Chosen Solution
There is just one letter difference between those two SSD’s, MZ-JPV5120/0A4 and MZ-JPV512S/0A4. Sometime, the model number ends with “/0A2”. What’s the difference? Will any of them work if I put it in my iMac 27 5k?
Your iMac uses a custom PCIe/NVMe SSD. Apple has two versions of these a 2 lane (x2) and a 4 lane (x4). So far Apple is the only source for the x4 SSD’s OWC & Transcend offer x2 units. As for taking a MacBook Pro SSD and using it: Only the newer models (2015) have PCIe/NVMe drives, the previous generations used a PCIe/AHCI and the oldest models are SATA/AHCI. So before you pull the SSD from your MacBook Pro go into ‘About this Mac’ and click System Report so you can check which SSD you have. Here’s a great diagram which explains the different interfaces:
The R is a model code variation that means it comes with a metal heat spreader so I’d imagine the S means something similar - the actual SSDs are the same. I’m not sure what 0AX number means, perhaps it identifies the factory it was made in? Here are some 512 GB examples: 2013 MBP MZ-JPU512T/0A6 SSUAX is slow (x2) PCIe/AHCI 2015 MBP MZ-JPV5120/0A4 SSUBX is faster (x2) PCIe/NVMe 2019 iMac MZ-KKW5120/0A7 SSPOLARIS is ridiculously fast, larger card but still fits in MBP 2015. (x4) PCIe/NVMe In terms of speed: SSUAX < SSUBX < SSPOLARIS If buying used, remember to ask the seller for this DriveDX information: Overall Health and Lifetime Left Indicator.
