Filed under: Macworld, Apple, Macbook Pro
Tips on replacing a MacBook Pro's hard drive
Friday I found myself doing what anyone who was soon to be flying across the country to cover Macworld would be doing : replacing the hard drive in my MacBook Pro. A smart idea? Well, considering that my old drive was making some not so good noises I thought it better to replace the darned thing before it failed during the Expo.I headed over to Other World Computing and ordered this drive. OWC is great because they offer up many of the same parts that Apple uses in their machines (in fact the drive I bought turned out to be the exact model drive that was already in my MacBook Pro, though the new one has twice as much space). And no, I am not getting paid by OWC in any way, shape, or form. I just have had several excellent experiences with them.
One thing to keep in mind is that the hard drive isn't classified as 'user replaceable' in the MacBook Pro, unlike the MacBook (replacing a hard drive in a MacBook is very, very easy). That didn't stop me because I've swapped out countless drives. I followed iFixIt's great guide to disassembling my MacBook Pro, but one word of caution: be sure you have a T6 Torx Screwdriver before you start. I have access a large number of computer tools, so I didn't think that would be a problem. However, after sifting through 4 different toolkits with no success (most tool kits have a T8 Torx as the smallest screwdriver), I thought I was in trouble. I finally found one in a very large, very expensive set of tools, but the screwdriver itself isn't pricey. Make sure you know that you have one before starting this process because there are 6 Torx screws that need to be removed (2 holding the keyboard to the base of the machine, and 4 holding the hard disk in place), and it is much much easier with the right tool.
Overall, this is something I would recommend that only people who are comfortable cracking open a laptop should do. There are lots of little screws and wires one has to move out of the way to replace the drive and a certain level of comfort with a computer's innards is required.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Steve Jobs said 9:15PM on 1-13-2008
what about on my new MacBook Air? =)
- Steve J.
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Ricochet said 9:33PM on 1-13-2008
Haha, yes I was thinking the same thing:
"Wow, you upgraded just in time to potentially realise that you voided the warranty on the MBP you now want to sell to buy a newly designed model released at the very MacWorld you're heading to!"
I have to say though, I'll take one of those new 320GB/500GB 2.5" laptop drives in my new slimline "macbook air" (or should I say "macbook vapour" at the moment) over a 32/64GB SSD anyday. Startup speed be damned, I always just put it to sleep with the odd restart for updates anyway and you can't beat having your whole music collection and still plenty of space to edit some video or watch movies on the move.
Alan said 9:20PM on 1-13-2008
Hey, I noticed that you bought the 200GB Seagate drive. On OWC they have a 320GB Western Digital drive for less money. Is there a major reason to go with seagate over other drives or is Western Digital fine?
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Taxman said 9:26PM on 1-13-2008
I have the 320G WD and so far, so good.
Steve said 9:33PM on 1-13-2008
I have the 320 GB WD too. I installed it in December (MBP C2D) and used it heavily on a trip later that month. So far so good. No funny noises, no issues at all.
Steve
Josh said 9:39PM on 1-13-2008
He bought the 200gb because it's a 7200 rpm drive. The 350 is only 5400 rpm. It's actually noticeably slower if you're a prosumer.
Jack said 12:28AM on 1-14-2008
But in the 320GB 5400 drive, there is more data flying past the heads to begin with, so it would really tend to balance out against a 200GB 7200 drive.
Chuck B. said 9:34PM on 1-13-2008
The user replacement of the drive would void Apple Care yes? Still not sure why Apple drags their feet on many of the user replaceable parts - I understand the public view of "stability" as someone nagging about a slow drive they put in, etc. but still, if the MacBook can do it, surely the MBP can too :)
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ChillyWilly said 9:36PM on 1-13-2008
I bought the 250gb Samsung from Newegg.com and so far, it's worked out great. A bit quieter than the 100gb Seagate that originally came in my MacBook Pro 15" CoreDuo I bought in April 2006.
The iFixit steps are what I used. The whole thing took me 30 mins, from start to finish. I do have years of computer hardware experience, but even with that, it was not a walk in the park.
A LOT of screws.
One note to anyone doing this: Use scotch tape and a piece of copy paper and tape each screw in the same spot it goes on the MacBook Pro. This easily saved me 20 mins in the whole job, because a lot these screws look alike, even though they are different sizes.
I would do this again, but not for a while (I've still got 120gb free on my drive). Maybe by then, I'll upgrade to a Core 2 Duo model with a large drive already installed.
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Keith Sheehan said 9:39PM on 1-13-2008
What is the official word on doing this from Apple? Will replacing the hard drive void any warranty on the computer? If so, can I have a 3rd party Apple Authorized service center put in the drive?
I still have quite a number of months left on my AppleCare and want to know the answers to this before I attempt the upgrade (which desperately want to do).
Thanks!
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Kyle said 1:07AM on 1-14-2008
Yes a 3rd party repair center can upgrade your drive and it will ONLY void the warranty on the drive itself. I am an Apple certified technician.
Danny said 9:41PM on 1-13-2008
I helped a friend replace a SuperDrive in a MBP that took a tumble down the stairs. That was pretty simple using iFixIt too. Great site, thanks for pointing it out. It is really simple to replace both of those components with their instructions, even with nervous fingers and tiny screws.
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Rich Acosta said 9:44PM on 1-13-2008
Your comment:
Yes, it does technically void the warranty, but as long as you don't
do anything careless while the computer is opened up, it is
impossible for them to know the computer has been opened up. If for
any reason you need to take it to Apple for repairs, just put the old
hard drive back in.
I've done this myself (installed new HDD, and then some months later
had to take it to the Apple store for an unrelated issue), and
everything went smoothly.
Use this page here as a guide:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/MacBook-Pro-15-Inch-Core-Duo/85/
It's pretty straight-forward.
I took some pictures of mine open as well:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ricapar9x/MacBookProInsides
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Scott McNulty said 9:49PM on 1-13-2008
Josh is right, I went with this drive because it is faster. :)
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Twist said 10:15PM on 1-13-2008
I did a hard drive replacement on my iBook G4 and I have to say that it isn't for the faint of heart. I do like OWC though. I have bought my RAM from them exclusively for about 9 years now plus I have bought many other parts there and I have never had any issues.
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julian said 10:15PM on 1-13-2008
Just ordered a WD 250GB Passport and swap the hard drive inside with MacBook Pro internal 80GB drive. Both working well now. Sweet! Kudos to iFixit guides!
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Jonathan said 10:16PM on 1-13-2008
Actually, Apple has no problem with you replacing the HD. I've worked in an Apple Authorized Service Center as a technician; they won't cover the drive under warranty if the drive fails, and won't cover other parts if the drive causes them to fail.
Also, in regards to speed, the 250GB and 320GB drives perform just as well as the 7200 in real world situations (not burst speeds), due to the extremely high platter density (the read/write head has to travel less distance). Check here http://www.bigbruin.com/2007/wdscorpio250_4 and google other reviews to see the specs.
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C. said 10:19PM on 1-13-2008
I got the WD 250 from OWC. It's only a 5400RPM but, I wanted the extra 50gigs rarther than the faster drive and I already don't get great hourage from my MBP C2D.
I also used the fix it guide and made a trip to radioshack and got this: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062778&cp=2032058.2032236.2032314&pg=2&parentPage=family
So far go good. It's plenty fast and big enough to hold all my work data.
C.
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Joseph Dunn said 10:28PM on 1-13-2008
I also had a grand time replacing my MBP's HD, and I wrote about it (with pictures and performance gains) here:
http://jwdunn.com/2007/10/28/how-to-upgrade-your-macbook-pros-hard-drive-and-live-to-tell-the-tale/
Best of luck to anyone attempting this project!
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jaaronfarr said 10:42PM on 1-13-2008
I just replaced my MacBook Pro hard drive a week ago as well. The old one finally died. Switched it out for a 200GB 7200 RPM Hitachi and the faster disk is _great_.
Replacing it isn't too difficult, but definitely not for some unwilling to keep track of tiny screws.
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