3.5" SATA in place of SuperDrive?

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I know it's possible to install a 2.5" SSD or HDD in place of the SuperDrive (with the help of a braket) but I was wondering if anyone knew whether a 3.5" SATA HDD would fit into the empty SuperDrive area, with no brakets or anything? Would the SATA connecters line up? I would like to know before I void my warranty to do this Thanks in advance!

I have a mid-2010 MacBook Unibody, in case that makes any difference.
 

chscag

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The OptiBay kits are for 2.5" drives only. I believe a 3.5" drive would be too wide and thick to fit and line up correctly.
 
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I know that the OptiBay kits are for the 2.5 inch drives only, my question was whether I could just put a 3.5 inch drive in place of the SuperDrive, no brackets or anything. After a bit of digging, I read a mention on ifixit about how the connectors on the SuperDrive were proprietary, and that the OptiBay converts these.

As soon as my Torx screwdriver comes in the mail, I'll try my idea and post the results here.

But if it doesn't I found a knockoff of the OptiBay on Amazon for $17! As well as a DVD drive enclosure that has been confirmed to work with the SuperDrive for under $20, along with a 500GB 2.5 inch HDD for around $60. All in all, not a bad deal at all, considering the OptiBay and enclosure are $100 from the original site, not including a hard drive.

Thanks for the reply!
 
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i dont think there physical space in any mac laptop to accommodate a 3.5 inch drive...unless they are making really flat ones now
 

pigoo3

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I know that the OptiBay kits are for the 2.5 inch drives only, my question was whether I could just put a 3.5 inch drive in place of the SuperDrive, no brackets or anything. After a bit of digging, I read a mention on ifixit about how the connectors on the SuperDrive were proprietary, and that the OptiBay converts these.

I would look at it this possible project in two ways:

1. Look at the thickness of a 3.5" hard drive. I have a 2007 MacBook Pro...and a 3.5" hard drive is "thicker" that the lower part of the MBP. I'm sure the "thickness" of a 2010 MacBook is the same or thinner than my 2007 MBP.

Thus...there simply isn't enough space to fit a 3.5" hard drive. It's like trying to fit 6 gallons of water into a 5 gallon bucket!;)

2. Even if a 3.5" hard drive did fit (which I'm pretty sure it won't)...consider the energy demands of a 3.5" hard drive. Components in a laptop computer are designed to need less power...and a 3.5" hard drive certainly is going to require much more energy that a 2.5" laptop hard drive.

- Nick
 
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Haha, the idea seemed pretty great in theory! I guess I just never visualized putting the physical drive in my laptop. Now that I actually compare, the drive is more than a quarter of the size of my whole laptop :O thanks for the replies anyways. If I do end up buying the bracket for the 2.5" SATA drives, I'll post my results back here.
 

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