1TB drive upgrade macbook pro

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Hi Guys,

I spoke to my local Apple store last week as I want to upgrade my 320 drive for a 1tb drive. The guy said they had tested a number of drives but found that they didn't quite fit and he was worried about overheating. He suggested a 500gb drive but I won't bother as the difference isn't enough.

Can anybody recommend a 1tb that works ok as I may have a go at doing the upgrade myself.

Thanks

Tom Mcguire

macbook pro5,1
2.93 GHz
 

pigoo3

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Can anybody recommend a 1tb that works ok as I may have a go at doing the upgrade myself.

The drive needs to be 9.5mm in height...most if not all 1 terabyte drives are "thicker" (12.5mm)...and that's why there are issues as the Apple person mentioned.

If you can find a 9.5mm 1.0 terabyte height drive...then you're good to go.:)...but I'm not sure they exist yet.

- Nick
 
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Been doing alot of googling on this subject as I would love a 1tb internal drive for my MacBook Pro, unfortunately can't find anything on the matter and I am presuming the same as Pigoo that they simple just don't exist at the moment Think what I might do is save quite a bit, get a 256 SSD for the the macbook and get a 1tb drive external, with a partition on it for time machine and the rest for anything I don't constantly need / use.

- Simon
 

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Been doing alot of googling on this subject as I would love a 1tb internal drive for my MacBook Pro, unfortunately can't find anything on the matter and I am presuming the same as Pigoo that they simple just don't exist at the moment Think what I might do is save quite a bit, get a 256 SSD for the the macbook and get a 1tb drive external, with a partition on it for time machine and the rest for anything I don't constantly need / use.

- Simon

I have a feeling that instead of making "thinner" (9.5mm) 1 terabyte drives (currently 12.0-12.5mm) to fit into older Macintosh laptops...when 1 terabyte drives (in the future) become the "norm" or common in laptops...Apple will simply redesign MacBook Pros (maybe MacBooks as well)...to safely accept the 12.5mm 1.0 terabyte & larger 2.5" hard drives.

I know some folks have posted on Mac-Forums trying to fit the 12.5mm into their MacBook Pro's...and found the fit to be VERY tight if forced. Kind of like putting one or two pairs of pants too many into a suitcase, and having to sit on it to get it closed!;)

They then decided to remove the 12.5mm drive...return the drive...and get the largest 9.5mm drive they could find (generally a 500 gig).

- Nick
 
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I'm sure that eventually a 1tb 9.5mm drive will be available, just have to be patient I suppose, just like a lot of things.

- Simon
 

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I'm sure that eventually a 1tb 9.5mm drive will be available, just have to be patient I suppose, just like a lot of things.

- Simon

Anything is possible.:)

What I'm thinking is...since Windows computers:

- make up approx. 90% of all computers sold (not sure of the exact Mac vs. Windows laptop breakdown)
- all (or probably all) 1 terabyte 2.5" laptop hard drives at this point are 12.0 - 12.5mm in height
- these 12.5mm height drives do safely fit into most modern Windows laptops (otherwise these 2.5" hard drives would only be used as external storage).

...that there is no real driving economic force to encourage 2.5" laptop manufacturers to reduce the "thickness" of 2.5" 1.0 terabyte (and larger drives) to a "thinner" 9.5mm size...since Macintosh laptops make up such a small proportion of the overall laptop market.

Of course...laptop manufacturers (both Apple & Windows manufacturers)...are always looking for ways to make laptops thinner & lighter...so this could be a "driving force" to encourage hard drive manufacturers to reduce the thickness of 2.5" 1.0 terabyte (and larger drives) to a thinner 9.5mm height.

But...with the inclusion of SSD drives starting to take place in laptop computers...if the price, performance, longevity, and durability of SSD drives starts to displace traditional hard drives...this could also be a driving force against reducing the thickness of 2.5" 1.0 terabyte drives from 12.0-12.5mm to 9.5mm (since traditional hard drive storage would become obsolete).

Hey...just my humble opinions or theories. If I had all the answers...my investment accounts would be 7 figures or more!;)

- Nick
 

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Good points Nick. Of course if one wanted to buy a 1 TB SSD or Flash unit, they could always pay a visit to their nearest credit union and apply for a low interest loan! ;P
 

pigoo3

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Good points Nick. Of course if one wanted to buy a 1 TB SSD or Flash unit, they could always pay a visit to their nearest credit union and apply for a low interest loan! ;P

YIKES...do they even make a 1TB SSD yet? If so...I'm afraid to know how much!!!;)

- Nick
 
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Nah i've looked for that aswell :p probably in the region of a small retreat cottage :p

- Simon
 
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WD and Toshiba make up to a 750 GB 9.5mm hard drive for now. Can't find anything smaller than 12.5mm for a 1 TB drive.
 

chscag

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Yes, that's correct. The 750GB drives by WD and Toshiba are the largest capacity drives currently available that will comfortably fit in an Apple notebook computer. Some folks have stated that the 17" MBP has a bit more room and can accommodate a 1 TB 12.5 MM drive. However, as much as the 17" MBP machines cost, I would certainly hate to take a chance to only gain 250 GB of space.
 
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WD and Toshiba make up to a 750 GB 9.5mm hard drive for now. Can't find anything smaller than 12.5mm for a 1 TB drive.
Beat me to it. I'm sure they'll eventually fit a TB in a 9.5 mm casing, but they do at least have 750 GB, which would more than double the OP's original HD. In addition to that, he'd get to use the old 320 GB HD as an external HD.
 
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Yes, that's correct. The 750GB drives by WD and Toshiba are the largest capacity drives currently available that will comfortably fit in an Apple notebook computer. Some folks have stated that the 17" MBP has a bit more room and can accommodate a 1 TB 12.5 MM drive. However, as much as the 17" MBP machines cost, I would certainly hate to take a chance to only gain 250 GB of space.

I definitely wouldn't chance my luck at this kind of thing, especially as it is something that will definitely void any kind of warranty, stuffing a drive that is larger than specified.

- Simon
 
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I definitely wouldn't chance my luck at this kind of thing, especially as it is something that will definitely void any kind of warranty, stuffing a drive that is larger than specified.

- Simon
Stuffing a drive that won't fit probably will void the warranty, but upgrading the hard drive with a compatible HD will not.
 
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Stuffing a drive that won't fit probably will void the warranty, but upgrading the hard drive with a compatible HD will not.

Yeah, that's why I said "larger than specified."

- Simon
 
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Well, I spoke to an apple dealer in Leeds (uk) today and they are happy to fit a 1TB drive. I have it booked in for Friday. I will report the results next week.

The guy also said that in 6 months time I should be able to afford the solid state memory to be the boot disk as 250gb might come down to 250-300 quids.

Hope I don't blow it up!

Cheers

Tom
 
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Hmm... Good luck and let us know how it goes. I wonder what, if any kind of mods need to be done in order to fit a drive of that size in there. I also hope it doesn't cause any disruption in how air is passing through the chasis, or heat things up more than usual.

Doug
 

pigoo3

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Well, I spoke to an apple dealer in Leeds (uk) today and they are happy to fit a 1TB drive. I have it booked in for Friday. I will report the results next week.

Hope I don't blow it up!

Good luck here as well. As I mentioned earlier...fitting a 12.5mm height drive can be done (and folks have reported doing it)...it's just that it's a "tad" too thick to fit in nice & neatly. Sort of like trying to put 6 gallons of water into a 5 gallon bucket (or should I say liters)!;)

Just wanted you to be aware of everything before moving forward. By the way...I hope that the folks installing the drive are not charging you too much extra cash for the install (unless they have some sort of special secrets installing a 1 TB drive). Because installing a hard drive in a MacBook Pro is really really easy (with lots of DIY info on the internet)...that you could definitely handle doing it yourself.

Again good luck...please let us know how everything goes,:)

- Nick
 
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Yeah, that's why I said "larger than specified."

- Simon
Yeah...I figured you knew that based on the way you worded the sentence. It's just a common misconception about the warranty so I figured I'd make sure you knew!
 
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Hi guys,

The upgrade has been done, I now have 766 mb spare on my MacBook pro. It runs great and hasn't overheated. So far so good.

Cheers

Tom
 

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