What SSD drives and RAM fit Late-2012 and newer Macintoshes?

Starting with the Late 2012 models, Apple changed the format of drives and memory in most Macs. ( Link to pre-2012 model list )

MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models (including all the “Retina” screen models) lost the ability to have the memory upgraded (you are stuck with the RAM that the motherboard was made with). At the same time, Apple discontinued 2.5 inch SATA hard drives in these models and changed to proprietary Apple SSD designs. Many of these models can have the internal SSD upgraded, but the SSD has to be carefully matched to the model and year of Mac.

What does “proprietary” mean? Proprietary means a physical or electronic design which doesn’t conform to industry standards. So industry standard parts like M.2 SSDs cannot be used in many Apple models Late 2012 and newer; only Apple parts or specialty replacement parts engineered to conform to Apple’s specifications can be used. Confusingly, Apple has used at least 6 different proprietary SSD designs in the past 8 years, so matching part to machine year and model is especially important.

iMac machines continued to use spinning hard drives, but added a SSD slot on some models for a “Fusion” drive, which is a combination of hard drive and a small SSD for caching reads and writes for higher speed. The Fusion drive set can be broken to use the SSD and hard drive separately. RAM is easily upgradeable in the 27 inch iMacs to date, with a trap door on the back of the machine. However the 21 inch models put the RAM internally. The Retina screen iMacs from Late 2012 onward make it difficult to access the internals for upgrading drives (and RAM on the 21 inch) as the screen is glued to the machine, and has to be carefully unglued to access the motherboard and drives. CanadaRAM sells OWC kits with the tools and adhesive for reinstalling the screen. This service should only be attempted by technician or an owner who is experienced with disassembly.

The iMac Pro model uses SSD drives only, and there are currently no aftermarket options but it is upgradeable in RAM (using server-class ECC DIMM memory) with the same caveats about installation behind the Retina screen.

The 2013 Mac Pro (cylindrical, black model) deleted the ability to have internal hard drives, and went with a proprietary SSD format. It still has four RAM DIMM sockets for upgrading.

The 2019 Mac Pro also has 2 SSD sockets, and eight RAM DIMM sockets. We are awaiting word on third party SSD compatibility, and there are also PCI-e card options for high speed RAID SSD setups.

Mac Mini machines were produced in several variants. 2.5 inch SATA drives continued to be used up to the Late 2014 model. Blade SSDs were introduced on the Late 2014 model together with a 2.5 inch SATA drive, the 2018 model has only a PCI-e SSD socket. RAM upgrades are not possible on the Late 2014, but DDR4 upgradeable RAM returned in the Mini 2018 model.

MacBook machines newer than the 2010 model have no internal upgrade options at all.

MacBook Pro machines from Late 2012 used a variety of Apple specific drives.
The 2013-2014 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models originally used an ACHI version of SSD. Apple later changed to NVMe SSD drives. There are some issues with fitting a NVMe replacement SSD drive to Late 2013 and 2014 MacBook Pros that originally shipped with ACHI SSD drives. Although OSX supports booting from NVMe SSDs from OSX 10.13 onward, the firmware in the earlier generation Retina MacBook Pros and Airs does not handle the Standby (Hibernate) mode of the Sleep function properly. The 2015 models do not have this problem.

More on the issue here https://eshop.macsales.com/Service/Knowledgebase/Article/26/785/NVMe-SSDs-Standby-Mode-Issue

Canadaram carries OWC and Transcend have SSD drives that are designed for specific Macintosh models.

This is a bit complex because there are many models of Macs. This list is ordered by the the type of Mac and then Macintosh ID number which roughly corresponds to the model date. Some models have both SATA drive connectors and SSD connectors, some have only one or the other.

iMac
iMac13,1
Late 2012 Early 2013 21.5 inch SSD slotSSD Upgrade Except not in iMac13,1 21″ Oct 2012 2.7GHz modelDDR3-1600 SODIMM
iMac
iMac13,1, iMac14,1, iMac14,3
Late 2012- Early 2013 21.5 inch drive bay2.5 in SATA 6G Requires adhesiveDDR3-1600 SODIMM difficult install
iMac
iMac13,2
Late 2012 27 inch SSD slotSSD slot requires adhesiveDDR3-1600 SODIMM difficult install
iMac
iMac13,2, iMac14,2, iMac15,1,
Late 2012-2014 27 inch drive bay3.5 in drive bay will take 2.5 in SATA 6G Requires Bracket thermal cable and adhesiveDDR3-1600 SODIMM
iMac
iMac14,1, iMac14,3
2013 21.5 inch SSD SlotSSD slot requires adhesiveDDR3-1600 SODIMM
iMac
iMac14,2, iMac15,1
2013-2014 27 inch SSD SlotSSD Slot requires adhesiveDDR3-1600 SODIMM
iMac
iMac14,4, iMac16,1, iMac 16,2
June 2014, Late 2015 21.5 inch SSD SlotSSD slot only in Fusion Drive modelsNot upgradeable
iMac
iMac14,4, iMac16,1, iMac16,2
June 2014 – Late 2015 21.5 inch drive bay2.5 in SATA 6G Requires adhesiveNot Upgradeable
iMac
iMac17,1
Late 2015 27 inch drive bay3.5 in drive bay will take 2.5 in SATA 6G Requires Bracket thermal cable and adhesiveDDR3-1867 SODIMM
iMac
iMac17,1
Late 2015 27 inch drive bay3.5 in drive bay will take 2.5 in SATA 6G Requires Bracket thermal cable and adhesiveDDR3-1867 SODIMM
iMac
iMac18,1, iMac18,2, iMac19,2
2014 – 2016 21.5 inch drive bay2.5 in SATA 6G Requires adhesiveDDR4-2400 or DDR4-2666 SODIMM difficult install
iMac
iMac18,1, iMac18,2, iMac19,2,
2017-2019 21.5 inch SSD SlotSSD slot requires adhesiveDDR4-2400 or DDR4-2666 SODIMM difficult install
iMac
iMac18,3, iMac19,1
2017 – 2019 27 inch SSD SlotSSD Slot requires adhesiveDDR4-2400 or DDR4-2666 SODIMM
iMac
iMac18,3, iMac19,1
2017-2019 27 inch drive bay3.5 in drive bay will take 2.5 in SATA 6G Requires Bracket thermal cable and adhesiveDDR4-2400 or DDR4-2666
iMac Pro
iMacPro1,1
Late 2017No SSD available at this timeDDR4-2666 ECC R DIMM
MacBook
MacBook8,1, MacBook9,1, MacBook10,1,
2015 – 2017 12 inch RetinaNot Upgradeable, external drives onlyNot Upgradeable
MacBook Air
MacBookAir5,1
Mid 2012 11 inch SSD Slot Not Upgradeable
MacBook Air
MacBookAir5,2
Mid 2012 13 inch SSD Slot Not Upgradeable
MacBook Air
MacBookAir6,1
Mid 2013 – Early 2014 11 inch SSD Slot Not Upgradeable
MacBook Air
MacBookAir6,2
Mid 2013 – Early 2014 13 inchSSD Slot Not Upgradeable
MacBook Air
MacBookAir7,1
Early 2015 11 inch SSD Slot Not Upgradeable
MacBook Air
MacBookAir7,2
Early 2015 – Mid 2017 13 inchSSD Slot Not Upgradeable
MacBook Pro
MacBookPro10,1
Mid 2012 Retina – Early 2013 15 inchSSD Slot Not Upgradeable
MacBook Pro
MacBookPro10,2
Late 2012 – Early 2013 Retina 13 inchSSD Slot Not Upgradeable
MacBook Pro
MacBookPro11,1
Late 2013 – Mid 2014 13 inchSSD Slot Not Upgradeable
MacBook Pro
MacBookPro11,2, MacBookPro11,3
Late 2013 – Early 2014 15 inchSSD Slot Not Upgradeable
MacBook Pro
MacBookPro11,4
Mid 2015 15 inchSSD Slot Not Upgradeable
MacBook Pro
MacBookPro11,5
Mid 2015 15 inchSSD Slot Not Upgradeable
MacBook Pro
MacBookPro12,1
Early 2015 13 inchSSD Slot Not Upgradeable
Mac Mini
MacMini5,1, MacMini5,2, MacMini5,3, MacMini6,1, MacMini6,2
Mid 2010 Server, Mid 2011 – Late 20122.5 in SATA 6G up to 2x drives, requires bracket and cableDDR3-1066, DDR3-1333 or DDR3-1600 SODIMM
Mac Mini
Macmini7,1
Late 20142.5 inch SATA 6GRAM Not Upgradeable
Mac Mini
Macmini7,1
Late 2014SSD Slot RAM Not Upgradeable
Mac Mini
Macmini8,1
Late 2018No SSD update available – soldered inDDR4-2666 SODIMM
Mac Pro
MacPro4,1, MacPro5,1
2010-20124x 3.5in bays can take 2.5 in SATA 6G Requires BracketDDR3-1066 or DDR3-1333 ECC DIMM
Mac Pro
MacPro6,1
Late 2013Cylindrical black Mac Pro No HDD, one SSD blade onlyDDR3-1867 ECC DIMM
Mac Pro
MacPro7,1
2019 Tower and 2019 Rack2x SSD slots. No SSD upgrade at this time. PCI-e Slot upgrade card optionsDDR4-2666 or DDR4-2933 ECC DIMM

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