Ok have had my macbook pro for a year and a half...figure it's time to experiment. I want to upgrade to either a 7200 RPM drive OR a solid state drive AND add Vista Ultimate either through boot camp or another piece of software. So two questions:
1) Where can I get apple HD's
2) How hard is it to swap an HD in a 2008 model MBPRO
3) What software makes it easiest and WORKS the best with Vista?
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1. There is no Apple HD. They use Hitachi drives in the new Unibodies, and I'm pretty sure they used Hitachi drives in the Penryn models also. Newegg is a good place to get one.
2. It's tedious, and it voids the warranty. You could go get it replaced by a Certified Apple Technician at the Apple store, for a fee.
3. Are you talking about Virtual Machines, or what? -
Really My freind has a last gen MBP which he replaced the HD in and when he brought it in for repairs the Genius didn't ask him anything about it.
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The new gens are obviously easier to upgrade
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I never had to have any warranty work done on my MBP, but I'm sure they wouldn't even notice that I changed the HD because everything looks untoched. Of course if my HD died, I wouldn't bring it in for warranty work, but for anything else, I am confident that the Genius wouldn't deny me service just because I swapped the HD. -
To answer your question...
1) You will need a 2.5" sata HD. You can check newegg or OWC
2) In my case, it was pretty easy and straight forward. Follow the guide to opening the machine on iFixit and take your time. I suggest getting a ice cube tray or something similar to separate all you screws from the machine.
3) When I ran Windows on the Mac, I used Boot Camp + VMWare Fusion -
Hitachi is a reliable brand, but I recommend you check the prices on comparable WD and Seagate drives. If WD's drive prices are trickling down to their laptop HDDs (which I suspect they are), you can find a great hard drive for an amazing price.
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As others have said any 2.5" SATA HDD will work (or 2.5" SSD for that matter)
When replacing it yourself, yes the iFixit guide is nice. Just be careful since one of the common "mistakes" is that a lot of people bend their Superdrive slot a bit during the install and then it looks like the top-middle of the slot is "bowed" down and bent. CD/DVDs may still fit but it won't looks as pretty. I think some people put a CD or something soft in the slot to hold it taut from bending when they're at the step where you have to pry open the top-case. Good luck.
Upgrade Time!
Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by thecommish16, May 17, 2009.