Apple MacBook Pro -> Needs new hard drive! Help Please!

grovesy15 on 11/08/2014 - 09:49
Last edited 11/08/2014 - 09:53

Hey all,

Some time ago I had the hard drive on my MBP blow out. I had it "diagnosed" by the "geniuses", but at the time I was about to do some travelling so decided to hold off on getting it fixed. I'm not looking to get it going again, but I know absolutely nothing about what to buy to replace the current dead hard drive, how to do it myself, who to get to do it, etc.

Can anyone recommend….

  • A hard drive to get to replace what is in there now? It doesn't have to be special as I have another primary computer, but I'd like to use some programs I run on this old one.
  • Where to get it done?
  • Am I better off buying a HDD separate, and then taking it somewhere to get replaced? Or can anyone recommend a place to buy and replace the HDD?

I'm sure you can tell by my vocabulary and lack of details on the subject that I don't really know much about what's inside my computers, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

EDIT: Some more info if it matters….charges fine, but doesn't turn on at the moment (thus why I went to the apple store in the first place), and it is a 15-inch, MBP from around 2011 or 2012 I believe.

Computing Apple Computer Laptop

Comments

  • aussieaubs on 11/08/2014 - 10:16
    -2

    you'll need a 512GB or 1TB HDD. you can get that from msy. are you in melb.? you won't be able to replace it yourself - take it to someone to do it for you as its not worth the pain….

    are you in melb?

    • ExtraSalt on 11/08/2014 - 10:19
      +1

      replacing it is easy dude. i did my battery, fan and Samsung Pro SSD with optical bay for about $300

    • grovesy15 on 11/08/2014 - 10:20

      I'm in Sydney.

  • ExtraSalt on 11/08/2014 - 10:18
    +1

    replacing your HDD is easy as…definately go down that avenue. what year and model is your MBP? i have a 2011 13" and i have since updated my HDD, replaced my battery and fan, and taken out the optical drive to insert a SSD. best thing i could of ever done! Get a multi-purpose screwdriver kit off ebay. if you type in 'Macbook Pro took kit' hundreds should come up. they are cheap. i have a 50piece kit or something.

    Installation is easy, but remember to unplug the battery just incase. If you are unsure, there are so many good tutorials on youtube to follow

    • grovesy15 on 11/08/2014 - 10:21

      I'm all for attempting to replace it myself, but time is really not something I have a lot of with work and other commitments.

      How much do you reckon it would cost to get someone to do it? I'm not lazy, but I literally don't really want to put more than 2-3 hours into this haha. I also know nothing about computers.

      • ExtraSalt on 11/08/2014 - 10:25
        +1

        ah k. well if it helps, i never opened up a MBP before this. mine was a bit more difficult cause i was replacing my cd drive with a 2nd SSD. Idk how much it'd cost somebody to do it, but because its an Apple device, they would probably make a big thing out of it. It took me 30mins to do mine. I reckon if its just replacing a HDD, it should take no more than 5mins to replace, then depending how much you had to back up, it would take hours to recover, or mins if you want to run it like a new computer and just install the OSX

        • grovesy15 on 11/08/2014 - 10:41

          Any recommendations for a HDD to buy? Are there any cables or anything that may also have been shot?

          Also, how do I get OSX on the ned HDD after installing?

          Thanks thanks thanks.

        • ExtraSalt on 11/08/2014 - 11:11
          +1

          @grovesy15: Cables in a MBP have really cleaned up….theres 2-3 short ribbon cables, i don't see how they could be messed up if you haven't previously opened and tampered with it. OSX you might be able to pick up from Apple. the use to do a USB thing for like $20? i don't think they do it anymore but its wroth a try.

  • sajidmib on 11/08/2014 - 10:43

    Yes get an SSD and have your current HDD formatted and add it as secondary drive thru the DVD rOM caddy .. buy one from ebay

  • grovesy15 on 11/08/2014 - 10:47

    What's the difference between an SSD and a HDD?

    • hellbound on 11/08/2014 - 10:57

      SSD's are much faster but cost a lot more. If you just use it for surfing the net and office then a hdd will be fine. It's a 10 minute job to swap out the hdd with the right tools, then you'll have to install osx and all your programs etc.

    • Garden gnome on 11/08/2014 - 11:17
      +1

      SSDs are much faster but more expensive compared to equivalent size HDDs. SSDs have no moving parts, whilst HDDs have a spinning platter and a mechanical arm which reads the platters. SSDs are commonly used for fast boot times of the operating system (osx, windows etc) and of applications eg photoshop.

      SSDs are generally the superior drive, however they are more expensive and lose capacity after a certain amount of usage. However the price of SSDs are dropping quite rapidly at the moment. Here's an example. A 1 TB SSD, Samsung Evo 840 is approximately $500. It should reduce your boot times to between 10 and 20 seconds, but that's not a certainty. It should also make your apps load really fast and copying files should be extremely fast. I'm not saying these things are guaranteed, because it depends on other hardware components running properly.

      A 1 TB HDD however will cost you around $80 and won't be as fast, but still gives acceptable performance for everyday tasks. It comes down to your budget and capacity requirements.

      There's heaps of DIY information on the web
      http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/macbook-pr…

      • ExtraSalt on 11/08/2014 - 11:26

        @grovesy15 has publicly said he doesn't know much about computers, so in short form

        SSD is many times faster. Programs and OS are generally booted off it.
        HDD are slower, but more reliable, files are usually saved on this.

        SSD's though going down in price, are still much dearer.
        HDD having moving parts, so on a laptop, it create's a lot of heat. On MBP, it's mostly the reason why your laptop has a loud fan going all day.

        I run both HDD and SSD for performance reasons. I run Adobe Suite all day, so i have my Adobe CC on my SSD and all files on my HDD.

        Cold start boot time went from about 30-50 seconds to now being within 10 seconds (easily). Illustrator used to take again, 30-50 seconds to open, now it opens in 5 seconds.

  • LPH on 11/08/2014 - 11:02

    contact www.ifixpcs.com.au (they did it for me for about $50). The guy is really good,

  • grovesy15 on 11/08/2014 - 11:37
    +2

    Cheers…this is all great so far!

    I just watched a quick YouTube video, and it does look very easy to do the change myself (knock on wood). So I think I will attempt that…

    Now just to figure out SSD vs HDD….and then how to get OSX back on.

    • modsec802 on 11/08/2014 - 11:53
      +1

      SSD for sure. Like owning a new computer.
      Use diskmakerX to make a bootable USB drive and restore from a time machine backup. Simple as.

  • grovesy15 on 11/08/2014 - 11:59

    Ok. SO what SSD's do you guys recommend? I have already bee able to take my HDD out (I had the mini-tools already for another project), so all I have to do is buy a compatible SSD, and then plug it in, and load OSX, correct?

    Optical drive bays and running an HDD AND SSD are just extras that I don't need to worry myself with, correct?

    Thanks.

    • grovesy15 on 11/08/2014 - 11:59

      Also, what is mSATA vs SATA?

      • mrmarkau67 on 11/08/2014 - 12:07

        SSD will make your Macbook Pro run like its brand new - especially if you do a fresh install of OSX.

        mSata is a special compact interface used by some notebooks - not your Macbook Pro.

        It almost doesn't matter which SSD to buy for performance reasons - they all run faster than the SATA interface on your MBP; so just buy the largest one your can afford. Buy locally to get a decent warranty.

        The sweet spot for value at the moment seems to be 250GB. But if you can afford it and you are currently using more 250GB, go for 512GB. If you don't have much cash, get a 128GB and an external enclosure for your old drive.

        I've had great results from Sandisk and Samsung.

  • MegaSuperUltraTight on 11/08/2014 - 12:36
    +1

    I was an Apple service technician, I have the tools and I only charge a small fee. Just BYO HDD. Just go with a 1TB HDD and I hope you have backed everything up using timemachine.

  • grovesy15 on 11/08/2014 - 13:17
    +1

    Can you guys comment on and suggest one of these? Any big ones I'm missing you'd recommend?

    http://www.shoppingexpress.com.au/buy/crucial-m500-240gb-sat…

    http://www.shoppingexpress.com.au/buy/samsung-840-evo-series…

    http://www.shoppingexpress.com.au/buy/samsung-ssd-pro-840-se…

    Thanks!

    EDIT: Deserves it's own thread, as I imagine others may be wondering the same question: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/156289

  • srhardy on 12/08/2014 - 08:05

    just look for good write speeds of about 500, read speeds are always about that these days. oh you can't use mSATA!

    checkout msy.com.au 256gb SSD should cost about $90-129 depending on sales, and one with good write speeds $120-139

    replacing isn't hard, macfixit have a step by step how to

    reinstalling can be fun but the mac should have come with a DVD with the macOS and you have a dvd/rom in the macbook so just hold the option key on boot and select the OSx/dvd and with youtube its not too hard. Bit of a fiddle to format in the install process but thats just another first on the home fixit, doityourself how2

    Once installed and logged in, just upgrade (for free) to mavericks in the iTunes store

  • Geekomatic on 12/08/2014 - 13:23

    Your old programs cannot generally be moved from one drive to another-(must be reinstalled to the new one from disc/download)- unless you clone the old drive to the new one. This assumes the old drive is still spinning.

    Physical disk errors on the failing drive causing issues will not be a problem once cloned to a new drive.

    I work mainly with Windows- and my $40 clone device can do a direct clone w/o needing any computer— takes about two hours, unattended. Caveat is the new drive must be the same or greater capacity.

    http://www.mwave.com.au/product/welland-turbo-leopard-me603s…

    FYI

  • grovesy15 on 12/08/2014 - 13:28

    My plan from all the advice:

    1) Purchase SSD (leaning Samsung 840 PRO 256 GB) —> also debating whether I wait for a sale, because not urgent, or just grab from ShoppingExpress now.
    2) Install SSD myself
    3) Explore options with 'diskmakerX' to create bootable drive
    4) Pick and choose what I want from old Time Machine back-up

    Thoughts? Comments? Warnings?

    Thanks!

    • modsec802 on 12/08/2014 - 14:15

      Looks like a good list of steps.
      If it's not urgent you could order from amazon.com - it takes about a week to arrive usually

    • ExtraSalt on 12/08/2014 - 14:57

      Carbon Copy Cloner is quick, simple & reliable. It asks you to purchase the program, but if you just want to use it once, just take advantage the 30-day trial.

      How much is the Pro 840 256gb now? Centrecom has it for like $169? which is a crazy price, cause i bought mine a month ago from there for $210ish

      http://www.centrecom.com.au/samsung-840-pro-256gb-mz-7pd256b…

  • eruption on 12/08/2014 - 15:43

    Went ahead to do mine after buying the ssd if from amazon usa. Didnt work for me, kept on beeping and blank screen. Had to get a refund from amazon.

    Will have to go down the path of taking it to a technician

  • gimli on 12/08/2014 - 21:57
    -1

    thats why you should have got android.
    hahahahaha

    • grovesy15 on 12/08/2014 - 21:59

      Are their laptops good? Who knew how terrible a decision I was making when I chose Apple over Android for my laptop.

      • gimli on 12/08/2014 - 22:17

        Sorry I was just joking.
        Any brand can have hardware failure if you are unlucky. Some brands have better warranty and repair deals but that's about it.

        I'd say what happened to you could have happened even if you didn't buy apple.

        Hopefully you can get things fixed soon.

        • grovesy15 on 12/08/2014 - 22:45

          Haha all good, mate!

  • swilso on 13/08/2014 - 07:18

    I just got a Samsung 840 SSD for my 2010/11 MBP and the bloody thing doesn't work - can install OS to it via USB caddy and then when it is installed internally it just gives the circle with a cross through it, very frustrating ! I've read online about SATA cable issues ? Bit hit and miss. Just word of warning.

    Anyone have advice on what it could be ? I've tried the firmware update however the laptop doesn't see the drive so it wont update and even when I've gone to install windows it isn't detected it suggests getting drivers to view the SSD but I cant press the apple eject key when in a windows install to swap out a disc.

    • srhardy on 13/08/2014 - 07:44
      +1

      Do it the LONG way…

      dont usb/caddy install - direct install and boot from original mac install dvd, partition/format and install

      caddy the old one when its up and working and copy stuff across

      • grovesy15 on 13/08/2014 - 07:55

        Is this advice for everyone? Or just @swilso?

        Not sure how I would go about getting an original mac install DVD…I certainly don't have my original anymore I don't think.

      • swilso on 13/08/2014 - 08:17

        Thanks mate. I will give the original discs a go. I have used an original Snow Leopard, Mountain Lion & Mavericks disc OS only and none have worked. I guess the original discs may have specific drivers for the model ? I'll give it a try this afternoon.

        • ExtraSalt on 13/08/2014 - 09:16

          is it the Samsung Pro 840? i got the same for my 2011 MBP and it worked fine. unplug it and re-insert your old HDD and see how that reads and writes, perhaps you broke a pin or something?

        • swilso on 17/08/2014 - 16:11

          @andrew exclmtns:

          It's just a standard 840 I pulled out of my desktop that was working fine. The current HDD from the MacBook works OK when it is plugged in however it constantly just freezes - no response, no blue screen, caps lock wont light on, nothing. Forcing me to hard reset the laptop regularly.

          From what I have read around the MacBook pro 09 model like mine is notorious for faulty sata cables. I'm assuming it is probably that given it wont boot from an SSD but will recognise the disk as a boot option when holding down the option key.

          I'm going to order a new SATA cable for it and see how it goes.

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