Replacing MB Pro Hard Drive

ayb


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So I just bought the new Macbook Pro, (santa rosa). I'm planning on replacing the hard drive with a faster, 7200rpm hard drive.

I'm a bit confused though: what type of drive to I need? The one people recomend is this ATA-6 one, but on the apple site it says the drives are SATA.

Also, I've read that on the new MB pro model, the hard drive cable is glued to the hard drive. Will it still be possible to replace the drive?

Also, will replacing my hard drive void the AppleCare warranty?... that would be a huge problem.
 

cwa107


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14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
So I just bought the new Macbook Pro, (santa rosa). I'm planning on replacing the hard drive with a faster, 7200rpm hard drive.

I'm a bit confused though: what type of drive to I need? The one people recomend is this ATA-6 one, but on the apple site it says the drives are SATA.

Correct, the MBP uses a 2.5" SATA hard drive. Frankly, unless you're looking to increase the capacity, upgrading to 7200rpm from 5400rpm will not impact performance significantly. If you do intend to upgrade for capacity reasons, make sure the company you buy from specifies that the drive has a SATA or SATA2 interface.

Also, I've read that on the new MB pro model, the hard drive cable is glued to the hard drive. Will it still be possible to replace the drive?

It's not glued - at least not on my older MBP. There is a bit of double-sided tape on the cable, but you would merely peel it off and restick it on the new drive.

Also, will replacing my hard drive void the AppleCare warranty?... that would be a huge problem.

Officially, yes. The AppleCare warranty stipulates that you may not open the case, which is required to replace the hard drive. With that said, as long as you don't cause any damage while opening the case, it should be fine. But I do recommend you keep the old drive to swap back in, in the event you ever need warranty work.

There is an urban legend running around that there is some sort of tamper-evident seal on the case, but I have verified with a certified Apple field repair technician that that's not true.
 
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15" 2.2GHz Santa Rosa Macbook Pro - 4GB Ram - 120GB HD OS X Leopard - Windows XP
based on this guide(link below), replacing the hdd on a mbp is moderately major(involves opening the case) and requires some know-how.
well...
if you are really up to it
here is a great guide that walks you through the process step-by-step
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/laptops/guide-to-replacing-your-macbook-pros-hard-drive-254463.php

and about your warranty
I am almost certain that this will void it taking in account you will be fully opening up the case
if you are going to take a shot at this
good luck and enjoy the new hard drive!
 
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great walkthru. its my nxt upgrade for sure, 30-70% sped increase in hdd based activities is hard to pass up
 

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