Max hard drive size for MBP A1278?

Hey guys can you tell me if this unit will work well with a 2tb HDD and if yes what's the max size HDD for this machine please?

A1278 doesn't mean anything, there are 12 models with that name. What exact year and size (13" or 15") is your MBP?

Early 2011 13"

Your machine has the SATA 3 connector and you can go as big as you want as long as you running a recent version of macOS. 2TB will work fine just as will a 4TB.

Thanks but can you tell me how you know it has a sata3 connector please?

mikehende said:

Thanks but can you tell me how you know it has a sata3 connector please?

Click to expand...

Certainly. Look at the specs at Everymac.com to get the details. You can scroll down to the Storage Dimensions section to see that it mentioned SATA (6 Gb/s). SATA 1 is 1.6 Gb/s, SATA 2 is 3 Gb/s and SATA 3 is 6 Gb/s. You can also click on that line and it expands to indicate SATA 3. Beyond the storage capacity, you should ensure to grab the right physical size to fit in the MBP. You want the 2.5" internal drives and not the traditional 3.5" drives.

I had always thought this is a much better resource: http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php
since entering serial numbers on everymac in the past had showed no results at all.

mikehende said:

I had always thought this is a much better resource: http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php
since entering serial numbers on everymac in the past had showed no results at all.

Click to expand...

Both sites have their purposes.

- Generally speaking...Everymac.com is used much more...since many discussions involve questions about a specific model Mac...rather than a unique specific computer with a serial number.
- If someone wants to know the exact configuration of a computer that they have a serial number for (for example if they want to verify the configuration of a specific used computer they would like to purchase)...then appleserialnumberinfo.com is better.

In this specific case...there was a question about the SATA connector & max HD size for this computer. Appleserialnumberinfo.com does not provide this info...but Everymac.com does.

Both have their uses.

- Nick

Got it and noted for future purposes, thanks for the help guys!

I might also add...that from a computer repair person's point of view...Appleserialnumberinfo.com could be much more useful (initially). Since many times a repair person might be suddenly handed an unknown computer...and is told "Owner says computer will not startup". At this point the computer repair person (especially if the computer will not even turn on & boot to the desktop) has no info on the computer except the serial number. This is when a website like Appleserialnumberinfo.com is VERY useful...if nothing else...at least to know what exact model it is (and the exact configuration it was shipped with).

Once this info is known...then Everymac.com is the site to head to next. Since Everymac.com provides much more info...and many times includes lots of little known details.

- Nick

Time to put Mike's bill in t he mail Nick!

Well guys, the guy brough the new HDD to me, I replaced and now trying to load OSX but of course as norm it never goes smoothly. This MBP was used for DJ music and his DJ software will not work with anything higher than El Capitan so I tried loading it unto the new HDD but it is not booting. Since the unit came originally with SL that is what I am trying to install now but getting 3 slow beeps with the SL in the external optical. So I am currently choosing IR which is showing Lion but the disk is not showing up in the Install Mac OSX window, help?

Actually it installed Lion but now I need to install El Capitan on it, with the install disk in, I hold down Option at the chime and I am seeing 2 HDD's, Untitled [which I am guessing is the internal hdd?] and a Recovery HDD, what can I do from here please?

What you're seeing is two partitions on the internal HD:

- The main partition ("Untitled")
- The Recovery Partition.

Is the El Capitan installer on the disk you mentioned (a DVD)...and if so is it a bootable install disk? If yes to everything...you need to hold down the "c" key to boot from the optical drive.

- Nick

Yes to all and standard procedure on C key.

Do you know if the optical drive in this computer works...or maybe the disk has issues? Always possible the drive doesn't work (unless you verified it does)...or the disk is dirty/scratched.

- Nick

I am using an external drive, nothing wrong with it as I had loaded lion from it. Disk is good. There has to be a reason why IR was showing Lion as the OSX and it would not load from original SL disc which the specs show as the original OSX?

Well it won't boot from an external.

Not understanding since lion booted from the external? Also just tried the disk in the internal, held down C also tried holding down Option both times it ejected the disk. Owner says I can try upgrading to High Sierra so I will try that now

Lord it never ends with macs, does it? Tried upgrading to High Sierra but "we could not complete your purchase. This update requires MacOS version 10.8 or later so best option if possible would be for me to install Mountain Lion then upgrade to high sierra but if the system is not loading any other OSX above lion then.....