MacBook Pro User-Service Hard Drive

Hello!
I read that on a MacBook, you can change the computer's hard drive just as easily as changing RAM. You just open the battery hatch and everything is there. The RAM and the removeable hard-drive. Can the hard-drive be changed on a MacBook Pro, and if it can, is it this easy to change, or do I need an authorized technician to do it? Below is the link to where I read this.
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/macbook.ars/2

Its not hard to do. It requires opening up your case though so it would be around a 20 minute job at the most
Heres a guide
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/85.1.8.html

Similar Messages

  • I am a dj and my macbook pro 13inch 500g hard drive is almost maxed out. i want to upgrade to a 1tb HDD. what is my best option?

    i am a dj and my macbook pro 13inch 500g hard drive is almost maxed out. i want to upgrade to a 1tb HDD. what is my best option?

    Depending on the year of the MBP, the hard drive may not be considered a user replaceable item...but you can check the available 1 TB drives at good sources such as OWC, http://www.macsales.com they are great to deal with and have on-line videos showing how to do most installation tasks.

  • I have an older macbook pro and the hard drive is starting to go (making loud noises). i tried to back up to an external hard drive (my passport essential se) using time machine and the computer keeps shutting down. suggestions to complete backup please?

    I have an older macbook pro and the hard drive is starting to go (making loud noises). i tried to back up to an external hard drive (my passport essential se) using time machine and the computer keeps shutting down. the same thing happens when just trying to save my pictures from iphoto to a flash drive. suggestions to complete backup please?

    Sounds like you'll need to access that drive while it is not booted. You need to replace it anyway, so do that, then one way or another (ext enclusure, et), access it and copy files.
    If you keep trying to boot it, you might kill it for good and not get your files, so just swap it out first.

  • I tried transferring my iphoto library from my old macbook onto my new macbook pro (via external hard drive), but when i open the new iphoto, it seems to have transferred ALL images ever used on my old macbook. so i tried to just del

    i tried transferring my iphoto library from my old macbook onto my new macbook pro (via external hard drive), but when i open the new iphoto, it seems to have transferred ALL images ever used on my old macbook. so i tried to just delete all those images so i could try a different approach to transferring, but the new iphoto won't let me do anything and every time i try to delete anything it crashes (since the image amount is so high).  please help!!
    MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), iphoto '11, version 9.4.2

    To move an iPhoto Library to a new machine:
    Link the two Macs together: there are several ways to do this: Wireless Network,Firewire Target Disk Mode, Ethernet, or even just copy the Library to an external HD and then on to the new machine...
    But however you do choose to link the two machines...
    Simply copy the iPhoto Library from the Pictures Folder on the old Machine to the Pictures Folder on the new Machine.
    Then launch iPhoto. That's it.
    This moves photos, events, albums, books, keywords, slideshows and everything else.

  • I just replaced the hard drive on my macbook pro, reformatted new hard drive and copied over a backup from time machine now I have a kernel panic message (you must restart) - what do I do now?

    i just replaced the hard drive on my macbook pro, reformatted new hard drive, installed a back up from time machine and now have kernel panic ( you must restart your computer) what do I need to do?

    If you're able to boot, launch the Console application in any of the following ways:
    ☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
    ☞ In the Finder, press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
    ☞ If you’re running Mac OS X 10.7 or later, open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the page that opens.
    Select the most recent panic log under System Diagnostic Reports. Post the contents – the text, please, not a screenshot. For privacy’s sake, I suggest you edit out the “Anonymous UUID,” a long string of letters, numbers, and dashes in the header and body of the report, if it’s present (it may not be.) Please don't post "shutdownStall" or "hang" reports.
    If you can't boot in the usual way, try a safe boot. The instructions provided by Apple are as follows:
    Be sure your Mac is shut down.
    Press the power button.
    Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key. The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
    Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple icon and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
    During startup, you’ll see a progress bar, and then the login screen, which appears even if you normally log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
    Safe mode is slower than normal, and some things won’t work at all.

  • How do i copy files from my macbook pro to my hard drive? These files were previously started on my old dell.

    how do i copy files from my macbook pro to my hard drive? These files were previously started on my old dell.

    More then likely that external drive is formatted the Windows NTFS format which Mac OS X can Read but it can not Write to that format. So you would need to copy all the data off that drive, to either a Windows PC or to your Mac, thenn use the Mac to format it for the Mac OS. Which would be Mac Extended (Journaled) with a Partition Table of GUID.
    If you want to use that drive on both Mac and PC then you would need to format it either FAT32 or exFAT.

  • Using Carbon Copy Cloner which is quicker firewire 800 Macbook Pro to external hard drive or Macbook Pro to same via Airport Extreme?

    Using Carbon Copy Cloner which is quicker firewire 800 Macbook Pro to external hard drive or Macbook Pro to same via Airport Extreme?

    Firewire 800 is the fastest and most reliable. Also it's bootable if you hold the option key down on a wired or built in keyboard.  Not bootable via Airport obviously or if Filevault is used.
    It's only your first clone that's usually takes the longest, it's shorter when it updates as you only do the changes which you can control to keep a pure clone if you wish.
    Most commonly used backup methods

  • How To Back up Macbook Pro without External Hard Drive...

    how do I back up my Macbook Pro mid 2012 model on 10.9.2 OSX, without an external hard drive ? Can I use Google Drive or Dropbox ?

    Google Drive and Dropbox work for backing up certain files, but not your entire user directory/hard drive. There are online services that are designed for that specifically, Carbonite and CrashPlan are two that are popular.

  • New Macbook Pro 15": my hard drive 7200trm makes noise....is it normal ??

    Hi,
    Just recieve my brand new Macbook Pro 15" i5 with a hard drive Seagate 500GB 7200rpm. And it's not silent at all!
    For Macbook Pro users, if you want to know the intensity of the noise I'm talking about, download smcFanControl and put your fans to +/- 3000rpm and you will hear what I hear with my hard drive. Is this normal ?
    Thanks for helping
    Message was edited by: Yecc

    Sorry my english is not perfect.
    I didn't say to turn off the fans. I say you have to increase the speed of yours fans to 3000 rpm, for you realize the intensity of noise emitted by my hard drive. I would like your opinions if my hard drive is normal or not ? I think not, because the noise is very hard, but I would like a confirmation.
    Thanks

  • File transfer from MacBook Pro into external hard drive

    I can't copy files from the MacBook into an external hard drive.
    In the 'Get Info' section, it says read-only. However, the hard drive have just been recently bought.
    I had the same problem with our previous hard drive. Although the previous hard drive was 'read-only' I was able to copy and paste files in our old HP laptop.
    What can I do in order to copy and paste files from the MacBook into the hard drive?
    Hard drive = Toshiba
    Capacity = 1TB

    In my last paragraph, I said
    "Note that Windows PCs cannot write natively to an HFS drive, so if you need to exchange files between Mac and PC, we need to talk about different options."
    Windows cannot read Mac Extended (HFS) formatted drives; the Mac cannot write to Windows (NTFS) formatted drives.
    The only formats fully compatible between Mac and PC are FAT32 (largely deprecated) and exFAT. If you need full read-write compatibility between Windows and Mac, and you can erase the drive (ie, it's a new drive or you have confirmed backups), reformat to exFAT using Disk Utility.
    If you have a drive with files on it and you cannot erase them at the moment:
    - if the drive is formatted for the Mac, you can purchase MacDrive for the PC
    - if the drive is formatted for Windows (NTFS), you can purchase Paragon NTFS for the Mac.
    Matt

  • How I can back up my data from macbook pro that its hard drive seems to die soon?

         I need your help guys from the whole world.
    I am now in Erbil (North Iraq) and there is no apple authorized resellers or anyone who can fix macs, they can destroy them as they try to repair it ( this is what happened      to me recently with My I phone and I pad). So I am left alone to fix it with your global help I hope.
    The issue is, I didn't do back up on my mac book pro for over  a year. I woke up 3 days ago, switched my mac and there was this funny pinc ponc noise coming from the lower right hand side of my mac (between track pad and keyboard), the computer was going slow and I wasnt able to do anything even after few restarts. It is always too slow to perform anything and this noise always start after few seconds of starting and keep going. the computer can still function very well on guest account *(safari only) and I don't hear the noise then nor when I press T. But if I try to log in to all my drive or in safe mode I get this noise and none function computer. when I went to disk utility there was message in red to back up my data immediately and take the hard drive to authorized service center.
    I checked on internet, you tube  and others..and it seems I have faulty hard drive. Since I am here alone and no service center so I think I will replace it myself. But first thing first i need to back up my precious data. I found few ways of doing this and I wonder if you can give me some tips, advise or any other method to do the back up.
    1) Transfer data on target mode:  I havent done this before but I am thinking to connect my faulty macbook pro to another with firewire, pressing T on the faulty Mac and install Super Duper on the other mac. Then I connect external hard drive to the working mac via USB. And the question is     :      can I transfer the files this way to an external bootable hard drive connected to the working mac     , so the working mac will function as bridge between faulty mac and external hard drive. Also can I do this process through my old none intel based power book(which I am using now)  instead of borrowing macbook from friend?
    2) Buy new hard drive, open my mac and replace the faulty one. then put the faulty one in external inclosure, connect to refurbished mac and transfer data back. Can I do this? will I need to install the mac os from the CD associated with it before I do transfer?
    Is there any other way to do this please?

    Jassos wrote:
    Hi PlotinusVeritas
    where do I download the superdoper please?
    http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/superduperdescription.html
    its here:   
    Download the free trial now!
    This simple software is free and very easy to use, yes, it makes a 100% clone of ALL on your HD, everything.
    (assuming its not so dead it wont copy).
    you only need the free trial version to clone your HD.
    can I download it on guest account? this one I can login and seems to function fine.
    Then install same on your guest account, that wouldnt matter, since Superduper clones everything (except the recovery partition which you dont need in your case right now).
    LaCie is Seagate (lacie doesnt make HD) , yes, that would be fine,  clone your HD ASAP and hope it works.
    there is no software fix for HD hardware failure, ......this is why a backup copy of data is so very important all the time, period.

  • MacBook pro 13" 2010 hard drive died in less than 2 months, what to do

    Hey apple forums, ran into issues today and I want to know how to handle the situation. I bought a MacBook pro 13" (2010) model on may 1st 2010, it died 9 days latter, best buy replaced it free of charge (even though I had to fight them to do so) this next one ran fine from may 9th 2010 to June 22 2010, just shy of two months. What happened? The **** hard drive died (which by the way is a crappy seagate, I only buy western digital drives as they have NEVER failed me in the 10 years I have used them). The way i know this is because I am a pc repair technician and have run diagnostics and they all say drive is dead. When boot up (or attempt) the apple logo pops up and shows a progress bar (which I have never seen before) it stays on for 10 seconds and then disappears, then the normal circle loading animation begins, then my MacBook pro starts getting ridiculously hot and never loads up Mac os x 10.6.4. I am then forced to hold the power button for 10 seconds to kill the power. I can boot into windows 7 which tells me that it is strongly recommended to perform a disk check which hangs midway, or if I cancel it before it starts I can boot in to a working copy of windows 7. If I access or attach a external hard drive I get a blue screen that says "applehfs.dll" is the cause of the blue screen.
    I did force boot the Mac os x install DVD and used the disk utility to first verify permissions and it came up with god knows how many errors, but won't let me repair permissions (it is grey out). So I proceed to do a disk volume check, it stops and says it is strongly recommended to backup as many files as possible and reformat the hard drive. I do have the equipment to recover data, however my concern is getting the hard drive replaced under warranty. Being a it support personnel I need my computer asap, it isn't my problem that the hard drive died so I am not going to just buy a new one, how does apple go about replacing NOT repairing the hard drive.
    This is what I want, go to the apple store with my Macbook pro and my craftsman set of #000 screw drivers and take the hard drive out myself, hand the hard drive to the "genius" (which by the way are un qualified in my opinion to service my $1200 Macbook pro, as they scratched my first MacBook pro, and stripped the screws. Sorry Apple but you lost my trust). Have the genius hand me a replacement hard drive, I place that back into my MacBook pro and be on my merry way home to reinstall all of my programs and restore my data.
    Is this a reasonable request and do you think apple will give me a hard time?
    Thanks to all the help,
    Jakthebomb

    No, that isn't a reasonable request, and it's not going to happen that way. If you want Apple to warrant your new drive, Apple will insist on installing it. If you want to choose your new hard drive, you'll have to buy and install it at your own expense. Given your impatience, your prejudices, and your low opinion of Apple service, that's certainly what you should do. In addition to getting your preferred drive and installing it on your own schedule, you'll get a much longer warranty than Apple would give you on it, and you'll get to keep the old drive to recover data from it if necessary (Apple would keep it if they replaced it.) Installing a new drive yourself will have no effect on the Apple warranty covering the rest of the machine, and being an IT professional, you can probably buy a new hard drive for even less than we ordinary mortals pay for them nowadays.
    So yes, Apple owes you a new drive, but if you can't accept the terms on which Apple will provide it, by all means just buy and install one yourself and get on with your life.

  • Late 2011 MacBook Pro - how much hard drive space used for OS, iLife, system files?

    Dear Community,
    I've just taken delivery of a used MacBook Pro.  It's pristine, hardly used.
    It has a 750Gb hard drive with 500Gb free.  Does this sound about right or could there be hidden files lurking unseen?  The previous user had installed Microsoft Windows but I can't find any sign of a partition for that and the previous owner said he'd erased everything except Lion, iLife and system files, etc.
    I looked in System Info which it isn't showing a large partition.  I also looked in Disk Utiliy under Partition which seems to show un "current" a single drive with no partitions and around 200Gb used.  It just seems a lot for the basic files.
    I have another 100Gb to add to that when I migrate my PowerBook over in the next few days.  That's okay while I have the current drive but I've purchased a 500Gb Crucial SSD drive to replace it so that will leave 200Gb free.
    I know I can remove the super drive and put my 750Gb drive in its place but I need super drive for viewing DVDs.
    I would grateful for any feedback.
    K

    Thanks everyone for your help with this.
    After hours of trying to figure this out I located around 150Gb in total but found there was no way of removing references to the original owner whose "Home" file in Finder remained prominent.
    So I elected to erase the drive and reinstall Lion using Disk Utility.  It took two hours or so to download and I took the precaution of plugging directly into Ethernet rather than my Airport.
    When the download was complete I was able to input fresh details so all trace of the original owner has been removed.
    Once that was done I upgraded to Lion 10.7.5 and was able to download Garage Band, iMovie and iPhoto for free from the App Store.
    Anybody contemplating doing the same should check that their machine is elligible before erasing as Apple does an auto check before downloading.
    Here's the state of the hard drive now:
    Thanks again and what a great resource the community forum's are:-)
    K

  • Macbook Pro Retina corrupting hard drives?

    I work off a Macbook Pro Retina and G-Technology hard drives. I've been editing Sony 4K raw footage filmed on the Sony FS-700. I have noticed that when I am working with this footage on this computer and try to run other apps the computer will freeze and/or just shut down abruptly. Bringing the computer back on after this shut down has killed some of my hard drives. The computer won't even recognize them. I can only see them on the disk utility and was able to reformat most of the drives I've lost. One was unrepairable.
    I've worked with these drives for years and have never had these issues. I've contacted them and they suggested I contact Apple. Sony in talking to their customers service suggested the same. This is after hours on the phone with both going through setup and video editing workflow. I do not have this issue on my iMac at home or another iMac at work. It only occurs with this laptop.
    This is really frustrating as I've lost tons of data. Good thing I back up.
    I don't know if this can be solved but really wanted to bring this to someone's attention.
    I have a 15inch MCB Pro retina and have 2 thunderbolt displays.
    Are the displays drawing too much power and killing my drives? Simplistic but my renders go faster or actually go when those displays are not connected.

    There are two things you could do:
    Turn your Aperture Library into a referenced library and relocate the master image files to your external drive. You will be able to browse, grade, and tag your images even if the external drive is not connected, but you can only edit those images whose masters are managed. Sp perhaps you could keep the masters of the most recent projects managed. while you are on the road import the new images into the library and relocate them to your external drive when you get back.
    To relocate to an external drive: Select the images and use
    File -> Relocate Masters
    What I sometimes do when on vacation: create a new, second Aperture Library on my travel MacBook Pro and import my new pictures from the trip into this library. When I return I import the new Library from the trip into my main Aperture LIbraryFile -> Import -> Library/Project
    Regards
    Léonie

  • Can I install an additional hard drive to my Macbook Pro? (2 Hard drives)

    I was wondering whether I could install a second hard drive to my 2011 Macbook Pro (2.0 GHz, 500GB HD 4GB Ram) making a total 1TB hard drive space?

    There are third party solutions out there, however be warned they will most likely void any current warranty - as it involves removing your optical drive.   I don't have details on them myself, but when my apple care expires I might consider that on a Late 09 model and push it to dual SSD's

Maybe you are looking for