Tips on replacing a MacBook Pro's hard drive

In this case I am adding a 320GB 5400rpm drive to a last gen MBP 2.2Ghz that came with a 120GB drive.

MacBook Pro - hard disk upgrade path unsupported by apple
Im wondering if there exists any limits on upgrading the hard disk/hard drive for a mac book pro. I mean limits or maximum hard drive capacities or specs? according to apple tech support (see my chat convo below), there is NO hard drive upgrade path for the mac book pro, and doing so will not only void your warranty but could 'burn out your processor'. Is this possible? I see the apple store certainly sells options from 200GB-300GB but duly noted their 300GB drive is at 4200rpm. Anyway, i have the last gen 2.2Ghz mac book pro, 120GB harddrive which just isnt enough.

* You are chatting with Yolanda, an Apple Expert
Hi, my name is Yolanda. Welcome to Apple!
Yolanda: How may I help you today?
You: im looking into upgrading the hard drive on my macbook pro
You: what does the service cost?
You: do i have to buy the hard drive from apple?
You: can my local apple store do the upgrade while retaining the warranty?
Yolanda: Great question!
Yolanda: At this time, we do not recommend internal hard drive upgrades.
Yolanda: We would offer you an opportunity to add external storage space with an external hard drive.
You: huh??? you mean apple doesnt support the upgrade? what if 120GB just isnt enough?
You: i have external storage and wouldnt need to contact apple about that
You: this is the mac book pro... which i assume is short for professional... youre telling me that apple hasnt planned for the upgrade path on this?
Yolanda: External hard drives are plug and play, the warranty would not be voided.
Yolanda: The Mac Pro is the only system that can have the hard drive internally upgraded.
You: you mean its the only system for which apple supports an internal upgrade?
You: because its clear that the mac book pro has been upgraded by others
Yolanda: Its the only model that allows for an internal upgrade and the only model that we actually sell the hard drives separately for.
You: its hard to imagine that apples high end laptop doesnt have an upgrade path...
You: thats really disappointing
You: youve heard this before?
You: i mean the folks who most need the mac book pro are also the folks who need to carry alot of heavyweight apps around
Yolanda: Understandable.
You: can you communicate the disappointment? are you able to do that?
You: i mean its rediculous really
You: since the upgrade is certainly possible and from the many pages on it, its not even that hard... i just didnt want to void my warranty.
Yolanda: If you have a local Apple Store near, you have an opportunity to stop by and review any other options within the technical services.
Yolanda: The Time Machine program is a great alternative to manage moving unused data from the main hard drive to the external.
You: So as i asked before, can you communicate the disappointment? or are you simply not allowed to do such a thing? ie no channel?
Yolanda: We have heard and understand your concern.
Yolanda: The warranty would be void if you add additional internal software that go beyond the maximum capacity of the system, possible burning out your processor.
You: hmmm... i dont think thats even possible... you mean hardware?
You: additional internal hardware?
You: so you are saying that a mac book pro is only designed to handle a 120GB hard drive at maximum?
You: thats hard to believe
Yolanda: I am referring to any internal hard ware or changes above the maximum design.
You: its a mac book PRO
Yolanda: That's not what I mean.
Yolanda: What is your product serial number?
You: its clear from the apple website that there are 200, 250, 300GB hard disk options
Yolanda: Are you able to provide me with your product serial number?
You: well, i understand what the policy is, and i realize that apple wont assist me in an upgrade, so i am forced to void my warranty. So I think rather than provide the serial number, it'll be more worthwhile to the user community to blog this information. Thanks for your help, Best

Great blog post.

QUESTION:

Many people say that this voids your AppleCare warranty. If you have to send it in for repair, couldnt you just put the old drive back in? How would AppleCare know you opened it up? Does it have stickers that say "Warranty Void If Removed" ?

I bought my MBP in June of last year, still debating on whether I should buy AppleCare or not.

I've done a video of the whole HDD upgrade operation http://www.vimeo.com/660044 enjoy.

Hello, I recently opened my 15in macbook pro to replace the keyboard. I did run into some difficulties getting the phillips screws to grip, especially under the keyboard. I put it back together and the keyboard works fine, but now I have to be plugged into the wall to turn it on, and my battery has the black X icon in the power icon. I can get the battery recognized by reseting the power management unit, but it only works until the battery is fully charged, it seems. Areas where I may have made a mistake are: I broke part of the lock for the keyboard ribbon (the keyboard still seems to function perfectly), I may not have all the screws in correctly and I misplaced one of the smaller phillips screws (I didn't realized there were 4-5 different types at the time), and finally, I screwed in the longer phillips screws into the back of the laptop (2 of them) before realizing they were for the bottom. Any help will be appreciated, as I love to learn and figure problems with computers out.

Boo!

Just did this last week. You can go to radioshack.com seach for a "T6 Torx". I found a driver kit that was $17. Then the site showed me stores in the area that had it. I called up, ran over, and my project was back on track in no time. God Bless The Shack!

This thread's making me respect 7200 drives a lot more. I never thought they were too big a deal and just went with prebuilt macbook pros (which I believe have just a 5400 drive) for both my MBP purchases in '07.

I kind of want to make the hard drive bigger in my 15" 2.2ghz SR MBP which I bought a few months back. I'm going to bookmark this thread for future reference. I definitely don't want to do this on my own though. The screen had broke on my wife's March 2007-bought 15" 2.16ghz C2D MBP a couple months ago when it was closed with earphones on the keypad. I tried to be a hero and do the display swap on my own, buying the part off of ebay.

But opening it up was definitely very involved and I really was scared I would screw up something in there. I ended up returning the part to the person I bought from (luckily, it wasn't compatible anyways - his display was for a core duo build) and sending it into MacService.com for the repair (total price was $436 w/ my student discount) which included shipping back from CA.

Anyone know what a good price is for someone official to do the HD swap in a MBP?

I just replaced mine with a 250GB WD drive, I'm not a big WD fan in the past I've had issues with their desktop drives. The computer is faster to boot and run. its also nice to not always be worrying about what I'm going to delete...

Funny I just got the very same drive model delivered to my desktop! Mine's a "G" version though, with shock protection.
This is my 3rd 7200 laptop drive, they do make a noticeable difference.