Aluminum Unibody Macbook Late 2008 Hard Drive Compatability

What are the maximum specs on a SATA hard drive that the late 2008 aluminum unibody Macbook supports? Would a 1 TB 7200 rpm hard drive work up to spec if I were to install it? Or is the max that I can install 500 gb 5400 rpm?

I mean rotational speed is NOT something limited by chipsets.

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Has anyone resolved the whirring sound from the Macbook late 2008 Optical Drive Self-diagnostic yet?

Has anyone resolved the whirring sound from the Macbook late 2008 Optical Drive Self-diagnostic yet?

Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
Do the following:
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
If the hard drive does not appear in the DU sidebar list then it has died and will have to be replaced. No need to proceed beyond this point.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.

MacBook Pro late 2008 hard drive problems

I've got a 2.4Ghz 15" MacBook Pro (model MB470LL/A). I've been having so many problems with upgrading the hard drive that I'm at my wits end. First, I swapped out the stock 250gb hd for a Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500gb. Only later did I find out a lot of people are having problems with it. My problem was slightly different...it would work fine for random periods of time, sometimes hours. Then the system would seemingly freeze (even iTunes stopped playing and the menu bar clock stopped running), then after maybe 15 seconds or so, it'd start up again. This started driving me nuts when it became more frequent. I tried all the different fixes from various message boards, to no avail. I even tried reinstalling OS X. No change.
So I threw that in an external enclosure (where it's been working fine since) and bought a Samsung Spinpoint M7E HM501II instead. The system seemed to crash more often, so I ran a disk scan (Drive Genius 3) on it. The scan kept either choking at a certain point and/or kicked up bad block errors like crazy. HOWEVER, when I put the Samsung in an external enclosure and ran the disk scan again, it finished without an error. I can replicate this at will.
I took it in to the local Genius Bar, where they ran more tests and determined it was a bad drive. I RMA'd it and got a new one. Same problem with the scans. And again, it runs and scans perfectly fine in the external enclosure.
So now I'm at a loss. I don't want to keep wasting money buying different branded hard drives. Is there some strange problem with my MacBook Pro? I'm thinking there some sort of weird problem with the drive controller or something, and I tried to get the Genius Bar to test that. They claimed they did and found no problem. Do I live with my 250gb drive (I'm only looking to get a bigger drive, not something faster. I need the battery life) or is there anything else I can do?

Lately there have been quite a few debates on the hard replacement issues with MBP's and from what I have seen they mostly are around the power consumption of the drives being not compatible..
So it's been many days now I'm recommending people this drive :
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-2-5-Inch-Internal-WD5000BEKT/dp/B003TOE4PQ
It's one of the least power hungry drives on the market and is one of the highest performers as well.
It's 7200 rpm and a whopping 500GB for 70-80 dollars is quite interesting .
if you buy the drive and hesitate to replace don't worry it's a 5 minute super easy task and you will find plenty of help if you report back here
I hope I could be of help

Macbook Pro - Late 2008 - Hard-drive Noise and Freezing

I bought my Macbook Pro in the latter part of 2008 and I haven't had any problems with it until a week ago when I started hearing what I believe to be the hard drive (the lower right portion just to the right of the track pad). During this time, I could still move the cursor around but I could not click on anything and all applications opened froze. This would occur every couple of hours or so, after which I would have to restart my Macbook Pro. Does anyone know what could be the problem and how I can go about solving this? Thanks!!!

Lately there have been quite a few debates on the hard replacement issues with MBP's and from what I have seen they mostly are around the power consumption of the drives being not compatible..
So it's been many days now I'm recommending people this drive :
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-2-5-Inch-Internal-WD5000BEKT/dp/B003TOE4PQ
It's one of the least power hungry drives on the market and is one of the highest performers as well.
It's 7200 rpm and a whopping 500GB for 70-80 dollars is quite interesting .
if you buy the drive and hesitate to replace don't worry it's a 5 minute super easy task and you will find plenty of help if you report back here
I hope I could be of help

MBP Late 2008 Hard Drive Questions

Hi,
I have used PC most of my life and have used Mac OS when related to graphics and video, i find both to have their own benefits. I finally bought my first mac, it got delivered yesterday, the macbook pro late 2008, i got it on a good sale which however limited me to get the 320GB 5400rpm model, and i actually was aiming to get 320GB 7200rpm model. Now that i have this laptop, i wanted to install a new 320GB 7200 rpm hard drive since this laptop model allows you to do that yourself without voiding the warranty. In order to do so, i got this and plan to use my current 5400 rpm drive as a USB:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Hitachi/DIY0A57547F8/
first of all, as someone new to mac, and even though i have been super impressed by the quality of this product, my first disappointment is the fact that apple offers you to easily replace the hard disk in the mbp but does not sell the hard disk at the apple store or on phone, or allow you to bring the laptop in for HD replacement, and expects you to fill this nice beautiful laptop with third party products, (i wanted a hard disk with the an apple sticker on it just like my current one has - i know its a Hitachi... but apple has the thick black apple sticker on it!! ), i was on phone with apple for 30 mins and they eventually couldn't sell it to me after being confused about it, all they could offer me was a replacement laptop with a 10% restocking fee charge (approx $250). i contacted a mac authorized service center and they quoted me "$332" for that hard disk from apple (Hitachi 7k320), its at $95 (and a -$20 rebate) at buy.com - without the apple sticker, same model.
now that disappointment aside, i am still optimistic with my choice and have the following questions, please correct me if any of my understanding anywhere in this post is incorrect:
1. when i install my new hard disk, what type of disk formatting should i use? - i want to be able to boot from windows xp x64 professional, i will be using it almost as much as i will use mac osx (for graphics n video), since i want to be able to run some particular PC applications on full speed that i constantly use and also play some PC games (i know many people here may argue that i dont need windows at all, however i assure you i have some good necessity for it ). Will the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) formatting allow me to boot from xp later? any tips related to this area?
2. There are 2 ways to install my new hard disk.
Route 1: http://eshop.macsales.com/techcenter/techtips/sparedrive.cfm
Route 2 (considering since my mbp is new and fresh out of the box 1 day ago): http://eshop.macsales.com/techcenter/index.cfm?page=/manuals/mac/clondata.html
which one would you recommend?
3. Once i have the hitachi 7k320 installed, and the 5400rpm that came with the product removed, should i expect any different or limited service/warranty from apple care? if anything ever goes wrong in the mbp (except the hard disk), i can send it to apple with the replaced hard disk in it and it will all be acceptable and OK, right?
4. Has anyone here installed a Hitachi 7k320 drive in a MBP Late 2008? if yes, were there any sort of noise/vibration issues after installation?
5. What brand would you prefer for an internal drive for the MBP Late 2008? it originally comes with a Hitachi.

1. Prep the new drive as follows:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one (1.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
7. After formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Complete your OS X installation. You can restore other pre-bundled software using the Install Pre-bundled Software installer that is on the OS X Installer Disc One.
In order to install Windows you will need to use Boot Camp Assistant in the Utilities folder to create the Windows partition on your hard drive and assist with the installation. You can install the 32-bit version of XP w/SP2 or SP3 or Vista 32-bit or 64-bit. Windows drivers are included on your OS X Installer Disc One and should be installed after you boot into Windows.
If you must use the 64-bit version of XP you cannot use Boot Camp, but you could use VM software such as Parallels or VM Fusion. See the following:
Windows on Intel Macs
There are presently several alternatives for running Windows on Intel Macs.
1. Install the Apple Boot Camp software. Purchase Windows XP w/Service Pak 2 or Vista. Follow instructions in the Boot Camp documentation on installation of Boot Camp, creating Driver CD, and installing Windows. Boot Camp enables you to boot the computer into OS X or Windows.
2. Parallels Desktop for Mac and Windows XP, Vista Business, or Vista Ultimate. Parallels is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
3. VM Fusionand Windows XP, Vista Business, or Vista Ultimate. VM Fusion is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
4. CrossOver which enables running many Windows applications without having to install Windows. The Windows applications can run concurrently with OS X.
5. VirtualBox is a new Open Source freeware virtual machine such as VM Fusion and Parallels that was developed by Solaris. It is not yet fully developed for the Mac - some features are not yet implemented - but it does work otherwise.
6. Last is Q. Q is a freeware emulator that is compatible with Intel Macs. It is much slower than the virtualization software, Parallels and VM Fusion.
Note that Parallels and VM Fusion can also run other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, OS/2, Solaris, etc. There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) and do not provide the video performance of the dual-boot system.
See MacTech.com's Virtualization Benchmarking for comparisons of Boot Camp, Parallels, and VM Fusion.
Boot Camp is only available with Leopard. The Boot Camp Beta that was used with Tiger has expired and is no longer available for use. So contrary to the other poster's comment, Boot Camp isn't truly "free." You must purchase Leopard to get it.
As for warranty if you read yours you will find the caveat that if you perform a DIY replacement your warranty is not affected unless you cause consequential damage in which case the warranty will not cover that damage.
I have installed several Hitachi drives in my laptops, but not the current model. I've no complaints.

Fuzzy / Blurry Font on Unibody macbook (late 2008)

I have have recently started using my wife's macbook as my macbook air died. On the air the text was always clear and crisp. On the unibody macbook the text is blurry on screen. I have compared it to my colleagues previous generation Air. The funny thing is that when running VMWARE and using windows 7 the font display is crisp and smooth whereas in OS X (snow leopard 10.6.4) font display is blurry and fuzzy (ok i over exaggerate a little bit but it is enough to drive me nuts). The second thing that makes me think it is a software error is the fact that the AIR and this Macbook both use the same resolution screen.
I tried disabling fonts in the font book to no avail...
I have played with font smoothing and it also does not help.
The scary thing (and to my dread) is that windows on this machine handles the display better Surely Mac OS X must be able to do it as well (as it is the native operating system.
Does anyone have pointers? Should i do a clean reinstall? Can i reinstall video drivers or reset all font appearances to there default values.
Help!!!

Dear Forum members,
I encountered the same problem. Bought my new MAX pro 13' yesterday
I bought a MAC because it is known for its picture quality.
I am curious. Did you find a solution already ?
Thanks
Arno

320GB really the max upgrade for MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum Uni)?

So, I've got my MacBook. It's the 13.3" aluminum unibody, from late 2008. Everything in it is stock, except I've upped the memory from 2GB to 4GB. The harddrive is still the original 250GB, which is pretty much full. I've been told by Apple that the highest capacity I can put into this one is 320GB, yet I see tons of posts from people who have put 500GB/1TB drives in and was wondering how THEY can do it, but I can't.
Any suggestions/advice?

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
It's listed as a MacBook. See > http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1651#link2
As you can see, Apple officially supports 4 GB of memory in the Late 2008 Aluminum MacBook, but you can install 8 GB of memory without any problem. You can buy the memory in OWC or Crucial > http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3

Hard drive upgrade 13" aluminum macbook late 2008

I want to upgrade my hard drive on my 13" aluminum macbook (late 2008) and I can't seem to find any documentation that suggests how large of a hard drive I can install on the computer. I would like to do at least 500 gb, but more is good. Anyone have any info for me?
Thanks!
Jeremy

You can install any drive up to 1tb easily. For a hard drive try Newegg.com http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=380&name=Laptop-Hard-Dr ives&Order=PRICE
Or OWC http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/
Here are video instructions on replacing the hard drive on the Aluminum Unibody http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbookpro_13_unibody_hd/

Problem with replaced hard drive on macbook (late 2008, 13" aluminum)

i replaced my macbook (late 2008, 13" aluminum) hard drive and get a blinking folder upon reboot. I can't seem to reboot from the original disc that came with my macbook. What do I do next? I tried holding "c" down but still get the blinking folder

With the disc inserted try starting up while holding the option key. That should take you to the boot panel where you can select the dvd.

Upgrade SATA drive for macbook late 2008

Hello!!
I am here to ask for help. Let me tell you a bit more about my Mac:
Late 2008 silver 13" MacBook 250GB 2GB RAM 2.4GHz IntelCore2Duo DDR3 MB467LL/A, currently at 10.5.8 OSx system (yes I know I need to update the software as well!)
I currently bought 4GB kit (2x2GB) RAM to upgrade on my silver MacBook (late 2008), and would also like to update my hard drive.
I have looked around on online shops for 2.5" 9mm SATA drive, and came across to 1TB for not too bad a price (between £85 to £100).
Anyone know whether if this is ok for my laptop?
Samsung, WD Scorpio Blue and Toshiba, all are at 5400rpm for 1TB. (However there is 750GB Seagate 7200rpm 16MB - recommended???)
Large memory/drive are usually much needed with me as I do use a lot of design work e.g. Adobe InDesign/Illustrator/Photoshop...you get the drift .
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Looking forward to hear from you soon!
Thanks again,
ejburton.

If all the technical specs (like SATA, physical dimensions, power usage etc) all match then you can use any drive of any available size in your MBP. Right now it appears that the largest available is the Western Digital 250GB 5400rpm drive where as the fastest is the Hitachi 200GB 7200rpm drive. Fujitsu and Toshiba have annonce 300GB drives though I've not heard that either are yet shipping.
I have to say that I'm very pleased with the Hitachi 200GB 7200rpm drive.

I need to upgrade my MacBook 13" white 2008 hard drive. I have found a WD6400BPVT western digital Scorpio blue 640GB (5400rpm) SATA 8MB 2.5" will this fit and work? Many thanks for any help

I need to upgrade my MacBook 13" white 2008 hard drive. I have found a WD6400BPVT western digital Scorpio blue 640GB (5400rpm) SATA 8MB 2.5" will this fit and work? Many thanks for any help

I had a 640GB HDD in my Early 2008 Macbook and it was just too much it would always freeze up the computer a bit for only a few seconds but ya. Then I realized that it was the size of the HDD that was causing it since the Early 2008 Macbook models can only handle a MAX od 500GB while the Early 2008 Macbook Pros could have a MAX of 640GB (Lucked out there!) lol But ya the Early 2008 Mocbooks can only handle a MAX HDD size of 500GB and that's it!! lol

My Macbook aliminium unibody from late 2008 will not boot. I reach the grey screen with the apple icon and the spinning grey gear. I used disk utility to boot it but it said integrity test failed. I don't know what to do can anyone please help?

My Macbook aliminium unibody from late 2008 will not boot. I reach the grey screen with the apple icon and the spinning grey gear. I used disk utility to boot it but it said integrity test failed. I don't know what to do can anyone please help?

Sounds like you may have a harddrive issue. You are probably going to need to get that changed out and then install the OS X again to get it going.

HT2368 Hello, I have MacBook Late 2008 (Unibody). And I can't install this firmware, need help. Thanks

Hello,
I have MacBook Late 2008 (Unibody). And I can't install this firmware MacBook SMC Firmware Update 1.5
Need your help.
Thanks

Also, according the the 1.4 update page here: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL974
It will update the Boot ROM version (on MB 5,1) to MB51.007D.003.
Yet I have (MB 5,1) Boot ROM version MB51.007D.B03. Weird again!
What a mess Apple. Considering how important firmware updates are you'd think they could make this a little clearer.
Anyways, again, I don't think we need it.

HT5287 Can I use remote disk on a 2008 unibody MacBook with no optical drive?

Can I use remote disk on a 2008 unibody MacBook with no optical drive?

According to the link you came from the only MacBooks this works with are MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with Retina display. If yours is not one of these I can see no harm in trying it.
You could consider getting an external optical drive.

Is it possible to upgrade the graphics card in my aluminum 13-inch Macbook (Late 2008)?

My 13-inch Macbook (Late 2008) currently uses the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB graphics card, but I want to upgrade it, so that I can play games at a higher quality. Is this possible? If so, what graphics cards are compatible with my Macbook (Late 2008)?
Thank you.

The graphics card on a MacBook is part of the logic board not a separate card so it can't be upgraded.

Aluminum Unibody Macbook Late 2008 Hard Drive Compatability

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