Upgrading a Macbook Pro = Scary

[Gordy]

I've just finished upgrading the hard disc in my 1st gen macbook pro. I have to say you really see just how well built they are when you take them apart.

All the screws are works of art in themselves and everything inside is really neat and tidy. There was no dust inside despite it being well over a year old.

I've been scared to take apart until now as its far to expensive and useful to break! However I decided it was time to stop being a wuss and get on with it. The original hard drive was only 100gb so it was time for an upgrade. I went for a 250gb WD drive.

I'm still reinstalling os x, but so far things are going very well (There's me tempting fate!). I had a few issues getting the bluetooth module out of the way of the old hard disc.

One thing that really surprised me is that the hard disc is not screwed to the chassis in any way. It uses four rubber grommets to hold it in place. Clever thinking from apple that.

If you are putting off an upgrade don't its well worth the effort.

PS: Big shout out to www.ifixit.com for their great guides on taking apple's apart!

[dave87]

250gb drive? Is it a 2.5" SATA drive? If so where did you get it from, I'd be after one for my Dell

[Steve B]

Toshiba do a few, they're on scan

[DR]

Sweet

[joshwa]

I had to take apart an ibook to replace the hard drive - talk about a pain in the arse (you literally have to take the whole thing apart to get to the hard drive) - yes they're well designed - BUT why not just let users take the hard drive out by undoing 2 screws and sliding it out ala Dell laptops.

[DR]

Yep Apple want you to ££

[Gordy]

250gb drive? Is it a 2.5" SATA drive? If so where did you get it from, I'd be after one for my Dell

Yeah quite a few sata ones about now in sizes 200-250GB mine was a Western Digital 5400RPM model. I got mine from Komplett : http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=338050 under £100.

Scan stock them but were almost £20 more expensive. Make sure you get the 5400rpm drives as they are much quicker.

Toshiba do a few, they're on scan

Seems to be only the 200gb version, they have some fujtsi ones too.

I had to take apart an ibook to replace the hard drive - talk about a pain in the arse (you literally have to take the whole thing apart to get to the hard drive) - yes they're well designed - BUT why not just let users take the hard drive out by undoing 2 screws and sliding it out ala Dell laptops.

I know particularly when the macbook is easily accessible it seems odd that the macbook pro is more of a hassle.

[charleski]

There was no dust inside despite it being well over a year old.

That's F'ing amazing! LOL. Every desktop I've owned has been a dirt magnet, requiring periodic cleaning to keep the heatsinks functional.

Good work on changing your HD, I looked at the instructions for the MacPro and they seemed a bit scary.

[Gordy]

Yeah I was amazed, I deal with very dusty machines everyday so not seeing any inside was quite a surprise!

[Funkstar]

For anyone else looking at getting a high capacity 2.5" drive, beware of the Fujitsu drives. The 250gb and probably the 300gb version are 12.5mm thick as opposed to the standard 9.5mm. Unless your laptop is designed to cope with this you will not be able to fit them.

I had t return one and get a WD instead. Works great now it is in though.

[CMC]

id like to do this on my macbook aswell, but i cant find my Mac OSx install discs.. eek... it seems like a worthwhile thing to do though, as i only have about 16Gb remaining

[charleski]

id like to do this on my macbook aswell

If you have a MacBook Pro, there's an illustrated guide to the process here. You might want to give it a careful read before ordering a drive, as it seems quite involved. It's far easier to change the HD on a MacBook.

[CMC]

yea the hdd just slides out of the macbook, beside the battery

see here

[Ramedge]

I may have to do this in the next year or so, I got mine in January and its got a 120gb drive but with all the location audio i record i always have to take a external disk with me, which is just something else to worry about.

First thing i did when i got my Macbook pro was shove another 1gb of ram in it.

Have to agree on the build quality though! Best laptop in the world.
Mines me attacked by a cat who knocked it off a dressing table (within 4hours of ownership!) and it got smacked against this sharp wooden courner of the table as it fell off. It was fine apart from a nice Dent! The cat will pay.

[charleski]

It was fine apart from a nice Dent!

"We'll just take that out with a tap of the hammer..."

[Gordy]

My cat know's that anything near or on my desk is not a toy! Now if only I could train my son hehe