Will the Samsung EVO 860 SATA III SSD drive work in my system?

YOU MUST replace the HD SATA cable and you must use the newer 2012 cable: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable.

You must apply a strip of electricians tape on the uppercase where the cable crosses over. And lastly don't fold the cable! You want a nice arc not a sharp bend. The thin foil wires can be damaged.

It's not the SSD's fault! The Samsung 850 and 860 EVO drives are great! The issue is the HD SATA cable! And only use the SSD in the HD bay.

Replaced the SATA Cable now computer works great!!!!

Alberto, I can't see you having any problems here. This is a slam dunk!

I just did three systems today both 2011 13" models. As I've stated & restated over and over again: YOU MUST replace the HD SATA cable and you must use the newer 2012 cable: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable.

You must apply a strip of electricians tape on the uppercase where the cable crosses over. And lastly don't fold the cable! You want a nice arc not a sharp bend. The thin foil wires can be damaged.

Dan, when you say to apply a strip of electrician's tape on the uppercase, do you mean apply it onto the SATA cable to hold it in place???

The tape is placed on the uppercase isolating the cable from the rough surface of the aluminum case.

FYI - I just finished installing three Samsung 860 EVO drives (500 GB & 2x1 TB) and after replacing the HD SATA cables in three different MacBook Pro's! All three booted up without any problems!

Yes, do the SATA Cable.

Your system likely has the older cable, SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) spec'd. You need the newer version SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) spec'd. Or the cable is worn just enough to struggle with the higher data rate of the SSD.

Thats why it works with the HDD and not with the SSD.

Hi Dan,

How to know if my system uses older cable (SATA II) or new cable (SATA III)?

Thanks

All 2011 models which still have their original HDD's need the newer cable.

But, beyond that the condition of the cable can be effected by grit and the rough case wearing it as well as someone over doing the bends! Sharp folds instead of the needed smooth arcs.

Frankly, I just replace it when I put in a SSD drive, and I use a BIC pen ink straw (empty) to help me form the bend radius's. My customers are always happy!

FYI: Your Hard Drive Cable Is A Ticking Time Bomb

Same question here. I dont know which cable to pick up for my MacBook Pro 15" Unibody ( Late 2011).

You want the newer 2012 cable! This is the better built cable and is rated for SATA III speed.

"You want the newer 2012 cable" Can you clarify, please? There are two different cables at that site: the one you linked a few posts above shows it is for a 13" MBP and is priced at $44.99, and the one linked by Marty M in this post, which shows it is for a 15" MBP and is priced at $19.99. Are we supposed to buy the cable meant for our MBP size or just always buy the more expensive cable because it is "better built" and "rated for SATA III speed"?

@threeonesix - If you have a 13" system then you need the 13" cable, if you have a 15" system then you need the 15" cable. The cables are not the same as they are sized differently!

Thank you, I hate to say it but I wasn't clear on that. The large price difference confused me. Thought that maybe the more expensive cable was the "better built" cable. Appreciate the clarification!

I'd give the cable a try..

That will fix it!

@jstanger - Sorry I didn't see you post. As a course of habit I always replace the cable when I put in a new SSD. Often times the cable is either the older version which won't work very well and/or the cable is worn.

You can apply this as a basic tech rule of thumb: Any time you get repeated I/O failure in a system where a cable is involved, *blame the cable first*. Whether the cable is internal (like an HD data ribbon cable) or external (USB, power, Ethernet, video, Thunderbolt etc.), the cable is the weakest component in the pathway and the cheapest/easiest to replace.

@Jan which Ssd drive did you use? I"m about to put in a Samsung Evo 860 III 2.5 and don't want to buy the cable.

Sorry guy your system has a SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) port but the original cable only supported SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) which is what the original HDD was. Once you put in a faster I/O'd drive you'll encounter problems! The bottom line here is you need to replace it. If you had an older SATA II system then you wouldn't need to replace the cable as the SSD would limit its self to SATA II.

You don't need Samsung Magician to setup your drive. Yes, Samsung Magician requires a Linux boot to run. It will allow you to tune the drive if needed, on the most part I find the defaults are just fine.

You do need to prep the drive to make it work. Follow this guide: How to create a bootable macOS Sierra installer drive As a course of habit I replace the HD SATA cable when I put in a SSD drive as often times the cable is the older version which won't support the higher data rate of the SSD and/or its worn.

And Yes! The 2.5" Samsung drive will be just fine in your MacBook Pro!

Someone is giving you a bunch of BS! The 2.5" Samsung 860 EVO has no problem in your MacBook Pro

No problems with your system, your system is only a SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) and you should be fine with the current HD SATA cable. Just don't crease it. You will want to place a piece of electricians tape un the uppercase where the cable rests to help isolate it from the rough aluminum case

I currently have a Samsung EVO 840 Pro 512 GB in my Macbook Pro 2012. I swapped it to a Samsung EVO 860 1T B and it's running very slowly. Works fine when I swap it back to my old 840 though... I dont think it's the SATA cable since I've already replaced it before.

Yep its the cable! the 840 EVO drive is much slower than the newer 850 or newer SSD. Just like when you drive your car on a winding cliff side road rounding the chicane curves you need to manage your speed! Going to fast and your airborne! As long as you mind your speed you're OK. Well the SSD's is not that smart its running at full speed!

Both the 2011 & 2012 models have the newer SATA port chip which can support SATA III drives But you need to replace the cable to the correct one! The original cable was not rated for SATA III it was only able to support SATA II drives.

@urock - Sorry didn't see your posting. Here's the needed cable MacBook Pro 17" Unibody (Early 2011) Hard Drive Cable. You also want to place a strip of electricians tape on the uppercase where the cable rests. Also, don't crease the cable! You wan smooth arcs no sharp bends as that will damage the foil wires inside.

Just look above at Dean Bishop's problem. He had the same issue and how after replacing the HD SATA cable the problems went away! Make sure you are using the newer version as the older cable only runs SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) whereas your system can support SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) Use the 2012 model's cable.

Just look above at Dean Bishop's problem. He had the same issue and how after replacing the HD SATA cable the problems went away! Make sure you are using the newer version as the older cable only runs SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) whereas your system can support SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) Use the 2012 model's cable.

The fact the drive worked without any problems in an external case just proved the issue is the HD cable.

Thank you Dan, I will give it a try!

First using your iPhone you are leveraging the iCloud erase function so if your system is stolen you can protect your data! That has nothing to do with the SATA cable

So if you got your system back (which is good!) you now have a locked out system besides the erased drive. You first need to iCloud unlock your system via your iCloud account via your iPhone. Once done you can then address your erased drive. Using a bootable OS installer, re-install your OS you should be good without altering any hardware.

If you decide you are replacing the old HDD for a new SSD then YES! you need a new SATA cable as the original cable Apple shipped with the system was never rated to run at the higher SATA speed.

Now on start up , thankfully does not

Show and stop on white screen with circle and/do it, now it starts up and goes to white screen with folder and? In the middle of it??

Now what!?!? Dan

Luciano, please take the time to read through the upper entries where I talk about a Jeep and a Porsche. This is why you need to replace the cable.

I'm suspecting you may have damaged the cable here as you don't want to stress the cable around the bends. People tend to think they can crease the cable sharply, this is a big no-no! You want a nice smooth arc, No sharp bends! The reason is the conductors into the ribbon are foil and when you bend the cable sharply you fatigue the wires. As an example if you bend a paper clip half way and bend it back it's not as strong and will often snap, this is metal fatigue!

Please replace the cable with the newer version (2012 cable) place a piece of electricians tape on the uppercase where the cable crosses to help protect it from the case and don't over do the bending!

What is your MacOS version?

Also are you using the SSD in the HD bay or did you move it over to the optical drive bay? Keep in mind the optical bay has a known issue and can't support SATA III devices. What is happening is the drive drops down to compatibility mode - SATA I (1.5 Gb/s).

Apple never offered a SSD model when sold new.

The original HDD's Apple used where only SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) only the very last run of 2011 and the 2012 models got the faster SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) HDD as their supplier had stopped production of the older drive.

Looking at the System Report only tells you what the I/O channels speed is of the system (6.0 Gb/s)) and the dialog AHCI. The systems interface and the drive are both running at 6.0 Gb/s.

Then looking at the drive model info we can tell you have a Seagate (ST) 500 GB HDD which is a SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) drive

A flashing ? in the folder is telling you the system can't find the system files.

Not enough information here to tell you why.

Sorry for not seeing this sooner being buried here.

Clearly the Geeks are Geekless! This is very doable! If you are still struggling let us know. Open a fresh question so we see it.

@Richard DiNovo - The Samsung 860 EVO drive is what we call 'Auto Sense' it will match up with your systems SATA ports I/O speed. Not all drives are like this! you need to review the given drives spec sheet. In this case Samsung 860 EVO SSD we can see the 'Interface line lists all three SATA speeds! If you are looking at other SSD's that spec sheet needs to look the same otherwise its a 'Fixed Speed' which one runs at the one SATA speed, most are SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) only!

Now looking at your systems specs we can see the systems SATA port I/O is only SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) so you're good to go here with the orgianl cable and this SSD.

YES!! This one MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable

It sounds like you got the wrong cable and/or got damaged in the process.

I've installed quite a lot of the Samsung drives in all versions the unibody 13" & 15" MacBook Pro's from 2009 through to 2012.

In all cases the cable is the weak link! In the 2011 & 2012 models need the newer better cable if you are running a SATA III (6.0 Gb/s). You also need to be careful in how you bend the corners! Many people damage their cables by folding a sharp crease which damages it. You need to have a nice arc. I use a BIC pen ink straw (empty) to help form the radius. give this a try. In addition I place a strip of electricians tape on the uppercase to help protect the cable from wear.

Reference: Your Hard Drive Cable Is A Ticking Time Bomb

Did you have macOs installed in the late 2011 MBP?

yes I have !

But I have installed Catalina from my 2012 MBP which do not support MBP late 2011 (I just catch this) Do you think this could be the problem?

@Lionel Navarro - You'll need to reformat the drive and install the correct macOS the system supports. Frankly I would just stick with Sierra 10.12.x as High Sierra has some issues running on SATA drives.

Be aware the older installers certificates have expired! More on it here If you've got an old macOS install image, it will probably stop working today

Here's the updated installers! Jump down to Step 4

● How to upgrade to macOS Sierra

● How to upgrade to macOS High Sierra

Thank you Dan I have succesfully install macOS High Sierra using my other MBP but when I put the SSD back on the late 2011 I still have a flashing folder just after the starting sound. Do you known what could cause this issue other than the OS incompatibility and the sata cable?

@Lionel Navarro - You need to set the drive as the bootable drive. First restart your system and press the Option key to get to the startup manager click on the internal drive and let the system boot up. Once running open your Preferences and select Startup Disk and then bless the drive. That should do it!

You can't use M.2 SSD's like the 860 EVO in your system as it is not directly compatible. Think how English measure bolts won't fit metric nuts!

Your system is only able to run as SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) the good news is your Samsung SSD will dial back its data rate to match your systems slower I/O. You don't require a new cable here as it can't run at the full data rate the drive could run at.

It won't work in your system,

This does not apply in a MacBook Pro!!

This jumper was intended when the 2010/11 21.5/27" iMac systems which has an Apple installed SSD drive. If you have replaced the HDD for a SSD then you need the OWC In-line sensor https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDI....

There is a difference! As the jumper needs to be placed on the HD power port when the spare port is used for the SSD. Here we are re-using the HD SATA cable for the SSD which is why you need the In-Line thermal sensor.