're running at least Mac OS 10.13 (High Sierra), as newer SSDs require newer drivers.

I used this one: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FYY3H5F/

I used this adapter: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FYY3H5F/ I used this SSD: www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT1000P1SSD8-Solid-State-Drive/dp/B07J2Q4SWZ/

You could try an Apple 'gen 3' (the 12+16 pin drive that you have) to M-key M.2 adapter (something like this, perhaps: www.aliexpress.com/item/4001157329590.html ), but I've never used one. From there you could put the SSD into a PC, or you could use an M.2-to-SATA adapter and connect that to a USB port with a SATA-to-USB cable. That all sounds pretty fiddly if you ask me. Have you asked anyone for an estimate to fix the MacBook instead?

@@ComputerHelpNI That's exactly what I need, just didn't know what it was called. Really appreciate the quick response, thank you!! I just realised a family member might have this same model. If I were to screw open this machine and feed it the (foreign) SSD from my machine, (reset NVRAM?) would it boot from the OS or recovery partition?

@@bartschutte1619 Yes: Assuming the other MacBook has the same SSD connector, you should be able to move your SSD to another MacBook and boot normally into MacOS, as if it was your old computer. Macs are very good about that sort of thing; as long as the OS version supports the hardware version, it will just work. Note: *If your SSD is encrypted* (e.g. you turned on FileVault in the past), I'm not sure whether this will still work. It's probably worth a try though.

I've found the only way I'd get consistent results was to use Carbon Copy Cloner, at least after Big Sur. Good luck!

Hmm, I'm not sure what could be wrong. I did find someone else having issues with a P3 in their Mac: discussions.apple.com/thread/254718541

@@ComputerHelpNI I check it but I didn’t get the point , so basically I was using monterey and created bootable installer with same . So what should I do ?

None that I am aware of. We installed this on the 30th of January, and so far I have not heard of any issues from the customer.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'boot-mode', but CCC does clone bootable disks if that's what you mean.

That's definitely the most reliable. If you have access to the old drive, you can install Big Sur and then restore the content from the old drive to the new one. Alternatively, Carbon Copy Cloner is pretty good at making bootable clones of Big Sur drives.

Yes, it would appear to be. We completed this upgrade on the 30th of January (4.5 months ago), and the customer has not reported any issues. This was the primary laptop used by a university student, so I'm nearly certain we would know if any issues were developing.

I recorded that footage in January 2021, and the OS was completely up-to-date, so it must have been OS X 11.1 (Big Sur).

It was just a Crucial P1: www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT1000P1SSD8-Solid-State-Drive/dp/B07J2Q4SWZ/

It should be possible from the Recovery system. Press and hold Command (⌘)-R when starting the Mac to access macOS Utilities. From there you should see 'Reinstall macOS' as an option

Thank you very much! We are waiting for the new mac air to come out hopefully with an M1X or M2 chip

@@marcelab6796 You're welcome. See these instructions from Apple for more detail: support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204904

I bought this one from Amazon.

Hmm... Sorry to hear that. From what I understand, that configuration *should* work. Have you taken it apart and reassembled it, ensuring that each component feels right when going together? Troubleshooting steps might include trying the drive and adapter in another laptop or trying a different adapter and/or drive in your laptop. (I know that's a tall order, as you likely only have one of each available. Is there a repair shop nearby who might be able to help you narrow it down?)

The problem may be in the old version of diskutil, and have you tried to boot os from the usb stick version catalina or higher? What original version of mac os did you have?

Yes, it's a M.2 to Apple NGFF drive adapter.

What kind of issues? If you're seeing the 'Sleep Wake failure in EFI' error, I would suggest using Google to search for the exact error you're encountering to see if others have had (and resolved) the issue. You can also post more info here, and I'll try to help.

Yes sleep awake failure in EFI also now on updating to latest macOs it is showing that disk has some hardware problem that couldn’t be resolved so backup as much data is possible

@@chiragjoshi9545 That sounds like one of the components (either the SSD or the adapter) is faulty. That's a frustrating situation, as it's impossible to know which one might be bad without just replacing one or the other. Sorry that's happening.