Swapping Hard Disk - Mac (1 Viewer)

[JeanLuc]

Has anyone swapped their HDD for a SSD and if so, do you think it was a worthwhile upgrade? I have a 5 1/2 year-old MacBook Pro and am toying with the idea in order to get more space, but more importantly, faster access speeds.

 

[Pikey Pete]

Had thought about doing the same with my Macbook.

In case you haven't already found it here is a how to link.

http://lifehacker.com/5541774/how-to-install-a-solid+state-drive-in-your-macbook

The idea of replacing the optic drive with a HD or SD drive appeals to me, as I can't remember the last time I needed to use my optic drive.


Pete:Cool:

 

[Popeye]

Can't help you in any way with this but I'm interested in the replies you might get for similar reasons to yourself.........Griff :thumb:

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[artona]

Massive difference, well worth, one of the best things I did, would do it without hesitation again...........did I mention I think its a great idea.

I did it to my 2009 model a year or so ago. 64gig ssd drives were about £100 then so thats what I put in. I have since taken out the dvd writer and put in a 1tb second drive for data.

The only problem I have had is when I let the battery go flat and I lost all the data from the ssd.

I have since replaced the naff battery and not let it go flat again

 

[JohnH]

Massive difference, well worth, one of the best things I did, would do it without hesitation again...........did I mention I think its a great idea.

I did it to my 2009 model a year or so ago. 64gig ssd drives were about £100 then so thats what I put in. I have since taken out the dvd writer and put in a 1tb second drive for data.

The only problem I have had is when I let the battery go flat and I lost all the data from the ssd.

I have since replaced the naff battery and not let it go flat again

I also updated my MacBook Pro HDD to the same size SSD about 18 months ago. It made it quicker and more responsive when editing video and pictures and made the machine quieter. I would do it again but have now swapped for a MacBook Air 11in which already has an SSD.

 

[Snowbird]

I am assuming from the dates you give that your MacBook Pro is Late 2006 or Mid 2007.


This makes it an Intel model with a SATA 1.0 drive. I imagine that a new SSD drive (SATA 2.0 or SATA 3.0) should work according to the spec, however, I am not totally sure how well they work. At best you will not get maximum performance from the drive so don't waste money on a cutting edge SSD, get an older/cheaper model. Also, I haven't read much about putting these in old MacBook Pros or tried it so I'm not putting you off, just making you aware of the official Apple line on this and that some people have had weird problems replacing the HDD (usually with Western Digital Hard Drives):
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2673222?start=0&tstart=0


With that out of the way: I am posting to you now from my Late 2011 13" MacBook Pro with an SSD (that I personally replaced the HDD with)!


Upon purchase, after checking the machine was working correctly I immediately opened it up and fit an OCZ Vertex 3 SSD in place of the hard drive. Very easy if you have the right tools... hex keys and philips screwdriver. You will also need your OS installation disk or if you're using Lion (or soon Mountain Lion) an installation USB key which you can buy or make directly from the copy available from the app store. I would advise doing a fresh install if you can.


As for my thoughts on it:
I would definitely do it again and again and again. All of my machines now have an SSD as their primary drive, I love the speed, responsiveness and mechanical durability. Thanks to modern macs using EFI (rather than BIOS) my machine also boots incredibly quickly!


I have had my battery go flat a few times and the machine has safely shut itself down. I have never lost any data or experienced any issues.


My MacBook actually came with instructions on how to remove the hard drive! Speaking to Apple about it they informed me that they would not offer a warranty on the SSD unless it was Apple certified and fitted by an Apple technician (good luck finding somebody who will do this!) but provided I don't physically damage the machine when changing the drive the machine (excluding the SSD) would stay under warranty.


As mentioned by Pete you also have the option of ADDING an SSD (leaving your hard drive in place) and replacing the optical drive. If you are going to do this I would advise making the SSD the primary drive and moving the existing HDD to the optical slot.

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[journeyman]

I've swopped my HD for a larger one(doubled the capacity) after the Mac software highlighted a potentially catastrophic fault. Didn't really understand the SSD product at the time. It sounds like a worthwhile move. I found the changeover an easy process. Plenty of advice and vids on the net. Just ensure your preparatory work is completed..Back up etc.

Bearing in mind the age of your Mac, have you upgraded the RAM? I had real probs a few months ago after downloading Lion for my 2009 Macbook pro 13in. My Ram was continually dropping to 30mb(I had 4Gb fitted). So whilst back in the UK, I upgraded the RAM to 8Gb....problem solved.

Good Luck.

 

[JohnH]

I am assuming from the dates you give that your MacBook Pro is Late 2006 or Mid 2007.


This makes it an Intel model with a SATA 1.0 drive. I imagine that a new SSD drive (SATA 2.0 or SATA 3.0) should work according to the spec, however, I am not totally sure how well they work. At best you will not get maximum performance from the drive so don't waste money on a cutting edge SSD, get an older/cheaper model. Also, I haven't read much about putting these in old MacBook Pros or tried it so I'm not putting you off, just making you aware of the official Apple line on this and that some people have had weird problems replacing the HDD (usually with Western Digital Hard Drives):

To make sure I got the correct one I went to the Crucial website, followed the memory upgrade path and by adding the make and model number etc. for mine I got to the following link and clicked on sad and I am offered a choice of two. Took the model number and bought one.
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/lis...l Core 2 Duo (13-inch DDR3) MC374LL/A&Cat=RAM

 

[JeanLuc]

Bearing in mind the age of your Mac, have you upgraded the RAM? I had real probs a few months ago after downloading Lion for my 2009 Macbook pro 13in. My Ram was continually dropping to 30mb(I had 4Gb fitted). So whilst back in the UK, I upgraded the RAM to 8Gb....problem solved.

Good Luck.

I have already done that thanks. Mine is an early 2007 model and the maximum the motherboard can recognise is 3GB although the available slots can take 2 x 2 GB.
I upgraded from OSX Tiger to SnowLeopard but decided not to go on to Lion for two reasons: it is more demanding of RAM and some of the older apps will not run under it.

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[Snowbird]

To make sure I got the correct one I went to the Crucial website, followed the memory upgrade path and by adding the make and model number etc. for mine I got to the following link and clicked on sad and I am offered a choice of two. Took the model number and bought one.
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?model=MacBook%20Pro%202.4GHz%20Intel%20Core%202%20Duo%20(13-inch%20DDR3)%20MC374LL%2FA&Cat=RAM

That's a pretty good idea! I think these parts are usually guaranteed to work by Crucial provided you entered the correct model number for your computer. If the worst came to the worst you could swap back to your HDD and return the SSD. Probably won't be necessary though!

 

[JeanLuc]

That's a pretty good idea! I think these parts are usually guaranteed to work by Crucial provided you entered the correct model number for your computer. If the worst came to the worst you could swap back to your HDD and return the SSD. Probably won't be necessary though!

I have used Crucial in the past for extra RAM - good service and the profiler is helpful. If I decide to go ahead with the SSD, that is where I shall start.