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HDD swap in mbp(anyone here actually done one?)

S

southpaw17

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 22, 2007
65
0
I've seen a lot of talk around here ABOUT putting a bigger hard drive in a mac book pro, bu have you or anyone you know actually attempted to do so?
I'm ready to give it a go, but would like to hear if anyone actually has.
 
Would the 15" C2D MBP overheat if you put a 7,200 RPM HDD in it? As opposed to the 5,400 RPM HDD you get from Apple.
 
FYI...

If you replace the hard drive, keep in mind that the MacBook Pro was not meant to be opened. The aluminum enclosure will warp slightly. If a small gap (1-2mm) is going to bother you, you may want to reconsider this upgrade.
 
Demon Hunter said:
FYI...

If you replace the hard drive, keep in mind that the MacBook Pro was not meant to be opened. The aluminum enclosure will warp slightly. If a small gap (1-2mm) is going to bother you, you may want to reconsider this upgrade.
Click to expand...

Why would it warp?
 
The top case is held firmly in place by a set of tabs. If you take it off, the bottom case bends outward slightly. At least the old PowerBooks did.
 
lancestraz said:
Would the 15" C2D MBP overheat if you put a 7,200 RPM HDD in it? As opposed to the 5,400 RPM HDD you get from Apple.
Click to expand...

It shouldn't. My MBP CD has 100gb 7200rpm HDD and it dosen't overheat. Unless the C2D is considerably hotter than the CD you shouldn't have a problem.
 
Felldownthewell said:
It shouldn't. My MBP CD has 100gb 7200rpm HDD and it dosen't overheat. Unless the C2D is considerably hotter than the CD you shouldn't have a problem.
Click to expand...
On average, what temps do you get?

Demon Hunter said:
The top case is held firmly in place by a set of tabs. If you take it off, the bottom case bends outward slightly. At least the old PowerBooks did.
Click to expand...
Apple could have changed the design since the PowerBooks.

Edit: Found this.
 
brand said:
So how does Apple perform maintenance on them then. I highly doubt Apple would design a product that they would have to damage to work on.
Click to expand...

They make no promises it will come back perfect. Machines come back from Apple with scuffs, scratches and marks all the time.

It only gets really bad if you get it repaired 3-5 times or something. This is what happened to my 15" PowerBook.
 
I've changed the hard drive in my MBP numerous times (5). Everyone thinks it should warp, but in my experience, it hasn't at all. I've gotten new hard drives, swapped out old ones, you name it, haven't had any problems. Takes about 5-7 minutes from start to finish.
 
Demon Hunter said:
They make no promises it will come back perfect. Machines come back from Apple with scuffs, scratches and marks all the time.
Click to expand...

thats the fault of the people at the Apple store, though. That can happen on any computer sent back. Granted, they should be more careful, but its not the fault of the computer's design.
 
I recently replaced mine with a 200Gb 4200RPM drive. Fits and works perfectly.


Faye
 
Also replaced mine, not too difficult, just be sure to use the right tools and follow the instrucions in http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/
i have a 17" C2D and it is different from the 15" but close enough. the HDD doesn't screw into the any brackets, instead there are studs that screw into the HDD and the studs slide into grommets that are attached to the chassis, there is a bracket holding the right side of the HDD in place, this was the only really tricky part as the instructions here were different for me, i had to study the way it came out prior to doing it.
Oh, when i put it back together there was no warping. just rememeber to be careful and don't force anything.
 
Would updating your hard drive (through an Apple Certified place [Comp USA]) on my MacBook Pro cause a littel gap above where the disc inserts and to the left of that?
 
Veritas&Equitas said:
I've changed the hard drive in my MBP numerous times (5). Everyone thinks it should warp, but in my experience, it hasn't at all. I've gotten new hard drives, swapped out old ones, you name it, haven't had any problems. Takes about 5-7 minutes from start to finish.
Click to expand...

You can seriously do it that fast in a Macbook Pro?!!! I would expect that in a macbook since it was meant to be user replaceable....but a MBP!!!??!! Do mine then! :D
 
I just upgraded my mbp to a 200gb 4200rpm toshiba drive, I'm lovin the extra space! Really easy to install too!
 
TaylorB said:
Would updating your hard drive (through an Apple Certified place [Comp USA]) on my MacBook Pro cause a littel gap above where the disc inserts and to the left of that?
Click to expand...

When you type on your MPB, the HDD is under your left palm, and the superdrive under your right. There wouldn't be any reason why it would make a gap.
 
screensaver400 said:
How does the speed compare to the stock drive? Do you notice a difference?
Click to expand...

I had a 5400 RPM drive before, so it's a little slower. Not badly though. It will depend what you are doing and whether it involves lots of disk access.


Faye
 
Scarlet Fever said:
When you type on your MPB, the HDD is under your left palm, and the superdrive under your right. There wouldn't be any reason why it would make a gap.
Click to expand...

It might just be that the case wasn't carefully fitted back together. I definitely made a better job of it this time, than I did when I replaced the LCD.
 
Warranty...

So, since opening up the MBP will void the warranty, I guess that means I might as well not buy AppleCare on the MBP since I plan to upgrade the drive myself. I was planning on buying a refurb to keep cost down. The flip side is to buy a new one, customer configure it with the drive and then buy AppleCare.

Dang that changes the price quite a bit!

MBP 15" C2D 2.13 refurb 1599 + tax
+ drive from new egg $150(ish)
+ 1GB RAM $125 (ish)
* no AppleCare since I'd void it anyway
= 1874 + tax (on 1599 = ~$96)
== $1,970

VS

MBP 15" C2D 2.13 new 1999
+ 160GB drive from apple $100
+ 1GB RAM from apple $175 (yeah, I could still do this myself)
+ AppleCare $349
= 2623 + tax (on entire price = ~$158)
== $2,780

So, the cost difference for me to have AppleCare on the config that I want would be $810.

Yikes. Is that worth it? What do you think?

At the price of $2,780, I'm tempted to wait for the next rev in hopes of:
A) They include a 160GB or 200GB drive in the default config, or
B) There is a form factor change with a drive replacement similar to the MB that would not void the warranty.
 
b1NARY73 said:
You can seriously do it that fast in a Macbook Pro?!!! I would expect that in a macbook since it was meant to be user replaceable....but a MBP!!!??!! Do mine then! :D
Click to expand...
Lol, no prob man. Once you've done it a few times, it gets quite easy. You know exactly what screws to undo in what order, how to take the keyboard cord off, move the IDE cable, pop the HD out, new one in, etc. First time I did it, it took like 20 minutes, now I can almost do it with my eyes closed :D I guess I'm a fickle guy when it comes to different hard drives :p

Of course, if my two 160 Hitachi hard drives from Newegg didn't fail, I probably wouldn't have to swap as much, lol. What's weird is that both times Onyx was the program that started the hard drive error problems, messing up numerous volumes, deleting files, etc. Don't use it anymore now; because I'm getting sick of swapping hard drives! LOL!

P.S. To everyone that keeps saying opening the MBP violates the warranty: If you keep the original hard drive that came with the MBP and put it in before you bring it in for repair, how are they ever going to tell if you've swapped the original hard drive out or not? I mean, if I have problems, I'll just swap the original 100 gb hd that came in the MBP...there's no way to tell if I've done anything or not? At least that's the case on my machine...can't see any visible discrepancies between the system now and when I got it?
 
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