When will my 15" MBP 2015 be vintage?

I did it in the past too. However my only concern is reliability. eg. I want to avoid problem like you.

Iā€™ve swapped SSDs on several Macs and Iā€™ve never had an issue. And I find it especially bizarre that an OWC SSD had issues since OWCā€™s whole business model is ā€œparts for Macsā€. Iā€™m guessing @JamesMā€™s issues are a one-off fluke.

And again, thereā€™s no guarantee you wonā€™t have an issue with an Apple Store repair, if theyā€™ll even do it. Seriously, verify that theyā€™ll even do it before you make any plans.

There is a guarantee that youā€™ll pay 5x the going market rate for an SSD replacement if you get it done at the Apple Store. :slight_smile:

I bought a Aura Pro X2 1TB from OWC.Things do feel a lot snappier. And I just like having all of this available internal storage.

Screen Shot 2021-05-04 at 6.43.34 PM

I like having things stored locally, so not having to rely on the cloud (or a unstable internet connection) is a plus for me.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with @webwalrus on doubting that current most current techs in the stores have much experience opening up a MacBookPro from 2015 or earlier. More than once I have had that sinking feeling of needing someone with more knowledge than I have, but being that Ron Swanson GIF of ā€œI know more than youā€ while talking to the techs in the store. LOL!

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And itā€™s so crazy-simple. Thereā€™s an 11 minute YouTube video that shows you how, and honestly about 2-3 minutes total is everything you need to do.

The drive is right on top of the unit once you open it up. :slight_smile:

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I had the same experience @JamesM had with kernel panics using two different models of OWC SSDs. Itā€™s not a one off problem. Iā€™ve seen this problem mentioned by others too. Some have gotten replacements from OWC for combinations that had known incompatibilities. Iā€¦ just got tired of dealing with them. I guess I should go work on that again but wow it was annoying.

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I know. This is a fairly easy fix as far as Mac things go. But as the stores became more and more focused on selling iPhones, iPads, and watches, less and less of the staff are Mac experts.

This is going to make me look like a jerk and I apologize upfront. This thread needs to end because KontiKonsumi is never going to get Apple to offer them what they hope for.

Just for comparison of what it would cost to upgrade the SSD by Apple (if it was an option) in this 2015 MBPā€¦

I had a customer come to the Genius Bar with a 2013 MBA with a bad SSD. This was in early 2019. Unit was Vintage but not Obsolete. Replacement cost through Apple was $728US for just the SSD for a 256gb model. We tried and tried to find a way to upgrade it for more storage but our system will not give us that option. Apple states they will not offer a different option than what the system was built with ā€œunless that size SSD is no longer availableā€. Apple will tell you that if you need more space than please order your next computer accordingly.

Last year a 1tb SSD was just over $1,200US for the part alone and you get a 90 day warranty of the part and labor. Is that obscene??? Um, yes it is. Should your MBP go Obsolete within that 90 day warranty, you are out of luck.

Either use a AASP or DIY for the SSD upgrade. If you want Apple to give you ā€œpiece of mindā€ and warranty, then buy a brand new MBP and AppleCare.

This has been my ā€œice cold bucket of truthā€ Apple Customer moment here on MPU. Thank you for reading this.

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And @raucous: Which exact MBP did you have and whiche excat Model from OWC did you use? Maybe The NEws Auro Pro X2s improved and got better?

I will make an appointment in the next few feeks and let you know about what happened. But no need to end an interesting conversation dear @MacGuyMI ā€“ nevertheless thank you for sharing your insights!

I just thik that the 2015 mbp is so tempting, because according to the ports and the size it will be like the rumpured 14"/16" and it was apples ā€œexcuseā€ until middle of 2018 for all those disliking the new butterfly keyboards. This machine is therefore very special for a lot of MBP users.

And honestly I would not like to upgrade at all now. It has to be a an MPB M1/2 (which natively supports multiple displays and with more ports and still a good keyboard.) When thos emachines come out at the end of this year I want to see how they are doing and where apple is heading to. So I am planning to use my beats at minum 2-3 more years.