Introduction
You can install hard drives up to 9.5mm thick.
Tools
Parts
-
-
Use your fingers to push both battery release tabs away from the battery, and lift the battery out of the computer.
-
-
-
Remove the three identical 2mm Phillips screws from the memory door.
-
Lift the memory door up enough to grip it and slide it toward you, pulling it away from the casing.
-
-
-
Remove the following 6 screws:
-
Two 10 mm T6 Torx screws on either side of the RAM slot.
-
Four 14.5 mm Phillips screws along the hinge.
-
-
-
Rotate the computer 90 degrees and remove the two 3.2 mm Phillips screws from the rear of the computer.
-
-
-
Rotate the computer 90 degrees again and remove the four 3.2 mm Phillips screws from the side of the computer.
-
-
-
Lift up at the rear of the case and work your fingers along the sides, freeing the case as you go. Once you have freed the sides, you may need to rock the case up and down to free the front of the upper case.
-
There are four plastic clips above the DVD slot, and another above and to the left of the IR sensor. These clips can be very difficult to disengage without prying. They can also be difficult to re-engage during reassembly.
-
-
-
Disconnect the trackpad and keyboard ribbon cable from the logic board, removing tape as necessary.
-
Remove the upper case.
-
-
-
Disconnect the orange hard drive ribbon cable from the logic board.
-
Remove tape as necessary and use a spudger (or carefully push a credit card under the tape) to carefully loosen the adhesive securing the sleep light and IR sensor connectors to the top of the hard drive.
-
-
-
Remove the two 8.2 mm T6 Torx screws securing the hard drive retaining bracket to the lower case.
-
Lift the hard drive retaining bracket up and out of the computer.
-
Lift up the hard drive with one hand and use your other hand to disconnect the hard drive cable.
-
-
-
Remove the two black T6 Torx screws and white rubber bumpers from the right side of the hard drive.
-
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
22 comments
Hi folks, is it possible to inserting a new 1 GB 2,5" HDD with a thickness of 12.5 mm into the MBP?
can anyone help me?
Sorry about my bad english...
Andreas from germany
Not to the pre-unibody MBPs it isn't possible, no. Maximum size 9.5 mm drives
I used the A1260 hard drive replacement guide to swop out a Western Digital Scorpio SATA (WD3200BEVT) 320 Gig 5400rpm for a Western Digital SATA (ST9750420AS) Momentus 750 Gig 7200rpm. (http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/product...) The whole operation went flawlessly thanks to the guide. The improvement in speed / access with the bigger, faster hard drive is very noticeable. Just to let people know that the installation of a 750 gig drive is an accomplished fact in a A1260 series MacBook Pro.
Thanks for the very thoroughly and easy-to-follow guide. I'm no technical genius, but thanks to the guide I manage to replace the original disc with a Toshiba THNS 512GG8BBAA. I printed out the instructions and attached the screws with scotch to the right picture as I went along - not a chance of mixing or loosing the screws. It all went well, and the improvement is awesome!
HansO -
Before start, make a clone of your old HD into the new one, if you don't want to initiate a fresh copy. (Carbon Copy software is good).
ColmillodeChile -
Besides using WD 500GB models, are the WD 640GB and WD 750GB (the 9.5mm thickness model) good to go for? I am still considering as I have heard from other websites on the computer does not draw enough power to power up the 640 and 750 as it has the clicking sound and the rainbow keeps appearing. Anyone has install one before yet?
Please advice. Appreciated! Thanks a million to all the Mac gurus out there!
Danny Lim -
What is this about removing the PRAM battery causing a reinitialization of the HDD? For serious?
Adrian -
No, that's nonsense
max damage -
Wait, I misunderstood you. I thought the comment was directed at the PRAM battery removal page. Silly me.
Nevermind. Yes, it is always a good idea to backup one's data before doing stuff like this. I never do, and have never had any problems, but it's still a good idea.
Adrian -
The two screws removed in step 3 should not be mixed with screws in steps 5 through 7. Though similar, they are actually slightly shorter and have a bigger head. If you put the longer screws back in here when reassembling, the button to unlatch the top will not work properly.
Doug -
I think you may have commented on the wrong page. This page only has 3 steps, and the screws are removed in step 2, not 3.
(MacBook Pro 15" Core 2 Duo Models A1226 and A1260 RAM Replacement)
Don -
I'm not sure how the user notes get attached to the various procedures here, but my comment does seem to show up properly when viewing the steps for Hard Drive Replacement. However, the number of the step may be off if viewed as part of another procedure.
Doug -