Question Help Choosing NVMe SSD for MacBook Air 2014 (with Adapter) — Does Gen/Speed Matter?

[Dalaxian]

Hey everyone,

I'm planning to upgrade the SSD in my MacBook Air 2014 and I know that I’ll need an NVMe SSD along with an adapter (like the M.2 to Apple proprietary one). But I'm still a bit confused about a few things:

1. Does the Gen (e.g. Gen3 vs Gen4) of the NVMe drive matter for compatibility or performance?
2. Will I actually benefit from higher read/write speeds, or will the MacBook be bottlenecked anyway?
3. Are there any known compatibility issues I should be aware of (like certain brands/models not playing nice)?
4. If you’ve done this upgrade, what NVMe SSD did you go with, and how's it working out?

I just want to make sure I get something that's reliable and not overkill for what the MacBook can actually handle.


Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

This thread has a whole load of information;

Upgrading 2013-2015 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

This thread is about upgrading MacBook Airs (2013-2017) & Macbook Pros (2013-2015) with new M.2 NVMe SSDs. It was the first thread to discuss of NVMe SSD upgrades and was initited by@maxthackray which we can thank and give tribute for having started this thread. This post has now been converted...

forums.macrumors.com

and since Apple's devices are very very nitpicky about what you can and can't put inside it, I'd ask you to adhere to what's tried and tested, unless you want to be a guinea pig(test subject). The thread linked above also addresses the speeds for the slot/drive/platform.

 

[LordVile]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

This thread has a whole load of information;

Upgrading 2013-2015 Macbook Pro SSD to M.2 NVMe

This thread is about upgrading MacBook Airs (2013-2017) & Macbook Pros (2013-2015) with new M.2 NVMe SSDs. It was the first thread to discuss of NVMe SSD upgrades and was initited by@maxthackray which we can thank and give tribute for having started this thread. This post has now been converted...

forums.macrumors.com

and since Apple's devices are very very nitpicky about what you can and can't put inside it, I'd ask you to adhere to what's tried and tested, unless you want to be a guinea pig(test subject). The thread linked above also addresses the speeds for the slot/drive/platform.

I would also like to point out that the laptop last got a security patch in 2023 and is not getting any more. It might be time to get a new device rather than use one that is no longer secure