The right NVMe SSD for Hackintosh is one that works well with Apple macOS. Some of the Samsung, Western Digital (WD), and Crucial NVMe SSDs form part of our best NVMe SSD for Hackintosh.
Are you looking forward to building a Hackintosh computer on your own? Building a Hackintosh means using the best motherboards, storage drives, coolers, GPUs, and everything else that forms part of a computer system. Storage forms an integral part of any computer system. Therefore, selecting the right SSD for your Hackintosh is one of the biggest tasks in building a Hackintosh.
Should you buy an NVMe SSD or a SATA 3 SSD for Hackintosh? This is an easy decision to make. One should go for NVMe SSD as it’s multiple times faster than a SATA SSD. However, so many NVMe SSDs in the market and mixed reports on some of them make it difficult to pick one.
To help you out, here is the guide to the same.
What To Consider Before Choosing An Nvme SSD For Building Hackintosh?
Are you confused if a PCIe /NVMe SSD or a Samsung NVMe would be the right choice for building Hackintosh? Here are some of the things to look out for when choosing an NVMe SSD for building Hackintosh:
Not Using Intel SSDs For Laptops
Intel makes one of the finest solid-state drives. However, if you want to build a Mackintosh on a laptop device, you need to steer clear of Intel SSDs. They are known for causing performance issues when used in laptops.
Do more intense research on Intel NVMe SSDs on laptops for building Mackintosh if you begin to use one.
4K Sector-Based Drives
Hackintosh is hacking Apple’s OS and turning a non-Mac Apple device into a macOS device. In Apple devices, you will find Apple PCIe drives that are 4K sector-based. So, if you are building a Mackintosh, use an SSD that supports 4K sectors for best practices and outcomes.
It is not mandatory but should be preferred to avoid any chances of performance issues.
Avoid eMMC-Based Storage Devices
When looking for an SSD for building Hackintosh, avoid going after eMMC based storage devices. These types of storage devices are usually found in devices like netbooks, low-end computer models, and even some laptops as well. A low-grade storage drive for Hackintosh will not work well.
What Is The Best NVMs SSD For Hackintosh?
To make your task easier, here are some of the best NVMe SSD for Hackintosh you can put trust in blindly.
Samsung 970 EVO SSD 500GB
Samsung 970 EVO Plus shown some concerns as NVMe SSD for Hackintosh. However, Samsung 970 EVO, 970 EVO Plus previous version is safe to use and free from any issues on Hackintosh.
This is an NVMe SSD drive that uses V-NAND technology. It uses M.2 physical form factor which makes it fast and power-efficient.
It is compatible with devices and arrays that accept M.2 2280 PCIe drives. The sequential read speed is 3500MB/s, whereas the sequential write speed is up to 2500MB/s.
It also has a fast random read speed of up to 500,000 IOPS. When it comes to data security and performance, this NVMe SSD uses Samsung’s trademark cloning software, Samsung Magician that allows for easy SSD management. It is also helpful for running automatic firmware updates.
It comes with a 5-year warranty or 600TBW. Also, to maintain optimal operating temperature, Samsung’s dynamic thermal guard ensures the operating temperature is maintained, and there are no performance drops.
This NVMe SSD comes in capacities from 250MB to 2TB.
WD_Black SN 750
Western Digital Black is known for its fastest SSD, and its performance is considered neck to neck with Samsung’s SSDs.
WB Black SN 750 can be considered as one of the best in safest choices for NVMe SSD for Hackintosh.
This solid-state drive has Gen3 PCI M.2 2280 interface and works on 64-layer 3D NAND technology. This drive is not compatible with the SATA interface as it is an NVMe interface drive, making it 6 times faster than the traditional SATA interface drive.
It comes with a 5-year warranty. It is available ins storage capacities of 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB.
With its sleek design, it fits desktops PCs that support M.2 connection with space for heatsink. It is also a viable SSD for devices with RGB lighting and other similar cooling technologies. It also has a special gaming mode that disables the system’s sleep mode to ensure a top-notch gaming experience.
It is also an NVMe SSD with DRAM if you are finding one. The read and write sequential speeds are near about 3400MB/s.
The operating temperature is also well maintained and is affordable as well. However, it only lacks easy cloning software.
Crucial P5 1TB
Crucial’s P5 NVMe SSD is also be contended as best for building Hackintosh.
It also uses 3D NAND technology and solid controller technology. The sequential read speed is up to 3400MB/s, whereas sequential write speed performance is up to 3000MB/s.
It also has a PCIe Gen3 NVMe interface. The drive is fully encrypted to provide data security and management. The operating system is fast with minimal loading times making apps open instantly, load games even faster. The adaptive thermal protection makes sure the drive stays at its optimal operating temperature.
It comes with a 5-year warranty or 600TBW, whichever is achieved earlier. 600 TBW is sufficient, and it is somewhat impossible to use them whole ever.
Samsung 970 EVO plus 1TB
The Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD has been under the radar and backlash when it was initially released. It was known to have created issues, slow down the system, doesn’t support TRIM commands, and other similar issues.
It was considered that this happened because Samsung drives use Phoenix controllers that are not much favorable for macOS. macOS prefers Phison controllers instead.
Still, Samsung 970 EVO Plus doesn’t natively support Hackintosh. However, with the latest firmware updates, things are better. There is no doubt that it is one of the fastest running NVMe SSD in the market presently.
This NVMe SSD for Hackintosh is powered by V-NAND technology and works PCIe Gen 3.0×4 NVMe 1.3 interface.
The sequential read speed is up to 3500MB/s, and the sequential write speed is 3300MB/s. The random read speed is up to 6,00,000 IOPS, making it one of the fastest of its form.
With the Samsung Magician software, it is easy to clone and transfer files with the help of this SSD, acting as one of its plus points. This software also enables high data security management and automatic firmware updates.
It comes with a 5-year warranty or 600TBW like any other SSD in its competition. It is also efficient in terms of power consumption and provides an estimated max of 30mW. The nickel-coated controller drive also maintains its optimal temperature with the help of Samsung’s Dynamic Thermal Guard technology.
It is even faster than its counterpart Samsung EVO 970 – about 53% faster. However, this stays valid for its 250GB SSD only. It works on Phoenix controller and TurboWrite technology. It fits all device that supports M.2 2280 form factor.
Samsung 980 PRO
Another suitable drive for building Mackintosh is Samsung’s 980 PRO. This NVMe SSD with work on Mackintosh with no issues. It uses PCIe 4.0 Gen4 interface.
It also has exceptional sequential read speeds up to 6900MB/s. This enterprise-grade NVMe SSD is made for tech-savvy users and hardcore gamers. It is made to provide ultimate bandwidth to enable speedy loading of applications, graphics, data analytics, and much more.
This SSD fits every device that has an M.2 2280 form factor. This form factor is also known for being energy efficient. The thermal control algorithm of Samsung makes this drive durable, reliable, and minimal performance fluctuations with its long-term use.
Also, Samsung 980 PRO has nickel coating, which helps manage the system controller’s heat level. Also, its heat spreader label enables temperature control of the NAND chip.
This drive also supports Samsung Magician software makes the drive easy to clone. With this software, you can monitor the drive’s health, valuable data, get firmware updates, and keep an eye on its performance. This is an SSD with DRAM and NAND, making it an efficient cache memory drive.
When it comes to data transfer rate, it delivers a speed rate that is 2 times more than Samsung PCIe Gen 3 NVMe SSD and 12 times faster than Samsung SATA SSD (claims Samsung).
Talking about the TBW (terabytes written), it has 600 TBW, more than enough one can ever be able to use in a lifetime. This Samsung 980 PRO NVMe SSD also works well for PS5.
Conclusion
These were some of the NVMe SSD that can be trusted for building Hackintosh. Make note that the read and write speeds may vary depending on your PC’s specifications.