Testing the BEST upgrades for used MacBooks!

Ғылым және технология

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Today we're putting some of the top MacBook upgrades to the test: when people buy older retina MacBook Pros, they often wonder if an SSD upgrade or new thermal paste is a good idea. Well, today we'll answer those questions! With the help of iFixit, we're going to give a 2015 15 inch MacBook Pro a huge upgrade :)
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Пікірлер: 442

  • @vitorviana_ES
    @vitorviana_ES Жыл бұрын

    Don't forget to disconnect the battery before follow this steps. This is very important to avoid any kind of electrical issues on MacBook.

  • @vxgamer8505

    @vxgamer8505

    Жыл бұрын

    That kind of happened to my MacBook I unplugged the battery to clean the fan and when I plugged the battery back in I heard a pop I started to panic and when I pressed the power button I heard the boot chime but the screen was black so I left the MacBook on my shelf for 3-4 months before picking it up and pressing the power button and it turned on. Lol

  • @vitorviana_ES

    @vitorviana_ES

    Жыл бұрын

    @@vxgamer8505 hopeless situation!!! kkkkk

  • @sihamhamda47

    @sihamhamda47

    Жыл бұрын

    And also you must press the power button for several seconds after disconnecting the battery to ensure all power is gone in the motherboard (because motherboard has many capacitors that can hold a fraction of electricity for several minutes after disconnected from power source)

  • @vitorviana_ES

    @vitorviana_ES

    Жыл бұрын

    @@sihamhamda47 Yes. Correctly!!

  • @user-jt6xh2ln9z

    @user-jt6xh2ln9z

    Жыл бұрын

    also cleaning the fans...

  • @neilquinn
    @neilquinn Жыл бұрын

    There's something super satisfying about upgrading old machines like this

  • @bobbob-gi1yp
    @bobbob-gi1yp Жыл бұрын

    The 2 tb upgrade is still very nice to have from the stock 200-500gb, and for the thermal paste its definitely based on the design of the cooler that Apple uses

  • @walpoleandworcester
    @walpoleandworcester Жыл бұрын

    Reminds me of when I upgraded my company PC with a new NVME SSD. I also used a similar enclosure and besides having to reinstall Windows 10, the process wasn’t too bad. Very straightforward! It had a very slow HDD before! Made all the difference!

  • @Amosan435

    @Amosan435

    Жыл бұрын

    👇

  • @Denastus

    @Denastus

    6 ай бұрын

    If you upgrade your company PC, the IT department will know that you did it. We are able to see hardware changes in real time.

  • @beam2779
    @beam2779 Жыл бұрын

    Watching your videos helped me pick out the right mac. I super happy with my Mac Studio. I got the low model and Logics and all my plugins work phenomenal. Kudos to you and your videos. Subbed

  • @ted356
    @ted356 Жыл бұрын

    Appreciate the effort! Very helpful to those of us with that era of Macbook Pro. I haven't upgraded my SSD yet, but it's on the list. One of the most recommended NVMe SSDs for the Macbook Pro is the SK Hynix P31 Gold. According to what I've read, it offers excellent performance and outstanding power management. If you want to run on battery for as long as possible, it's a good candidate.

  • @Sirmellowman
    @Sirmellowman Жыл бұрын

    if you think about it, its really impressive the thermal paste they were using that long ago is holding up against the modern stuff. there has been some real advances in thermal paste in that time. It almost makes me think that someone may have already put something fresh in there. if not thats really impressive.

  • @panzer3279

    @panzer3279

    Жыл бұрын

    His testing methodology is flawed. He did not set a constant fan curve. Also, the tests should have been done with the same laptop, once before repasting and other after that.

  • @zoltanvarga1967
    @zoltanvarga1967 Жыл бұрын

    Great show Luke, and thank you so much for making this video, by the way I did ask Luke to make a video about the paste/upgrade on the 15inch retina. Thanks again and happy holidays Luke! ❤️👍🏼

  • @LeoGarciaMusic
    @LeoGarciaMusic Жыл бұрын

    I repasted my 13" Macbook Pro and it made a huge difference. Before that the fan was spinning at full speed all the time and I noticed a bad performance (audio CPU demanding applications). After repasting everything went incredibly smoother, performs a lot better and the fan now is always quiet. Be aware of fake branded thermal paste flooding the market, though.

  • @cgi2173
    @cgi2173 Жыл бұрын

    Just completed my 1tb SSD upgrade on my 15 inch mid 2014 Macbook Pro. Got a 1tb Samsung 970 Evo Plus. Double the read/write speed of the Apple SSD. 😃

  • @Patricia-kk8tr
    @Patricia-kk8tr Жыл бұрын

    Take note that Luke installed Monterey before swapping out SSD for the non proprietary one. There are a lot of threads in Apple community about SSD crashing after upgrading to Monterey. According to one poster, Monterey Installer contains an EFI Boot ROM that verifies if an Apple Original Drive is the Destination Drive which the Western Digital Drive is NOT. The EFI Boot ROM must Flash the Computer and NOT the Drive itself. Without the Flashing of Computer process taking place - the Installation may fail or abort or in your case Crash the System.

  • @JC-zw4bw

    @JC-zw4bw

    9 ай бұрын

    1. So we must update the original SSD to Monterey first ? 2. then install Monterey on the second drive 3. then install the second drive into the computer.

  • @user-we9hu6hb8e

    @user-we9hu6hb8e

    3 ай бұрын

    ​@@JC-zw4bwin most cases, if you still have the original apple ssd installed or on hand, you would want to update to Monterey first before upgrading to a third party ssd. As mentioned, if the base system isn't already updated, when you try to update to Monterey via third party ssd, the install will proceed as normal but then will give you an error stating the ssd is not compatible. With this model you can update to big sur via third party ssd without issue but the base system has to be updated to go further. Or as mentioned use OpenCore

  • @darrencritchley5425
    @darrencritchley5425 Жыл бұрын

    Love these kind of videos!

  • @zhunhuang2258
    @zhunhuang2258 Жыл бұрын

    hi,luke,thank you!Merry Christmas to you!

  • @adriantraczyk
    @adriantraczykАй бұрын

    Thanks a lot, upgraded my MacBook Pro 13 late a1502 to 1TB nvme, I’m very excited

  • @stevensanchez7740
    @stevensanchez77404 ай бұрын

    Bro this video is gold thank you💪🏽

  • @oof56000
    @oof56000 Жыл бұрын

    one upgrade you could have tried with the 15 inch pro is thermal pads on the heatsink much like the mods done on the m1 mba's and it gives some performance

  • @josephregallis3394
    @josephregallis3394 Жыл бұрын

    I upgraded my 2013 laptop from a 500GB HDD to a 500GB SSD and upgraded my wife's older laptop's 256GB HDD to 256GB SSD with amazing results! I love getting large performance gains from small upgrades! I would not think of upgrading paste for the CPU. I'm thinking about going with a MacBook 16" Pro next time because of the efficiency and quiet fan. My laptop can make a lot of noise with it's i7 when it gets hot!

  • @sethie_shots
    @sethie_shots3 ай бұрын

    Killer resource video for me. I’m finally upgrading my dual 2012 mbp 15’s. I’m actually between a 2019 & 2015. Leaning newer. Cheers!

  • @riccardoplatone
    @riccardoplatone Жыл бұрын

    Last year I switched to Mac but I still have my old Windows PC laying around as a backup for data transfer and other stuff even though it was running very slow. I had an HDD inside of it and it failed, but since it was still functioning I tried to swap it for an SSD and it just blew my mind: not only it's esponentially faster but it's also the quietest it has ever been, and it took me 20 euros and 10 minutes to do the upgrade without having opened a PC in my entire life.

  • @davidg5898
    @davidg5898 Жыл бұрын

    I did these same upgrades (+ new battery) to mine a few years ago and there is a slight benefit to repasting, but only on lighter loads or very quick heavy loads. The system will idle at lower temps and boost for longer. But for long duration heavy loads, my results are the same as yours: it's effectively a wash.

  • @dirkonnokia944
    @dirkonnokia944 Жыл бұрын

    Hey Luke, an other cool video! I just love video's and information on upgrading old MacBooks because they are very usuable for 90% of users that never do any demanding tasks on any computer. It is cool having a computer with 2 TB storage. When I my current machine gets damaged I simply buy an other one and swap better parts.

  • @doge8676
    @doge8676 Жыл бұрын

    When I changed the thermal paste on two of these the fans stopped blowing constantly to once in while.

  • @ash.mystic
    @ash.mystic Жыл бұрын

    Wouldn’t it be better to test the same MacBook before and after, rather than compare it to a different MacBook? Even if they are the same model and specs, there might be slight variations in performance, especially if they are older and well-used.

  • @artilleryisbetter

    @artilleryisbetter

    Жыл бұрын

    bump

  • @jadamsnz
    @jadamsnz Жыл бұрын

    I did something similar in that I upgraded my mid 2015 15" using a kit from OWC which included a 1TB SSD and external case. Unlike the iFixit kit the OWC didn't require an adaptor for the SSD as the one supplied was specifically made for the Mac. Installation was fine and the new SSD worked fine. What wasn't was that the old SSD didn't work in the external case. It turned out that there were a number of suppliers of the original Mac SSD and the Samsung version I had wasn't compatible. Symptoms were that it formatted as APFS fine but eventually started failing with file copying until it would no longer mount. OWC were happy to take back the case and give a refund but shipping would have cost more than that refund. The approach in this video looks good but I suspect that the old SSD won't fit in the external enclosure because of the proprietary Apple connector and adding an appropriate adopter would then make it too long for the enclosure (unless the case can take 110mm SSDs).

  • @garydiamondguitarist

    @garydiamondguitarist

    Жыл бұрын

    Interoperability of SSDs can be an issue on the machines themselves too, not just when put in an enclosure with an adapter. For example, G series Apple SSDs (as found in the 2015 rMBPs) when placed into 2014 rMBPs which shipped with F series often work fine with macOS but then have problems completing a Boot Camp install. I can't help but wonder if it's something to do with EFI problems causing the Windows install to fail.

  • @joecrak249
    @joecrak2498 ай бұрын

    really enjoyed this video and content

  • @runningslowman
    @runningslowman Жыл бұрын

    Great video and timely since I just purchased two 2015 MBP 15" and I love em! They both have a 1TB stock drive but I could benefit from a 4TB (2TB will not buy me enough space). I'm wondering if there is enough room to add a 4tb SSD rather than a 2TB. I haven't heard anyone talk about adding a 4TB SSD and am thinking the 4TB SSDs may be double sided and will not fit. I guess it is possible that the machine will not address 4TB. Any idea?

  • @odie7764
    @odie77644 ай бұрын

    The thermal paste is a good shout, I'd never thought of that. Just bought my daughter a used macbook air.

  • @williameverets2736
    @williameverets2736 Жыл бұрын

    My 2015 MacBook Pro late 2015 5.4 I installed a Fledging ssd Feather M13 2tb 2280 and put new past nest the battery, Thank You for your help with Video Ps to much past o'well.

  • @bmwman1029
    @bmwman1029 Жыл бұрын

    The thing that drives me more insane than anything is the anti reflective coating coming off these. I thought nothing of it when I bought my perfect example and it STILL happened to me. I had to buy a whole new screen and sell my old one cause I even tried using the Listerine method and some of the coating still wouldn't come off. Highly recommend a screen protector for anyone interested in these.

  • @Chreative427

    @Chreative427

    Жыл бұрын

    Wait, you used Listerine to protect the coating or to strip the coating?

  • @bmwman1029

    @bmwman1029

    Жыл бұрын

    @@Chreative427 strip the coating

  • @rrrichiexl

    @rrrichiexl

    Жыл бұрын

    Got it fixed under the recall option, and that screen is still ok, but that the recall has expired now.

  • @nintendokings

    @nintendokings

    Жыл бұрын

    I used baby wipes and got the ugly coating off in like 10min. Well worth it, it’s very pretty now and cost nothing. It’s just a tad more reflective

  • @daroldmorris4962

    @daroldmorris4962

    Жыл бұрын

    @@nintendokings Learned something new, used baby wipes and worked very well. Thanks for this awesome tip!!!

  • @SavageRacerX
    @SavageRacerX Жыл бұрын

    The stock fan curve from Apple is not good for the CPU temps. I would try using Macs Fan Control app to keep temps around 60-70C to see if performance is better with the new thermal paste. Thanks for the Intel Power Gadget, now I can monitor CPU details better :)

  • @rrrichiexl

    @rrrichiexl

    Жыл бұрын

    Yep, same I here, customized the curve to start cooling sooner, makes a bit more sound, but a lot more comfy on the lap.

  • @michaelolz
    @michaelolz Жыл бұрын

    I swear, the layout of the inside of a MacBook Pro is suitable for framing. It's just pretty.

  • @TwoTooStupidGuys
    @TwoTooStupidGuys Жыл бұрын

    On this "old" machines you can also use a hand full of thermal pads to let the MacBook dissipate heat through the bottom cover (at the CPU itself and where the fan fins are). Combined with Macs Fan Control (custom fan curve) you can always improve temps by at least 10° to 15° and gain up to 20% performance (in the most used benchmarks).

  • @garydiamondguitarist

    @garydiamondguitarist

    Жыл бұрын

    Please tell me there's links for this, it's totally a mod I would do to mine. Even with new thermal paste the 2.8GHz QC i7 in mine throttles to 80% under sustained Cinebench test (and same applies when rendering out in FCPX too). Might make the logic board last longer too since it's running in dGPU mode most of the time.

  • @artilleryisbetter

    @artilleryisbetter

    Жыл бұрын

    sauce?

  • @TwoTooStupidGuys

    @TwoTooStupidGuys

    Жыл бұрын

    @@garydiamondguitarist Just go through Luke Miani's videos and look for the video where he mods the MacBook Air M1 (or M2?) with a thermal pad. Open up your MacBook and look where the CPU is, remove a square of the black shielding on the inside of the bottom cover and apply a 1,5mm or 2,0mm thermal pad where the CPU is and where the fan fins are. In combination with a custom fan curve your Mac will be a lot cooler and more quiet. Long story short: Make sure your CPU and the heat pipes are connected to the bottom cover through a thermal pad.

  • @Mvendrel
    @Mvendrel Жыл бұрын

    I have a 2015 maxed out MacBook Pro 15” I bought almost new 5 years ago. I paid more than $300 then ;-) It is perhaps the best laptop I’ve ever owed for my needs as I need Windows and MacOS. I upgraded with OWC 2TB SSD and split that 50/50 with Windows 10 and Mac OS using BootCamp. It works flawlessly although best to use mouse when in Windows. When I don’t need windows I have a used 2020 MacBook Pro 13” M1 maxed out highest stock with 16GB ram, etc. I know new it’s not the best value but I got it mint used at extremely good price about a year ago (~$900).

  • Жыл бұрын

    Next time upgrade the AirPort as well, extra content and great improvements; such as unlocking with apple watch/faster wifi-bt etc.

  • @kenjifox4264
    @kenjifox4264 Жыл бұрын

    So where can we get the same OEM paste Apple uses? And, the paste is made to last a long time, but it doesn’t last forever. So at what point should the cpu be reposted regardless ?

  • @JDFloyd
    @JDFloyd Жыл бұрын

    For my executive day job, I still use a 2015 15" MBP, maxed out - 16gb & 2tb. I did the same upgrade about 3-years ago. This use-case does not require any post-production processing, only MS Office desktop & web applications. I was able to get a second matching MBP as a backup. I do not see a need to upgrade my office MBP until it dies. I would have upgraded my desk to a 13" M1 MBA, but due to the lack of native dual-monitor (external) support, it is not a viable option. Should the rumored 15" M-series MBA come with native dual-monitor support, then that might be worth a change. For my photography work, I use a maxed out 16" M1 Max MBP.

  • @garydiamondguitarist

    @garydiamondguitarist

    Жыл бұрын

    From my point of view you made a wise choice, because I bought both a 2015 MacBook Pro Retina 15" (2.8GHz/1TB Apple SSD) and a 2020 MacBook Air M1 to run for a couple of weeks, alternating every day to see which one came out on top. The Retina did. Performance on the M1 Air was that little bit better and it was certainly more portable, but *ugh* Apple still aren't getting the keyboards right even after going back to scissor switch mechanisms. For someone who types tens of thousands of words a day, that just wasn't right, and I agree, two external displays is better than one especially for audio production/video editing. Sold the M1 Air for a modest profit in the end too 😎

  • @JDFloyd

    @JDFloyd

    Жыл бұрын

    @@garydiamondguitarist - similar issues for me. I also have an M1 13" MBA, which I use as my travel laptop (I am a consultant, so on a flight weekly) that perfectly fits the airline tables, and in my Tumi bag.

  • @commanderkeen7448
    @commanderkeen7448 Жыл бұрын

    Don't forget the battery. I just replaced the battery in my 2014 MacBook Pro and it made a world of difference. Mine was shot anyway. Luckily Apple had the part in stock so I got the OEM battery. iFixit sells a battery replacement kit too.

  • @nicholasbriolabriola_f20

    @nicholasbriolabriola_f20

    Жыл бұрын

    You can get the battery direclty from apple?

  • @nikotakai8796

    @nikotakai8796

    Жыл бұрын

    I saw many bas reviews for the iFixit battery though ...

  • @garydiamondguitarist

    @garydiamondguitarist

    Жыл бұрын

    Battery install is fiddly, personally in the UK since you can pay Apple £199 to replace the battery it's the better option. That way, as they replace the entire topcase you also get a brand new keyboard and trackpad into the bargain, super nice if the haptic magnets on the trackpad are starting to weaken. Probably for the best too because getting that adhesive off from under the batteries is a ballache.

  • @cgi2173

    @cgi2173

    Жыл бұрын

    @@garydiamondguitarist I just replaced the battery in my 15 inch MBP. Pain in the arse, but I wanted to do it myself. 😃

  • @alejandrorey359
    @alejandrorey3597 ай бұрын

    Yeah the thermal paste upgrade definitely won't show much improvement if you can't tweak the fan curves as well. Heat dissipation from the cpu die to the heat sink might be more efficient, but if the fans can't dissipate that heat from the heat sink fast enough then what's the point.

  • @logaandm
    @logaandm10 ай бұрын

    My experience with Thermal Grizzly is different than with your thermal paste. Temperatures were lower all around with less fan noise. Also, I've been using Thermal Grizzly for years and it stays good for at least three years while the Apple stock paste dries out. So, Thermal Grizzly, at least, is an upgrade in thermal paste quality. However, overall speed remained similar between the stock paste and Thermal Grizzley. This is because MacOS will run the CPU at the limits and then becomes more power limited rather than temperature limited. Since thermal paste is pretty cheap, as even a small tube is good for many applications, I think the lower temperatures and less fan noise are worth the small amount of work to change the thermal paste for these older MacBooks. My son changed to Thermal Grizzly and cleaned his fans on a gaming laptop. Again no notable speed difference, but the temperature went down over 25 degC and his fan noise went way down. New MacBooks where the logic board has to be removed to change the thermal paste the calculus might be different but if you have to remove the logic board for some reason (like changing the battery) then I think it's always a good idea to change the paste to something like Thermal Grizzly. No I don't work for Thermal Grizzly. I just really like it.

  • @LellePrinter82
    @LellePrinter829 ай бұрын

    Great video. Many years ago I saved a faulty 15inch macbook pro. I didn't start because the previous owner had spilled something and the liquid went inside on one of the sides (not on the keyboard) and damaged the motherboard. But overall it looks like it's in great condition. Thinking of maybe replacing the motherboard someday when I have the time and money. The screen looks intact, but i'm unsure about the battery though. I disconnected it as soon as I got the macbook.

  • @raycheung9313
    @raycheung9313 Жыл бұрын

    Hey Luke, could you teach us how to fix a flexgate problem with MacBook Pro?

  • @lorencing
    @lorencing7 ай бұрын

    Thanks for the video! How does the Crucial 2TB drive hold up today? Asking because I am also thinking of doing just that, well still deciding if 1 or 2TB drive.

  • @gregorycollins3096
    @gregorycollins3096 Жыл бұрын

    I’d like to see a video on how you prepare a Mac for resale. Also tips for listing and pricing on eBay. Thanks.

  • @angelahornung8488
    @angelahornung84886 ай бұрын

    Some thoughts: Same resulting temperature could be the result that the upgraded system can clock itself at stock a bit longer then the stock system? -> I'd also be curious what the heat transfer rate of your paste is, I tend to lean towards Grizzly Kryonaught extreme for its high conductivity rate which did return higher performance rates on my 2015 retina MacBook Pro. I'd have plugged in both machines as they can throttle themselves a bit while on battery. Fun side tangent, I used to have an 2015 MacBook Pro i7 (Intel Graphics sadly) and to reduce how quickly the system would hit max temperature from loading PHPStorm I bridged the gap between the heatsink at the fins and the metal bottom chassis with some high conductivity thermal pads. While the retinas have a lot of great things about them, personally I think the issues with overheating and intel MacBooks is just too much to justify. Super happy the platform has switched.

  • @eggy1711
    @eggy1711 Жыл бұрын

    Good video, you may want to try a better Thermal Paste. A lot of people use Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme has better thermal conductivity of 14.2KW which may help you out, a good video to see which works better. also, the new Samsung 990 PRO SSD are out they say best best power efficiency and made it alot better. Maybe a good head-to-head to see does speed thing up. keep the videos coming

  • @brunofietze9600

    @brunofietze9600

    Жыл бұрын

    Would you recommend samsung 990 on these older macbooks ?

  • @eggy1711

    @eggy1711

    Жыл бұрын

    @@brunofietze9600 I got one , Samsung advertises lower latency and lower power use but it's PCI Express 4 so the old laptop will never take advantage of all the speed it has. I ended up building a window system with a new Ryzen 7700x just waiting on a video card to finish it. You should be able to get a Samsung PCI Express 3 for a lot cheaper now.

  • @aceacejo6114
    @aceacejo6114 Жыл бұрын

    Windows system can also do the same process you are saying. Windows systems can be cloned and can be run on an external drive, you can use minipartition tool to do the cloning process. It is useful for storage upgrade.

  • @garydiamondguitarist

    @garydiamondguitarist

    Жыл бұрын

    True, but what amazes me about macOS is that you can often run it from a USB drive or migrate from one Mac to another. I dropped the SSD from my 2014 MBA into a 2015 rMBP to test and although the first boot took longer, everything worked. Driver support was all there for the WiFi, Bluetooth etc. Considering Apple have a reputation for making things like that difficult, that did amaze me.

  • @sumosys372
    @sumosys372 Жыл бұрын

    Cracking ideas! Just tried it on an early 2015 MacBook Air, but hit a snag. The existing drive is APFS (Encrypted), and I am struggling to get the new drive to restore from it. It fails each time. Should this be an issue? Or is my new new SSD dodgy? If it is an issue is there a workaround? Keep up the great work!

  • @smithyoftherust
    @smithyoftherust Жыл бұрын

    Honestly, one really shouldn't expect a performance boost from repaste, but I treat it as a maintenance item. In theory, yes, OEM paste should last a while, but you also have no idea what the previous owner did to it, if the paste really is still good, etc. Doing it is cheap insurance on your end; it's now a known quantity that you know is good. Throw it on the yearly maintenance schedule and enjoy your newly refurbished kit.

  • @zizlog_sound

    @zizlog_sound

    8 ай бұрын

    I repasted my mid 2014 MBP after 8.5 yrs and the OEM thermal paste was bone dry. And even in 2023 it’s still a decent machine w/ 16GB of RAM and a quad core CPU.

  • @justanormaluser1535
    @justanormaluser1535 Жыл бұрын

    I did the same tests on a 2015 MacBook Air. I unscrewed the fan and cleaned its inside. Then I replaced the thermal paste with a really good quality one. That made the MacBook 5% better in benchmarks. I also installed software to control the fan speed. Why? Because Apple intentionally keeps the fan very low as not to disturb you. But this drastically sacrifices performance. Most of the time even with a higher speed you still won’t hear the fan. That gave it another 5%. In the end the score increased by about 10%. But my machine was also very dirty on the inside. Still, I think everyone should do this on their computers from time to time. Even if there is no speed increase, a cooler chip is a chip that lasts longer.

  • @emilsecker7881

    @emilsecker7881

    Жыл бұрын

    Holy crap, a whole 5% 😂😂😂

  • @justanormaluser1535

    @justanormaluser1535

    Жыл бұрын

    @@emilsecker7881 That's not a small improvement? what did you except when you're not changing any component at all?

  • @emilsecker7881

    @emilsecker7881

    Жыл бұрын

    @@justanormaluser1535 it really is lol

  • @ted356

    @ted356

    Жыл бұрын

    I like how you can really tune the old Macbook Pro, playing with things like the fan speed, etc. Really, it's all a matter of how much you want to draw down the battery to get it to run better. If you run it from AC all the time, you can really tweak things up. I am sure Apple engineers did a lot of tinkering and making decisions on how fast and hot to run these things, as a trade off for battery life. Fortunately, we the tools available, we can setup the system to be the best for what we want to do.

  • @alexd9800
    @alexd9800 Жыл бұрын

    Hi Luke! Great to see videos like this. I am thinking between Mac Book pro 2015/15 inch and Mac book air M2, bun I need 15 inch screen. Will use for home tasks. Would like to see M2 Mac book air with big screen.

  • @gergemall
    @gergemall Жыл бұрын

    Excellent. Did the same and mine is a Rocket .

  • @sevagtankabalian91
    @sevagtankabalian91 Жыл бұрын

    Hey Luke, it was an interesting video to watch, but may i ask you how did you manage the high fan noise because of non Apple part, and the sleep/wake function for this laptop, and random crashes that might arise during use of the device.

  • @TJK152
    @TJK152 Жыл бұрын

    The 2015s do not support macOS Ventura so using Opencore Legacy Patcher will let you patch macOS Ventura on them.

  • @somaday2595

    @somaday2595

    11 ай бұрын

    Ohhh, I wish I had read you comment regarding Opencore Legacy Patcher. I had read and watched videos about the need to install firmware for the Mac to recognize the NVMe interface, but not mentioned a patcher.. My long path => I picked up several Macbook Pro mid 2015s that had the original SSDs removed. Not being an Apple person since several disasters on the original Macintosh decades ago, I thought a 500 or 1000GB SATA or NVMe SSD M.2 would be a reasonable upgrade, but not so fast. An adapter to accept the NVMe was installed along with an SSD on a short list of recommended SSDs, (some popular SSDs not on the list were found later to not work). But an NVMe driver was needed. Soooo, installed an Apple 128GB ACHI (?) SSD, downloaded OS X 10.3, upgraded to OS 12.6.8 (Monterey), and Restored to Crucial P1 1TB NVMe, (on the recommended list), using a NVMe reader/ copier; NVMe installed into Macbook Pro using the M.2 adapter. And so it goes.

  • @kennnnnnnnnnneh3687

    @kennnnnnnnnnneh3687

    17 күн бұрын

    @@somaday2595bro make a video abt it

  • @unpluggedfreedom1
    @unpluggedfreedom110 ай бұрын

    You deserve more subscribers 🇨🇦🤗

  • @davidwilliams4845
    @davidwilliams4845 Жыл бұрын

    So, you got an upgrade kit that didn't work in your MacBook without an adapter, with an external case that doesn't work with the removed SSD?

  • @artmaltman
    @artmaltman Жыл бұрын

    Fascinating. How does speed of that unit compare to a new M1 Air? M2 Air? (Not the base model). Thx.

  • @tomwynn921
    @tomwynn921 Жыл бұрын

    Aside from the upgrades mentioned, what other experimental component replacements or upgrades could one attempt on the Retina MBPs? Is there an aftermarket battery that may have more amp hours, or more modern speakers with better bass response?

  • @garydiamondguitarist

    @garydiamondguitarist

    Жыл бұрын

    The only speaker replacements I ever saw were just cheaper versions of the Apple OEMs - kinda same deal as replacement batteries, you can fit them and they work, but what you save in cost as compared to the original Apple parts you lose in quality (I did a single speaker replacement in a 2014 rMBP 13" once and I could tell the difference, one was noticeably more piercing, that was the cheap replacement).

  • Жыл бұрын

    @@garydiamondguitarist You can upgrade your wifi card to have new features such as unlocking with apple watch. Ofc if you are talking about early retina models, if it is 2015, no improvement can be done wifi wise

  • @Radi0he4d1
    @Radi0he4d1 Жыл бұрын

    My 2012 air with 4 gigs of ram chokes on Monterey. Had to install high Sierra and it works great!

  • @zizlog_sound

    @zizlog_sound

    8 ай бұрын

    Or install a Linux distro and it will be flying.

  • @f.remplakowski
    @f.remplakowski Жыл бұрын

    What about a graphite pad? Or is there too much of a risk of that moving ? That or PTM 7950?

  • @corey7219
    @corey7219 Жыл бұрын

    I just got a MacBook air from early 2015 (a1495 I think it's the model number) the SSD was completely dead so, I got a new nvme ssd with adapter.

  • @stingus
    @stingus Жыл бұрын

    What about the coolers' speed during the workload?

  • @robsavage3296
    @robsavage3296 Жыл бұрын

    How are the boot times ? I have no issues with Mojave or Big Sur. With Monterey my Macbook takes over 3 minutes to boot. I believe the trim function is broken with Samsung NMVe SSD’s. I’m using a 1TB Samsung Evo 970 non plus version. 2015 15 inch MacBook Pro , integrated graphics, 2.8 ghz CPU.

  • @Basic-Reviews
    @Basic-Reviews Жыл бұрын

    Plus that’d give you a fresh TBW fresh start.

  • @arranmc182
    @arranmc182 Жыл бұрын

    I need to do new thermal paste on my MBP 9,2 as last few months Iv noticed it getting stupid hot for no reason so thing the past finally given up the ghost

  • @RaudiRaul
    @RaudiRaul Жыл бұрын

    I love when Luke makes videos like these! I have 2015 retina 13in MacBook pro I’m currently trying to upgrade! What’s the cheapest way to replace a cracked screen Luke? Any tips? Please make a video for screen replacement on this model ! 🙏

  • @garydiamondguitarist

    @garydiamondguitarist

    Жыл бұрын

    It usually works out cheaper to buy a working machine to use as a donor than trying to buy the screen on it's own; look out for any 13" rMBPs that have a perfect screen (i.e. no delamination, no rubber seal coming away from the edges) but other faults such as keyboard problems or failed batteries which will make them cheaper to purchase because it's really only the screen you need to be in good working order. Retina Pros are pretty easy to change the screen on... I have a theory Apple knew how fragile they were and made it easier than, say, doing the same on an older style 2017 or earlier Air. 2015 13" Retina MacBook Pros (and I've had a couple; great machines but the lack of a dGPU is making them show their age a bit) will work with 2013-2014 screens as well however the "Option" boot menu and a couple of other things don't show up due to the screens having different EDIDs I think it is (so the machine is treating the "Built-in Retina Display" as an external display), but I ran my 2015 with a 2013 screen for about a year and it was fine, before finally finding a replacement 2015 screen for it. Personal tip with screen replacement on any MacBook; be damn careful with the WiFi cables (especially the header end) and the FaceTime camera connector. I have broken both in the course of repairing MacBooks and it's frustrating as hell.

  • @RaudiRaul

    @RaudiRaul

    Жыл бұрын

    @@garydiamondguitarist that’s so much for your reply Gary! That’s very helpful! I will venture to replace myself and be extra careful with the hotel cables. Good to know that older models work as well. Thanks again!

  • @garydiamondguitarist

    @garydiamondguitarist

    Жыл бұрын

    @@RaudiRaul You're welcome, glad I could help. Luke inspired me to get into repairing them a bit so trying to do the same 😇

  • @fiallos1
    @fiallos1 Жыл бұрын

    What about the display screen upgrade?

  • @macattack1481
    @macattack1481 Жыл бұрын

    Can you please post a link for the SSD adapter.

  • @Dabbaranks
    @Dabbaranks Жыл бұрын

    WIll any NVMe M.2 drive physically fit in a late 2013 15" retina with the adapter? Totally want to do this, but living in Asia, it's cheaper for me to get the SSD and enclosure locally.

  • @joerodriguez9645
    @joerodriguez96455 ай бұрын

    I've seen everywhere that the max on these is 1tb, I should be able to throw 2tb in my mid 2015 15in right?

  • @RiverPrayer1
    @RiverPrayer15 ай бұрын

    Hi man, have been watching you for years now. thanks for all your videos. quick question, I have two partition on my ssd and one is used for bootcamp/window. when I clone my ssd, is everything going to be restored as well as bootcamp part etc?

  • @pattskatoey3139
    @pattskatoey3139 Жыл бұрын

    You didn’t cover battery drain Luke. In my 13” 2015 I must say I haven’t really noticed it running faster after the upgrade.

  • @baconfister
    @baconfister Жыл бұрын

    I eee you’ve got the Ultra on your wrist. Curious if it’s just a fanboy thing or if you’re an ultra endurance athlete as I am. Would like to hear your thoughts should you be into the ultra endurance thing.

  • @stefanvasilev9318
    @stefanvasilev9318 Жыл бұрын

    So, just to be sure - connect the new SSD, erase it, clone it, and then just put it in the MacBook and it starts up normally, exactly as would the old one?

  • @Jonnyd05
    @Jonnyd05 Жыл бұрын

    Macbook pro 15 2015 dedicated graphics are still one of the most popular ones having a changeable ssd really does help its a shame macbooks were all soldered from that point there really is no need for it

  • @Marc-io6pv
    @Marc-io6pv Жыл бұрын

    I think I need to change the NVME on my 5k 2014 iMac then. I'm only getting 600mb/s read. Its slow to boot up. Do you think it would help with 4k playback in timeline too?

  • @trendy2826
    @trendy2826 Жыл бұрын

    4:25 Good idea!

  • @aldenmallory1673
    @aldenmallory1673 Жыл бұрын

    Just wondering how old are those MacBooks are? I got that same one right when it came out and am wondering if I should repaste just because age.

  • @jadhal6649
    @jadhal6649 Жыл бұрын

    Can you explain Booting process for i pad and android tab Means Windows laptop desktop has uefi mode bios. We can change boot drive. Can we change boot sequence of i pad from internal to external hdd. Such as you shown in apple laptop Can we handle I pad boot sequence.

  • @bobgrimes8618
    @bobgrimes8618 Жыл бұрын

    I took your video on the 2012 13" Macbook Pro and added 16 gigs of ram and a 512 meg SSD.

  • @emilsecker7881

    @emilsecker7881

    Жыл бұрын

    Time to upgrade that thing. macOS Catalina is no longer supported

  • @khalinrao6089
    @khalinrao6089 Жыл бұрын

    I had an old unibody MBP it was so slow I thought it was the hardrive but it was the battery

  • @skyisthelimit9951
    @skyisthelimit9951 Жыл бұрын

    The two most important components I want to know about are, Where to get the reliable Battery and the connector that makes it compatible with M.2 SDD to your Macbook Pro? Anyone pasting a link to those two will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

  • @mrglasses8953
    @mrglasses8953 Жыл бұрын

    After my old 2012 mac finally died, I bought one of these because I needed a cheap replacement (£435.) Unfortunately, I bought the 11,4 model, without the dedicated GPU, not the 11,5 not realising it didn't have one. So I'm now looking to swap it for an 11,5, which should be cost-neutral and adding an eGPU (something like an RX 5700) for 3d rendering. Or maybe scrap the eGPU for now and get a 2019 16", as decent base models seem to be going for around £750 - £800. As far SSD upgrades go though, do I go for a PCIe gen 3 drive, or PCIe gen 4?

  • @CulinarySpy
    @CulinarySpy5 ай бұрын

    Great video thanks Luke! My problem is for business I need to retain 32-bit application capability so I've stuck with Mojave OS 10.14 and can't run 10.14 using an adapter with a modern SSD. Catalina is no problem, but won't run 32-bit software. Wish I had a 1 or 2TB SSD that didn't require an adapter for my late 2013 Pro

  • @advaithmenon1002
    @advaithmenon1002 Жыл бұрын

    Hey Luke! One thing to always keep in mind is to disconnect the battery before doing any other work inside the machine. Aside from that, I found that you can't update the system firmware with 3rd party SSDs. Apple being apple, only lets you update the firmware with an Apple SSD in the Mac. This probably wouldn't be a problem if you're already on the latest version of Monterey. I'm stuck on Big Sur on my 2015 13", and I can't update to Monterey just because I can't update the firmware. So, keep the original SSD with you, just incase.

  • @2egenjerry

    @2egenjerry

    Жыл бұрын

    I’m pretty sure Big Sur was the last update for the 2015s that’s what I had

  • @cgi2173

    @cgi2173

    Жыл бұрын

    @@2egenjerry 2015's can go up to Monterey. I have the mid 2014 MBP. It only goes up to Big Sur. 😃

  • @AgusSetiawan-ou4nq
    @AgusSetiawan-ou4nq Жыл бұрын

    How about the sleep/wake feature? I heard it's pretty much gone after you adapt 3rd party ssd into the machine

  • @pauldwalker

    @pauldwalker

    Жыл бұрын

    my thought is, who cares? it’s fast enough to start up and shutdown.

  • @timrault

    @timrault

    Жыл бұрын

    I have a Crucial SSD with an adapter in my mid 2015 15 inch MBP and it doesn't have any issues with sleep and wake. However boot time is very long, I wonder if that has anything to do with having a 3rd party SSD.

  • @lpj55

    @lpj55

    Жыл бұрын

    Similarly to Tim, I put a Crucial P2 CT500P2SSD8 SSD in my 2015 MBA 8GB 11" recently. It's ticking along nicely; I'm not noticing a boot time difference.

  • @sundersquare
    @sundersquare11 ай бұрын

    is this the same for a mid 2014 macbook pro 15 inch too? i presume it is

  • @keithkamps77
    @keithkamps77 Жыл бұрын

    What are the CPU and GPU temps before and after?

  • @Zazquatch1
    @Zazquatch126 күн бұрын

    What if the fans are not working at all.? I have only changed my battery to a new one and upgrded the RAM to faster ones, but still the same amount of GB's. My 2010 Macbook Pro turns itself restarts as it starts to do just a bit of work as I am hooking it up to my TV to do some keynote. It seems to work just fine if I want to play a DVD on it though. What could be the problem..?

  • @United_Wings
    @United_Wings Жыл бұрын

    Amazing

  • @yellownev
    @yellownev Жыл бұрын

    Question is how can you re utilise the old Mac specific SSD - any usb holders you can recommend as I have drawn a blank when I swapped mine out using the adaptor?

  • @cgi2173

    @cgi2173

    Жыл бұрын

    Yeah, I've been looking out for a good Apple SSD enclosure. 😃

  • @amtrakfan5511
    @amtrakfan55117 ай бұрын

    I have a MacBook Pro, early 2015, 13''. Do you know if installing an NVMe M.2 SSD non-apple causes hibernation issues for macOS releases prior to macOS Big Sur 11.0.1? Is it possible to install newer operating systems like Ventura or Sonoma using OpenCore on a device with a non-Apple SSD without encountering hibernation issues and kernel panics?

  • @SophiaCypria
    @SophiaCypria Жыл бұрын

    Did you remember to disconnect the battery before applying the Paste Mate 😀

  • @fiallos1
    @fiallos1 Жыл бұрын

    Where to find a WiFi Bluetooth card upgrade to AC standards?

  • @fazliddinxaitov5622
    @fazliddinxaitov5622 Жыл бұрын

    Could you put fast ssd to mb air 2013-15 too

  • 7 ай бұрын

    Can you link the adapter you used? My adapter doesnt let macbook detect the ssd(samsung 990 pro.) . The ssd works in an external case only

  • @RbAgsts718
    @RbAgsts718 Жыл бұрын

    It’s a brand new computer. The kit looks really useful. On the M2 you can use the thermal for over heating.

  • @HisLifeInVideos
    @HisLifeInVideos Жыл бұрын

    Hey Luke! Could you turn around the viewfinder? It’s distracting when you look not into the camera ☺️ Loved the video!

  • @floydballz86
    @floydballz86 Жыл бұрын

    I found a 27" IMac in the dump and when it turns on it always goes to the recovery mode even if I try to hold different boot commands it will always go to the MacOS utilities and if I try to download a new OS it will download but then it goes back to the utilities window instead of restarting any ideas on why this is happening?

  • @SimisearOfficial
    @SimisearOfficial Жыл бұрын

    Just curious, especially with unsupported Macs like stuff from 2008, would you consider making a video about installing Linux on them and comparing a lightweight Linux Distro like Mint/Lubuntu/Linux Lite versus MacOS?

  • @garydiamondguitarist

    @garydiamondguitarist

    Жыл бұрын

    I'd love to see Luke do a video like that, and I bet he knows his way around a couple of the more popular distros. The way I look at it, legacy Macs are useful up to a point - it's the ones that lack Metal support (general rule of thumb is pre-2012 MacBooks) and can't be OCLP'd well that suffer so you'd be better off with a decent Linux to make use of the older and still somewhat capable hardware.

  • Жыл бұрын

    I have one of these with a bad hard drive bus. The bus to the CD bay is faulty as well. Got it for free. First installed Linux on a thumb drive so it boots from it as if it were the regular hard drive. However, I’m not pleased with how many of the newer distros are making it a PITA to do some basic things like enable restricted drivers for instance. I’m going to have to research to figure out what distros give the user basic privileges that what I believe should be standard. Like sudo, I mean really? If I wanna break my system, I should have that freedom. There was an arch based distro I saw that seemed promising.

  • Жыл бұрын

    I have the KDE version of Ubuntu Studio running on a 2008 dual core Mac mini with maxed out RAM and an SSD and it runs SLICK, very snappy window animations with hot corners set up so they are the same as my macs. There are things that drive me nuts about finder/preview so I use it for batch processing large JP2 files with xnconvert. I LOVE nomacs and wish that it was available for the mac os. I’m really impressed with how well the newest KDE runs on that ancient machine. I got a Magic Trackpad recently to see if it would help me resolve my issues with preview but left it at my other office. Going to try and use it to pinch and zoom in and out on images. Ok I’ll shut up now. 🤣🤣🤣

  • @SimisearOfficial

    @SimisearOfficial

    Жыл бұрын

    @ That sucks, I hope you’re able to find a distro that gives good user access and is lightweight

  • Жыл бұрын

    I replied to one of the other comments accidentally last night saying that I’m really impressed with how well KDE works on older macs. I have a mac mini from 2008, dual core, maxed out on ram and it handles window animations like hot corners (set up like my macs), which is native in KDE. I had to dig to find the settings. Even while performing sizeable processor tasks like converting large images, everything runs pretty snappy!

  • @matiETN
    @matiETN Жыл бұрын

    link of the SSD adapter?

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