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Storage Compatibility for macOS 


Intel AHCI and RAID Controllers


VendorChipset SeriesVEN ID:EV IDSupport Kext
Intel5 Series Chipset8086:3b29
8086:3b22
8086:3b2f

Intel5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SATA RAID Controller8086,3b25
8086,3b2C

Intel6 Series Chipset8086:1c02
8086:1c03

Intel6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SATA RAID Controller8086:1c04
8086:1c05

Intel7 Series Chipset8086:1e02
8086,1e03

Intel7 Series Chipset RAID8086:1e04
8086:1e05
8086:1e06
8086:1e07

Intel8 Series Chipset8086:8c02
8086:8c03
8086:9c03

Intel9 Series Chipset8086:9c83
8086:8c83
8086:8c82

Intel10 Series Chipset8086:9d03
8086:a102
8086:a103

Intel11 Series Chipset8086:a352
8086:a353
8086:9dd3

Intel12 Series Chipset8086:a182
Intel200 Series Chipset8086:a282
IntelIntel AHCI RAID8086:282a
8086:2822


JMicron AHCI and RAID Controllers


VendorControllerVEN ID: DEV IDSupport Kext
JMicronJMB360 AHCI Controller197B:2360
JMicronJMB360 RAID197B:2360
JMicronJJMB361 AHCI/IDE197B:2361
JMicronJMB361 RAID197B:2361
JMicronJMB362 SATA Controller197B:2362
JMicronJMB362 RAID197B:2362
JMicronJMB363 SATA/IDE Controller197B:2363
JMicronJMB363 RAID197B:2363
JMicronJMB364 AHCI Controller197B:2364
JMicronJMB365 AHCI/IDE197B:2365
JMicronJMB366 AHCI/IDE197B:2366
JMicronJMB366 RAID/IDE197B:2366
JMicronJMB369 Serial ATA Controller197B:2369
JMicronJMB36x AHCI Controller197B:2368


Marvell


VendorControllerVEN ID: DEV IDSupport Kext
Marvell88SE9120 SATA 6Gb/s Controller1B4B:9120
Marvell88SE9123 PCIe SATA 6.0 Gb/s controller1B4B:9123
Marvell88SE9125 PCIe SATA 6.0 Gb/s controller1B4B:9125
Marvell88SE9128 PCIe SATA 6 Gb/s RAID controller with HyperDuo1B4B:9130
Marvell88SE9172 SATA III 6Gb/s RAID Controller1B4B:9192
Marvell88SE9172 SATA 6Gb/s Controller1B4B:9192
Marvell88SE9172 PCIe SATA 6Gb/s Controller1B4B:9192
Marvell88SE9172 PCIe SATA 6Gb/s Controller1B4B:9192


NVIDIA AHCI


VendorControllerVEN ID: DEV IDSupport Kext
NVIDIAMCP79 AHCI10DE:0AB9
NVIDIAMCP89 AHCI10DE:0D88



HBA/RAID Cards


VendorControllerVEN ID: DEV IDSupport Kext
LSI/AVAGO/Broadcom



eMMC and MMC Cards



LIMITATIONS
 
 eMMC Storage

  • eMMC-based storage is commonly found in Netbooks, tablets, and low-end systems. Note that such technology is now supported by macOS. However, limitations still apply. See Enabling eMMC and MMC Cards for more information.
SATA, M.2, NVMe, U.2 and SAS
  • Normally,
 TRIM
  • Normally, the TRIM function is supported for Apple and Non-Apple SSDs. However, few SSDs have TRIM broken under macOS, and as a result, the SSD dies under heavy load. These SSDs can be used with TRIM disabled, at slower boot times, or as Data Storage Drive(s). See Recommendations and SSDs to avoid section for more information.
Samsung PM981, PM991, Micron 2200S, SK Hynix PC711, and Intel 600p NVMe SSDs
  • SSDs with these controllers (NVMe) are not compatible with any macOS/OS X version and do not work out of the box. All these SSDs are known to cause Kernel Panics and performing a clean installation on these SSDs is not possible unless you use an SSDT. A clone method can be used to install macOS on these SSDs. In addition to the SSDT, you'll need to use NVMeFix.kext to fix the random Kernel Panics. Please note that these SSDs may still cause Kernel Panics even when using the required fix.
  • Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVMe SSDs also had the same issue (mentioned above). However, with updated firmware, it works like a charm. Please make sure to update the firmware to the latest before proceeding with an installation. See Updating SSD Firmware for more information.
  • Booting to the macOS installer may not be possible on some SSDs such as SK Hynix PC711. You'll need to disable such SSDs using an SSDT or nvme=-1 boot arg. See Disabling Unsupported SSDs on macOS and How to add Boot Args for more information.
  • Intel 600p SSDs are prone to Kernel Panic and issues such as decreased R/W speed, freezing can be seen under macOS.
Intel Optane and Micron 3D XPoint
  • Intel Optane Technology uses Intel Rapid Storage Technology instead of AHCI and therefore it is not possible to use Intel Optane under macOS/OS X, regardless of the platform, either Desktop or Mobile.
  • Laptops with Intel Optane and Micron 3D XPoint are completely unsupported in all macOS versions. There are few successes with it, but it is highly recommended to remove such drives to prevent any boot and stability issues.
  • In Windows, do not install Intel Optane drivers (part of Intel Rapid Storage Technology). Installing these drivers can change the BIOS SATA Mode from AHCI to Intel Optane and therefore you may not be able to boot into macOS further.
Intel Rapid Storage Technology and RAID
  • Intel Rapid Storage Technology provides RAID support (SATA, NVMe, and U.2) with no requirement of any additional RAID Hardware, but rather utilizes the chipset feature. However, macOS requires AHCI mode and therefore Intel Rapid Storage Technology isn't supported under macOS/OS X. A solution is to either use a dedicated Hardware RAID (such as LSI, Areca, and High Point) or Software RAID within macOS/OS X.
  • Software RAID under macOS/OS X can work for Data Drives but not for booting macOS (Bootable RAID). The software bootable RAID is only supported up to macOS Catalina and will not support macOS on Big Sur and newer. If you need to use RAID as a bootable macOS, consider installing a compatible dedicated Hardware RAID. See Installing macOS on Bootable RAID for more information.
SATA and RAID Controllers
  • Most of the SATA Controllers are supported out of the box. However, there are a few SATA Controllers which require an additional driver to work with.
SATA Cards
RAID and HBA Cards
  • A few selected RAID and HBA Cards are supported with support kext. However, to use them as a boot drive, the Card BIOS and the Controller firmware must be using the same mode, either Legacy for Legacy computers and UEFI for UEFI computers.
  • Most of the RAID Cards do not support booting macOS even when using the support kext either from the vendor or from the community.



Recommendations



Following are the tested SSDs list reported by several users in the community and are known to work well with any compatibility issues.

  • SATA Drives:
    • SATA PLEXTOR M5Pro
    • KingDian S280
    • Kingchuxing 512GB
    • SATA Samsung 850 PRO (need more tests)
    • SATA Samsung 870 EVO (need more tests)
    • GIGABYTE 120GB/240GB
    • WD Green
    • WD Blue

SSDs to Avoid



The following SSDs should be avoided at all costs due to the broken TRIM function under macOS.

  • Working with TRIM broken:
    • Samsung 950 Pro
    • Samsung 960 Evo/Pro
    • Samsung 970 Evo/Pro
    • Samsung PM981
    • Samsung PM991
    • Micron 2200S
    • Intel 600P
    • GIGABYTE 512 GB M.2 PCIe SSD (e.g. GP-GSM2NE8512GNTD) (need more tests)
    • ADATA Swordfish 2 TB M.2-2280
    • SK Hynix HFS001TD9TNG-L5B0B
    • SK Hynix P31
    • Samsung PM981 models
    • Micron 2200V MTFDHBA512TCK
    • Asgard AN3+ (STAR1000P)
    • Netac NVME SSD 480
    • Sabrent Rocket 4