We note right away that the information will not be useful for owners of the most modern laptops, because, firstly, they come only with pre-installed solid-state drives, and secondly, the installed drives have an unconventional form factor and interface.
But for owners made in a 2.5 "form factor and a SATA interface, the presented instructions will help to increase the performance of a laptop without significant costs.

You can, of course, ask for a replacement drive at an official Apple service center, but the service can be quite expensive, besides, you will probably be offered some kind of Solit-State Drive Kit - "official, from the manufacturer", the price of which, to put it mildly, will not match performance.

We, in turn, offer you to replace the HDD with an excellent SSD yourself and are ready to provide.

In the photos below, you can see the SanDisk SSD. It was this solid-state drive that ended up in our laboratory at the time of writing. This SSD is based on the SandForse SF-2281 controller, which has proven itself in other solid state drives. are distinguished by high read / write speed and increased fault tolerance.

So what do we need?

This whole procedure will not take you even 30 minutes, but the performance of the laptop will increase quite seriously - the operating system and applications will load almost instantly and in general the laptop will "respond" to your requests much faster. This is because the system will receive instant access to data, and this is exactly what is simply needed to increase the speed of work.
Plus, it doesn't make any sounds even when you're actively working with data, so your MacBook will be even quieter.
In addition, due to the significantly lower power consumption of the SSD, compared to any 2.5 "HDD, the MacBook will be able to work a little longer on a single battery charge - this is another indisputable advantage of using solid-state drives in laptops.
The only thing yours will lose is a couple of grams of weight, because an SSD is also a little lighter than a hard drive.

The MacBook hard drive is fragile, so failure is a common reason for contacting service centers. The winchester can fail if the laptop falls or is hit, or if there is a short circuit in the network.

The main "symptoms" of a hard drive failure are as follows:

1. The operating system does not load (a question mark appears on the screen);

2. The laptop refuses to turn on;

3. Malfunctions of the operating system (the appearance of strange characters, errors when opening files, etc.);

4. Strange noises, creaks, clicks during laptop operation.

The user may want to change a working hard drive - in the event that he wants to increase the volume of the hard disk and the speed of the system. In any case, you need to keep in mind that the procedure for replacing it is quite complicated, and it is better not to tackle it yourself.

How is the hard drive replaced?

1) The technician removes the laptop battery and unscrews the screws holding the cover of the RAM compartment.

3) It is necessary to detach the panel with the keyboard. The difficulty lies in the fact that it is held by the latches on the inside, and if you act inaccurately, you can damage the fasteners, bend or scratch the panel. Usually a thin screwdriver is used to remove the keyboard.

4) The next step is to disconnect the ribbon cable from the motherboard.

5) Finally, you can remove the old hard drive. To do this, the wizard disconnects the cable that supplies power to the hard drive and goes to the SATA plug, and unscrews the bracket holding it.

6) Having installed a new hard drive, the specialist assembles it. Since the MacBook's case is very thin, it is easy to bend, so only a technician who knows the architecture of Apple laptops can carry out all the procedures without damaging it.

The advantage of contacting a Macsave service center is the ability to order original parts that are best compatible with your laptop model.

The purpose of this post is to document a step-by-step guide to replacing a hard drive in a MacBook Pro, the material for which came together by itself: the screw died, a new one was bought and special. a screwdriver, well, and a photoappart was also found on the farm. The HDD was replaced on a MacBook Pro purchased in January 2007. For those who received a completely different “box”, this guide is understandably not applicable.

As I wrote already in the post "", before replacing / upgrading a hard disk, you must definitely prepare a suitable tool. This is primarily a small “Phillips” screwdriver, and a size 6 star screwdriver (aka Torx T6). When buying a hard drive, of course, make sure that it uses a SATA interface and has a 2.5 ″ form factor.
So let's go!

Step-by-step instructions for replacing (upgrading) a screw in a MacBook Pro

Step 0

First things first, turn off the laptop, unplug the MagSafe and remove the battery. must be removed not only in order to de-energize the "patient", but also because we will twist and unscrew in the battery compartment.

Step 1

Now we unscrew the three screws with a Phillips screwdriver that fix the cover of the compartment with the MacBook RAM strips (read ““). The bar can be easily removed - put it aside.

Step 3

Behind this, perhaps, the most entertaining thing in the entire screw replacement procedure (for me, at least) lies ahead - unscrewing the screws in the outer part of the case.And there are many of them: 4 in the bottom, 4 at the end of the right side, 4 - on the left, and 2 near display hinge.

Step 4

Now will probably be the hardest step. After all the screws have been unscrewed, the cover with the keyboard can be detached. In my case, the cover came off easily from the side of the display, but still remained fixed on the other side.

The fact is that here it is held by several latches. Having rummaged through the net, on the topic of how to neatly snap them off so as not to break anything, there were advice mainly of this kind: it is necessary to “move” and “move” the lid this way and that - it will go away. But I had to very carefully pick it up with a thin flat screwdriver.

In a word, be careful, careful and take your time - otherwise either you will break the latches, or bend the aluminum bottom, or warp the plastic of the lid.

Step 5

After the lid comes off, be careful again not to throw it away or move it far away from the already nearly disassembled MacBook Pro. A thin ribbon cable runs from the cover to the motherboard, which must be disconnected. This is not difficult to do. "Open" the cover with the keyboard upward away from you, as long as the length of the cable, which you will immediately see, will allow. Then we will see how to disconnect it from the motherboard.

Step 6

Now we disconnect the old hard drive, which is located in the lower left corner.

First, you need to carefully peel off the orange cable from the surface of the screw, which supplies power to the screw and goes to the SATA plug. There is no need to disconnect anything - just peel it off.

Next, you need to unscrew and remove the thin bar that fixes the hard drive by pressing the screw for the silicone ears to the MacBook Pro case. After removing the bracket, the screw can be pulled out by disconnecting from the SATA at the top. Silicone "ears" also need to be unscrewed from the old screw and rearranged to the new one. On these ears, the screw seems to weigh, and during a fall or other sharp impact, such a rubber suspension, by springing, will slightly extinguish mechanical stress.

Step 7

Install the new screw in reverse order.

The only thing I want to draw your attention to is the installation back of the top cover with the keyboard. Again, it will be quite difficult to close the latches, especially on the side of the DVD drive. Due to the disc slot, the case above the slot is very thin and can bend. For example, I did not think, and I helped the latch to close with a screwdriver and pressing down from above. As a result, the body above the slot went down and the slot became thinner.

Now the discs go in and out not so easily and surprisingly as Eeyore's donkey with the ball had. Everything must be done carefully in this place - I suggest inserting some unnecessary disc or a thick ruler into the slot.

By the way, to Sasha Usova, with whom we disassembled and photographed everything, in his MacBook Pro they also bent the slot of the DVD receiver in the Apple service, where the covered display was changed.

Conclusion

Aside from the bent disc oversight, replacing the hard drive in my MacBook Pro went just fine. It seems to me that the entire operation can be done independently and at home, especially if the warranty has already expired

If you need to replace your MacBook Pro hard drive, you can find a repairman for Apple devices on YouDo's site. It quickly and at a low price will eliminate all the problems associated with HDD and SSD hard drives.

Private specialists and employees of Moscow service centers are registered on YouDo, who have succeeded in setting up MacBook Pro Retina 13 and 15 inches. You just need to describe the problem - and you will receive several proposals from the performers who specialize in your problem and are ready to start working as soon as possible.

It is profitable to order hard disk setup for an Apple MacBook on YouDo for several reasons:

• our contractors carry out repair or replacement of a part only after a thorough diagnosis of the entire device
• if you are unable to deliver the laptop to the workshop, the contractor will come to your home and carry out the setup in your presence
• Our technicians always have the parts necessary for repairs in stock - you don't have to go to the store for a new MacBook hard drive

The specialists registered with YouDo guarantee a professional approach to business. Replacing a defective hard drive is a tricky job, but you can be sure that our contractors will be able to handle it successfully.

How is the laptop set up?

If you are looking for a technician who replaces SSD / HDD on Apple MacBooks, check out the wizard profiles on our website. It will tell you if a specialist can install a new hard drive on your computer. For example:

Masters registered on our website perform:

• transferring information from an original disk to another
• increase in the volume of HDD / SSD
• restoration or complete replacement of a damaged hard drive

Problems with the hard drive can arise for various reasons. Most often, HDD or SSD is damaged due to falling laptop, contamination of the internal device and overheating. When a specialist checks your MacBook, he will be able to say exactly why the hard drive was interrupted, how it can be restored and how much it will cost.

Estimated cost of repair

To find out how much it costs to install a new hard drive on your MacBook Pro, you should look at the price lists of the masters registered with YouDo. There will be indicated the price for each type of work, as well as the cost of replacing a hard drive on a MacBook by year of release. For example:

The following factors can also affect the price:

• type of repair: sometimes changing a disk is easier than restoring an old one
• year of manufacture of MacBook (cost of replacing HDD with a diagonal of 13 and 15 inches may differ)
• region where you live
• the level of the service center, where you will order repairs, or the experience of a private master

Also, an additional fee is charged for additional services. For example, a specialist can install Retina Mac OS on MacBook Pro, configure any programs, fix minor breakdowns in the device.

How long will it take to repair?

It is difficult to say how long the professional adjustment of the disk (HDD) will take, since the wizard's time may depend on:

• customer requirements (for example, transferring data from the original media to another may delay the repair process)
• presence of additional breakdowns
• MacBook warranty availability (devices whose warranty period has not expired are repaired first)

A specialist can post a document that indicates the approximate setup time. It might look like this:

If you urgently need to change the SSD / HDD on an Apple MacBook, find a specialist on YouDo who is ready to get started shortly.

How to place an order for YouDo?

If you need to install a new hard drive on a 13 or 15 inch MacBook, submit an application on our website. Inform it:

• device version
• the cause of the breakdown
• the date on which it will be convenient for you to bring the MacBook to the service center or call the wizard at home
• what price do you expect

At the end of the replacement, our specialist will give a guarantee for the life of the device. In the future, you will make sure that the replacement of the hard drive on the MacBook Pro went well.

So it will not be superfluous disk space. There is always something to fill it with.

Apple offers custom configurations for its laptops and desktops with increased RAM / HDD / SSD, but it charges twice as much for the components as they cost if you bought them yourself. In addition, in Russian and Ukrainian realities, ordering a custom configuration results in a "pretty penny" in addition to the increased cost of "branded" hardware. Although, it is the same branded as bought from any well-known company that sells computer components. Unless it is better tested and contains the latest version of Firmare, which is important in the case of SSDs, but more on that later.

In any case, if in the USA the HDD upgrade costs $ 100, then in Russia or Ukraine it will cost all $ 150, or even $ 200 as part of an order for an individual PC configuration. The conclusion is simple - in the case of a MacBook or MacBook Pro, it is much cheaper to change the hardware yourself. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the MacBook Air. In it, the RAM is soldered into the motherboard, and it is difficult to find an SSD of this format on sale for reasonable money, plus a special and rare screwdriver for parsing requires a special and rare - Pentalobe (5-petal flower). Today I would like to talk about replacing a drive in a MacBook Pro, go through a little RAM upgrade and ways to quickly transfer personal data from an old HDD / SSD to a new one.

A clone is better than a backup

The test subject is a 2011 15-inch MacBook Pro. "Lion" has already settled on it, aka OS X, but I have not yet switched to using it, Snow Leopard is enough, plus this is a temporary laptop for me, provided by a good friend until the last generation ordered arrives. That is, it is undesirable to somehow change the composition of the software on its HDD, so that, if necessary, you can quickly return everything to its original form. Thus, we will start modernizing the drive, one might say, from the end - with the transfer of personal data. This will save you a lot of time.

On the Windows platform, there are third-party utilities for full cloning of the system and other partitions, although in Windows 7 this function was already built into the system. In Mac OS X, the standard "Disk Utility" has been able to do this from the very first releases. And everything is implemented very simply, even a beginner will understand. The only problem may arise when connecting a 2.5-inch embedded drive to the laptop via USB. There are several options for its solution. I used the external HDD pocket, shown in the photo above, and the branded hard drive inherited from the old MacBok Pro, and decided to work with it instead of the temporary laptop drive. An external pocket is a relatively inexpensive thing and is useful in the household for storing media content on capacious hard drives, instead of optical disks. At a price per gigabyte, HDDs are already approaching DVDs. You can also junk out an old USB stick and use its stuffing. On the other hand, some devices of this kind are easily disassembled, and nothing will have to be broken. The latter method is not very convenient, but it is possible and, in principle, it will still be easier than the standard data transfer procedure when changing the internal drive, which we will talk about later.

A standard external USB drive of sufficient capacity is used - a clone of the system partition is made on it, then the HDD is changed in the laptop, the device is assembled and turned on with the Alt (Option) button held down, after which a choice of volume for loading will appear. Naturally, an external drive is indicated. After the system boots from it, the reverse cloning operation is performed using the Disk Utility. In addition, all this can be done if you have a Mac OS X boot disk. If you boot from it, you will also be able to launch Disk Utility (located in the utilities section, in the top menu) and carry out all the same operations as in the environment OS X.

Take a look at the screenshot above. It clearly indicates what needs to be done to completely clone the system partition. In particular, you should launch "Disk Utility", select any drive and go to the "Recover" section. The current system partition is dragged into the Source field using the Drag-and-drop method - a clone will be made from it, a new drive is dragged into the Destination field if it was connected via USB, or any external HDD, but remember that all data on it will be deleted. That is, it is worth taking care of their preservation in advance. It is imperative to check the item "Clear destination", which involves not just deleting data (if any), but also formatting the partition in the desired format (Mac OS Extended (Journaled)). After everything is selected, the "Restore" button is pressed. In my case, about 100 GB of data was rewritten in a little over an hour, although initially the system indicated that it would take all three hours.

Naturally, all these operations are similarly performed with SSD, if the user decided to install just this type of drive instead of HDD. By the way, the right decision - the increase in performance is huge and much more noticeable than the increase in RAM from 4 to 8 GB. The only caveat is that you may need to update the SSD firmware to support the TRIM command. It was originally present in Windows 7, and in Mac OS X it appeared starting with the release of 10.6.8. A very useful command for solid-state drives to avoid a significant decrease in device performance when it is full and used for a long time. In general, before installing an SSD, I would advise you to first read the thematic forums and decide on the model. Intel offers some of the best options on the market.

It's easy to build up RAM

Well, the drive is ready, it's time to disassemble the laptop. I recommend placing it upside down on something soft - a microfiber cloth or on a neoprene cover, as in my case. To remove the cover, you need a Philips 0 screwdriver. The bolts are unscrewed with some effort, since they contain a seal (blue blots on the thread). As they are removed, it is advisable to place them on the table in the same way as they are located in a laptop, since there are several parts that differ in length.

The bottom cover may not budge the first time - it sits very tightly and precisely. Do not use brute force, just pull it gently up from the display hinge. As a result, the following picture will open to the eye:

In the 13-inch model, everything is very similar, except that there is only one fan. There is access to the HDD and to the RAM too. Before crawling into the insides of a computer, it is necessary to discharge a static charge from the body so as not to damage the delicate electronic components. You can touch a metal part inside your laptop, such as an optical drive enclosure, or touch a metal faucet in your bathroom or kitchen. If you want to change the memory, just spread the antennae along the edges of the slot, the RAM strips will rise by themselves and it will be easy to remove them. Install the new ones neatly and tightly: insert the strip at an angle into the slot (the slope is the same as when you removed the part), slightly push forward so that it goes into it, then lower the RAM down until it clicks. Pay attention that the latches end up directly opposite the corresponding notches in the memory strips. I personally came across a situation where a person simply did not insert RAM into the connector, but was able to lower it to a horizontal position. I actually put the planks on top. The result is expected, the PC did not start without RAM. Although it was in Mac mini, the design of connectors and fasteners for RAM is identical to that of a laptop.

I will add that Apple previously recommended disconnecting the battery when replacing components, although this was at a time when laptops were equipped with a removable battery (models produced up to 2008 inclusive). You can still disconnect the power connector now, as I did when I changed the HDD and RAM in 2009 in my new 13-inch Proshka at that time, but, as practice has shown, this is superfluous. And in the official instructions there are no instructions on this matter. A good friend is a technical specialist at an official reseller of Apple technology, and without disconnecting the battery, he changed dozens of memory and storage strips, there were no problems, the main thing is not to forget to completely turn off the laptop before this, and not put it into sleep mode, and also remove the static charge.

With a drive a little more trouble

Now let's move on to the HDD. It is not screwed to the laptop tightly, but lies in a special seat. To remove the drive, unscrew the plastic tab at the edge of the drive (on the side of the optical drive). A Philips 0 screwdriver is also used.

After that, you need to pull the strap and carefully remove the drive, disconnect the connector - it can be removed easily.

Four bolts with a Torx 6 head are screwed in on the sides of the HDD. You should take care of finding such a screwdriver or a nozzle in advance, since it will not work to dig them out with a small flat or cross-type, the bolts sit tightly. We unscrew them from the old drive, fasten them to the new one, everything is simple.

The plastic strap can be re-glued to a new HDD or SSD - it can easily handle a dozen of such operations without losing its adhesive properties.

After that, we plug the connector into place, place the HDD in its seat and screw on the plastic strap. Well, now, everything is ready:

As they say, it's better to see it live than read it 100 times, respectively, I suggest watching a video of the whole process, filmed by a foreign colleague with the nickname JaymarkTech:

Pay attention to the bottom cover, dust can collect on it and should be removed.

If the system partition was cloned to a new drive in advance, then you can turn on the laptop and enjoy the update. Otherwise, you will have to use a Mac OS X boot disk and a Time Machine backup (or the USB storage option described above). The procedure is simple, but it takes more time than cloning the system partition through the "Disk Utility".

Boot from the system installation disk, run Disk Utility, partition the drive if you wish, or use a single partition and format it in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. After that, you can start installing Mac OS X. Then it is advisable to install all system updates through the "Software Update" function and you can roll up a Time Machine backup. In the case of OS X Lion, loading (similarly, through the held down Alt button) is performed from a hidden partition created in advance on any flash drive. For this there is a proprietary free program Lion Recovery Disk Assistant. Next, the system is installed from the Mac App Store, that is, you need an Internet connection to download about 3.5 GB of data. As a result, a planned restore from a backup follows, as described above. But, nevertheless, it's easier to pre-clone a disk than to tinker with manually installing the OS and transferring data from a Time Machine backup.

That, in fact, is all. There is nothing difficult in this - try it, and you, dear readers, will definitely succeed.