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U.2 NVMe SSDs are becoming increasingly popular in the market for advanced storage solutions. Their speed, capacity, versatility and 2.5" format are driving an increase in applications in the hot data storage segment. For Windows, the use of U.2 NVMe drives does not cause many problems. Virtually every drive produced is compatible with Windows 10/11 and, because they are PnP devices, it is sufficient to connect the drive to a compatible U.2/U.3 NVMe controller and the system will recognise the drive itself and allow its use.
The situation is different with Apple mac computers with Silicon processors, i.e. M1/M2/M3 and macOS. Unfortunately, few drives work with macOS and even fewer allow booting from a compatible U.2 or U.3 drive.
Mac Pro or any other mac - for a computer without a PCIe slot, a PCIe to Thunderbolt enclosure is required e.g. Sonnet Echo Express SE I TB3 Box for 1xPCIe to TB3 - in addition to a compatible U.2/U.3 drive controller e.g. Sonnettech Sonnet Fusion Dual U.2 SSD PCIe Card additionally a macOS-compatible U.2 U.3 drive. Unfortunately there are not many of these drives on the market.
Below is a list - as of 25.06.2024. - U.2 and U.3 compatible drives with macOS and mac computers with M1, M2 and M3 processors
Intel Optane 905P 960G
Micron 7300 Pro 960G, 1.92T, 3.84T, 7.68T
Micron 9100 Pro 800G, 1.6T, 3.2T
Micron 9100 Max 1.2T, 2.4T
Micron 9200 ECO 8T, 11T
Micron 9200 Pro 1.92T, 3.84T, 7.68T
Micron 9200 Max 3.2T, 6.4T
Micron 9300 Pro 3.84T, 7.68T, 15.36T
Micron 9300 Max 3.2T, 6.4T, 12.8T
Samsung PM1725a 800G, 1.6T, 3.2T
Samsung PM9A3 960G, 1.92T, 3.84T, 7.68T 15.36T - Supported in macOS 14.5+
Solidigm (Intel) D5-P4320 7.68T
Solidigm (Intel) D5-P4326 15.36T
Solidigm (Intel) D5-P4420 7.68T
Solidigm (Intel) D7-P4510 1T, 2T, 4T, 8T, 15.36T
Solidigm (Intel) D7-P4610 7.68T
Solidigm (Intel) D7-P5500 1.92T, 3.84T, 7.68T
Solidigm (Intel) D7-P5510 3.84T, 7.68T
Solidigm (Intel) D7-P5520 1.92T, 3.84T, 7.68T, 15.36T
Solidigm (Intel) D7-P5600 1.6T, 3.2T, 6.4T
Solidigm (Intel) D7-P5620 1.6T, 3.2T, 6.4T, 12.8T
Solidigm (Intel) D7-P5810 800G
Western Digital DC SN200 960G, 1.92T, 3.84T, 7.68T
Western Digital DC SN630 960G, 1.92T, 3.84T, 7.68T
Western Digital DC SN640 960G, 1.92T, 3.84T, 7.68T
Western Digital DC SN840 1.92T, 3.84T, 7.68T, 15.36T
Western Digital DC SN650 7.68T, 15.36T
As you can see, the list of drives is not large. Missing from it are manufacturers such as Samsung, Seagate. Kingston, KIOXIA. Hopefully the new macOS will bring wider compatibility for these increasingly popular U.2 and U.3 drives.
Most of the drives shown above also allow macOS to boot.
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