Transfer SSD from one MBP to another?

Hi everyone,

I have a 2011, 17-inch MacBook Pro, but yesterday it was confirmed by the local Apple Genius Bar that the logic board is defective - it gets the dreaded vertical bars on start-up and does not progress beyond a blank screen.

I'm so frustrated and disappointed as it's less than 3 years since the last logic board was replaced under the Apple repair scheme - but of course they no longer cover this issue for the 2011 MBP's. I have decided that rather than throw good money after bad I will not go to the expense of replacing the logic board, as there is no guarantee how long it will last.

I have therefore decided to buy another MacBook Pro and have ordered a mid-2012 15-inch version. I have chosen this version primarily because it is the last version to take the SATA 2.5-inch hard drive - because I have a 2TB SSD in the 2011 17-inch computer, and I simply cannot afford another MBP and additional storage. The guy at the Apple Store also assured me that the mid-2012 MBP's (non retina) do not have any known issues.

Anyway - my question is - can I simply install the SSD from the 17-inch 2011 MBP into the 15-inch 2012 MBP and expect it to work as normal? Or if not, any advice on how I transfer to the 'new' 2012 MBP - bearing in mind the fact that the 'old' 2011 MBP has the logic board defect and therefore I cannot access any applications.

I'd appreciate any positive and constructive advice.

Thanks,

Peter

I would try substituting the old drive into the new machine. This does not always work because sometimes there are just too many hardware differences between the machines. In this case I think it will work.

If the drive swap does not work you can put the SSD from the old machine into an external enclosure and transfer things over to the new drive. I believe Migration Assistant willl so that transfer correctly if you choose From Another Mac as the transfer option. Make sure the drive is connected. Depending upon the amount of data transferred it may take quite some time.

I think, you may be able to put the SSD in the new MBP, then run Recovery, and reinstall macOS High Sierra, but without erasing the drive, just overwriting the OS, which should get the updated drivers? At least, that's how I assume it should work?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

I believe the method that Bob described above should work but make sure you backup everything first.