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Hi there, I’m looking for answers regarding the new Samsung 860 EVO 500 GB 2.5” SATA III SSD compatibility? Does anyone out there try to install this new internal hard drive to an old late 2011 MacBook Pro? I assume I’ll need an upgrade hard drive cable like the one who installed the 850 EVO but what else should I know to upgrade my laptop to an SSD internal drive?
The drive is no different from the older one as far as compatibility, SATA is a set standard Samsung can’t really alter things. The 860 EVO carries over the same functionality as the 850 EVO its a auto sense drive so it will play in SATA I (1.5 Gb/s), SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) & SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) systems which don’t require a fixed SATA speed drive. Samsung SSD 860 EVOSamsung SSD 850 EVO The real difference is the read/write performance is better with the newer drive. Update (03/20/2018) It would be wise to replace it. The inside surface of the uppercase are not well finished so the cable tends to wear on the rough surface. Here’s the IFIXIT guide you’ll need to follow: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Hard Drive Cable Replacement and I recommend using the 2012 version of the cable MacBook Pro 13" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable as its a better cable. Even still I would place electricians tape on the uppercase where the cable rests to help protect it. Lastly, don’t over bend the bend points as you don’t want to fatigued the foil conductors.
Hi, I am having exactly the same problem on a mid 2012 MacBook Pro. Has anyone worked out a solution yet? I really don’t want to have wasted my money on an SSD that will not work.
Hello, I just tried to install an EVO 860 250GB out of the box on my beginning 2011 MacBook Pro 8,2 A1304 i7 8GB RAM unsuccessfully. The installation process stops at first reboot before language selection with the typical error message that cannot be installed and reboot. I don’t plan changing the HDD cable (which by the way already comes with a plastic tape on it to protect it) by now but will see if any firmware updates or so help in the near future. I just wanted to contribute with some information that may help others wasting much time on it. Cheers!
Hi! I’ve got a mid 2012 13" Macbook Pro. I’ve bought a Samsung 860 Evo 600gb. Initially I just installed the SSD in the HDD bay as you’d expect and attempted a clean install of High Sierra from USB. The install was excruciatingly slow taking 9 hours. I next attempted to connect the SSD by the USB adapter. The OS installed quickly. I put the SSD back into the internal bay and everything slowed right down; booting took an eternity then clicking anything when it’d booted caused it to lag. I did think that the SATA cable could have somehow damaged itself in the process but the original drive, back in the Macbook performs normally. Any solution for this problem?
@danj, thanks so much for your invaluable advice here on the cable replacement. Since nobody asked this yet (as far as I can see): For my early 2011 15” MacBook Pro, is this the right cable that will support SATA III speeds? MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable
Hi, I have a MacBook Pro 13” Mid 2012. Installed 860 EVO, but it is so slow, just can’t install. Takes hours. Do I need to replace the cable?
Question here – so the cable replacement should be performed only if you have issues, not in general, right? I am about to replace the SSD I put into an early 2011 MBP with a new SSD. The old one works great still, no issues, so I assume it won’t be any different with the new one. Update (09/11/2018) Just a few days ago I replaced the HDD in an early 2011 MBP with a Samsung EVO 860 SSD, and it works flawlessly. I also didn’t have to replace the HDD cable as is stated elsewhere here (I suppose it only needs to be replaced if it’s faulty). I used Carbon Copy Cloner (free trial) for cloning the old boot HDD onto the new SSD from a live system. Super easy.
Toshiba Slim II (1TB External) is having issues & I’m attempting to replace it with an EVO 860 without any success. Seems Samsung Magician is not comparable with Mac OS (or, so I’ve now recently read.) Is this issue correct or am I missing something? I thought all the new EVO SSDs would work without problems an a Mac. My Mid 2011 iMac (21.5”) works great with an old Samsung SSD. What am I missing…?
Guys, i am about to replace the HDD on my macbook pro 15 (mid 2009) with Samsung EVO 860? I heard that it is not compatible with macs! is that true? Also, how to migrate my OS (or create a new image) on the SSD. Thanks
Hi, Reading about successful replacements of HDs in an MacBook Pro’s (2011 or 2012), I wonder if a Samsung SSD EVO 860 1TB would work fine in a MacBook Pro mid 2010? I had already replaced the original HD with a Samsung EVO 840 500GB a few years ago; that went smoothly. But now running against storage limits, whilst the system still performing nicely, I’m considering an upgrade to 1TB. Probably need to replace the SATA cable? Any experience out there?
Hi Dan, Is the hard drive cable that you recommend above suitable for a MacBook Pro 17” 2011 model? Thanks! Installing a Samsung 860 EVO SSD
Hi, been having an issue with my MBP 13” mid2010 since the hdd died on me. I put an Evo 840 256gb SSD inside it and it worked perfectly for over a year until recently when it decided not to boot anymore. I could read the 840 externally from an adapter just fine, but i formatted it and put it back into the MBP to make a clean install and still wasn’t recognisable by the MBP (tried with orig OS X 10.6 dvd). I now bought an Evo 860 (with fingers crossed) but again, no luck here. Start up + Option key gets me to a tray of Install DVD, then Apple Icon and the spinning wheel.. If, if, the suggestion with changing sata-cable comes up, exactly what cable should fit? Or the dvd might be faulty? Thanks!
Dan how Come we need to replace this cable? Is it literally that crucial to change the cable? Does it just by having the new cable replaced allow for the laptop to then fully turn on and load like normal? I guess my objective is to figure out the reason behind changing to that new cable. See my MacBook was erased by me via find my iPhone app remotely, and it did erase everything from the computer. I then press the button to power it on like normal after doing this, and after Remotely erasing it from my iPhone every time I power it on and it went to white screen with a circle and a slash through it. I did some research and diagnosed it being a shot out SDD. So I have now replaced my solid test drive with a Samsung 860 evo 1TB
I have the same system (Macbook Pro early 2011) and I replaced the original HD with the EVO 860 SSD 500GB. I did replace the cable (heard all of the stories before) and I had no problems making the switch. However, I recently checked the system information and it says that while the SATA port is 6.0 Gb/s, but the negotiated speed is 1.5Gb/s! Since the port and the SSD are rated for 6.0 Gb/s, should I assume that the cable is faulty? I did purchase the newer 2012 cable but not from iFixit. Also, I did not know about putting the tape on the inside of the case until I found this post. Assuming the cable is my issue, I’ll do that when I replace it. Is there another possibility for the negotiated speed being lower?
Hi. My MacBook Pro Early 2011 systems report is showing 6 gigabits SATA connection. I’m not the first owner and not sure if previously it had SSD inside. When I bought the owner informed it had SSD inside with important info, so he had to replace it with HD. Can’t trust him. Have attached system report. Can you tell if it does have SATA III cable by system report? Also there was aluminum foil on SATA drive inside, which I have removed. Had no idea why he did put it there. But it seems clear now.
Dan will the old cable give me the flashing folder. Is that what I need the new cable?
I have a 2010 15” MacBook Pro and it was a breeze swapping out the drive for an SSD and running Mac OS-X. My 2010 13” MacBook Pro has been an ENTIRELY different story. I have taken this to geek squad for the SSD install and OS-X. They can’t get it to work apparently. The drive is an SSD Samsung 860 Pro 512gb. I replaced the original cable with a cable of the same year. Then after reading this forum I purchased a 2012 drive cable for a 13” per Dans advice. I took it to Best Buy for them to install. Apparently they’re still having problems (though I have never gone thru a more terrible service experience and general lack of care). So what is the deal? Can my 2010 13” MacBook Pro handle an SSD upgrade? Is the Samsung 860 Pro SSD the problem? Is Geek squad the problem? Please advise - been struggling with this and back and forth to geek squad for over a week with this. Thanks, Rain
Is the Samsung 860 EVO 500 GB SSD and newer 2012 SATA lll cable compatible with a Mid 2009 13” MacBook Pro?
@danj Thanks for your advises. Unfortunately I can not transfer them to my Mid 2012 Macbook Pro 15". Over the last years I had a 128 GB Samsung 840 PRO in my Macbook. Now I wanted to replace it with a 2TB Samsung 860 EVO. With this drive I experienced all the problems described above. So I bought a new cable for my Macbook and this didn’t solved the problem at all. The new cable seemded to be an original Apple-product. Is there any SATA III cable for a 15" Macbook Pro which works with the 860 EVO?
Hi guys, I got a MBP late 2011 and a mid 2012. I bought a samsung 860EVO SSD drive to upgrade my late 2011 MBP but when I try to boot I got a flashing folder with a ?. If I put back the old hard drive it boot as usual, slow but efficient… As I was reading this thread I decided to install my sata cable from the mid2012 MBP (which is working fine) in the late 2011 in order to see if it could solve the problem and if I would buy one, but I still have the !&^#% flashing folder… Do you have any suggestion ?
I have a MacBook Air mid 2013, a1466 model and I bought the SATA evo 860 ssd. However I need help finding a way to install this as I didn’t check the connectivity. please if anyone can help as it would be great.
Hi Dan, I have almost the same question as OP — except that my machine is a MBP (retina), late-2012, 13”. I recently bought the Samsung EVO 500GB 2.5” SATA III SSD from Amon on a black friday whim; but now am unsure if it will even fit in my MPB, or if I’ll need a special connector, or what have you. From what I gather, I think the late 2012 model is somewhat of a half-way house, or something? All the youtube videos that upgrade the late-2012’s 120GB SSD to a Samsung one doesn’t use the 2.5” SSD… What do you think?
If you get the NWC jumper, your SSD should function properly. After getting the jumper, I was continuing to get a fault code (which ended up being a normal occurrence since the jumper is not from Apple,) but all the same, the SSD was a great addition to my old 21.5" mid 2011 iMac… which is what I’m using for this note.. pc
