[Levi]

I recently bought a NEW 15" MacBook Pro unibody w/antiglare widescreen display and really love it's design (my 2nd MBP).  I wanted a faster 7200rpm hard drive but the Apple store only have a big but slower 500Gb 5400rpm hdd available for the model that has 3.06 Ghz and antiglare filter.  I said d**n, I wanted it today!  What does one had to do?  Upgrade it!

So with little research, I sourced what I think is an excellent upgrade.  Replacing laptop hard drive is simple and only takes a few minutes.  I have chosen a Seagate Momentus 320Gb 7200rpm.  It is relatively inexpensive and highly rated for speed and performance.  In addition, it consumes less power compared to Apple's Toshiba 500Gb 5400rpm original drive.  Both are rated at 5V DC but the Seagate only draws .62Amp vs 1.0A (Apple).  My run time may even last longer than Apple claimed 7hrs.  ;D

Disclaimer:  Please do not attempt this yourself.  I will not be responsible for the loss of life, data, fire, explosion or your computer not working nor providing tech support if you try to follow my steps.  Now that we have disclaimer, I can proceed with the upgrade.   ;D

The whole process only took 15mins.  Definitely much lesser if no pictures or screws falling on the floor.  Ha ha ha.  The mac booted and recognized the HDD right away.  It took another 30mins to load the MacOSX 10.6.2.  Success! 

The overall results after the HDD upgrade, the MBP is 20% faster and snappier.  In addition, battery run time seems to have not been affected.  I should be able to tell more if it increased the run time.  I just can't wait to install Windows 7 in it.  I hope that you enjoyed my little project as much as I did!

Tools needed:  Precision screw driver set
Upgrade HDD used:  Seagate Momentus 7200.3 320Gb SATA HDD




Seagate Momentus 320Gb 7200 rpm


10 screws located underneath


Cover removed

[Levi]

Only two screws holding the original HDD and SATA ribbon cable then pop out it goes.


HDD removed.  See Sata cable dangling.

[Levi]

Cont...

Side-by-side comparo


Remove and transfer hdd mounting screw and installation is in reverse of removal.

Installation of OS X 10.6.2 takes 30mins

Finish and enjoy laptop!

[Levi]

It looks like the faster smaller drive is GREEN.

They are both rated at DC+5V but amperage draw is more on the Apple 500Gb HDD.  That's 1.0A (Apple) vs .62A Seagate.    Heat or noise not evident.



Thanks for looking.  I hope that you enjoyed my small hard drive project as much as I did.  You can substitute whatever size and speed hard drive you wish!

[Mariusz]

cool !!! nicely done Levi.

[lonewolfny42]

cool !!! nicely done Levi.

+1 .....

I hope that the Seagate is a dependable hard drive....

[Levi]

Thanks guys!

That is what I was thinking (reliability vs performance).  I still have the original 500Gb hdd with the OS X installed.  It makes for a great backup! 

[Pez]

Nice post levi. I have replaced the hard drive on my older MBP. The unibody looks like a walk in the park compared to the old ones. They required the user to take everything including the keyboard out. 

[Levi]

I know, the older MBP is a pain to replace the HDD.  I think it voids warranty as well.

Most pc laptops are easy to upgrade.

The remarkable findings for me is that I have increased the battery life of my MacBook Pro.  The smaller faster HDD consumes less amperage! 

[Levi]

Talking about thread revival. 

I installed Windows 7 in my MBP for the best of both worlds.