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Optibay/HDD questions

T

The General

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jul 7, 2006
4,825
1
Guh, okay, I've been scouring the Internet for definitive answers and have failed to find any. Everyone seems to know what they're talking about, but all of the data is conflicting.



Please, someone answer these questions:

1. 15" Unibody MacBook Pros have this height of optical drive:
a. 12.7mm​
b. 12.5mm​
c. 9.5mm​
d. None of the above. (Provide correct answer.)​



2. The maximum height of hard drive a 15" Unibody Macbook Pro can accept in the hard drive bay is:
a. 12.7mm​
b. 12.5mm​
c. 9.5mm​
d. None of the above. (Provide correct answer.)​



3. The maximum height of hard drive a 15" Unibody Macbook Pro can accept in the optical bay is:
a. 12.7mm​
b. 12.5mm​
c. 9.5mm​
d. None of the above. (Provide correct answer.)​



4. The optibay required to put a 12.5mm hard drive into the optical bay on a 15" Unibody MacBook Pro is:
e. None of the above. (Provide correct answer.)​



Thanks for spoon feeding me.
 
The General said:
Guh, okay, I've been scouring the Internet for definitive answers and have failed to find any. Everyone seems to know what they're talking about, but all of the data is conflicting.



Please, someone answer these questions:

1. 15" Unibody MacBook Pros have this height of optical drive:
a. 12.7mm​
b. 12.5mm​
c. 9.5mm​
d. None of the above. (Provide correct answer.)​



2. The maximum height of hard drive a 15" Unibody Macbook Pro can accept in the hard drive bay is:
a. 12.7mm​
b. 12.5mm​
c. 9.5mm​
d. None of the above. (Provide correct answer.)​



3. The maximum height of hard drive a 15" Unibody Macbook Pro can accept in the optical bay is:
a. 12.7mm​
b. 12.5mm​
c. 9.5mm​
d. None of the above. (Provide correct answer.)​



4. The optibay required to put a 12.5mm hard drive into the optical bay on a 15" Unibody MacBook Pro is:
e. None of the above. (Provide correct answer.)​



Thanks for spoon feeding me.
Click to expand...

i always heard: "When in doubt, pick 'C'."
 
rjt1000 said:
Check this thread, you should find your answers there:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/680228/
Click to expand...

"NON Unibody Macbook : 9.5MM Only
NON Unibody Macbook pro 15" : 9.5MM Only
NON Unibody Macbook pro 17" : 9.5MM + 12.5MM
Unibody Macbook : NO DATA (Believe only 9.5MM)
Unibody Macbook pro 13" : 9.5MM + 12.MM
Unibody Macbook pro 15" : 9.5MM + 12.MM
Unibody Macbook pro 17" : 9.5MM + 12.MM"

Great, now I know I can support "12.MM" drives. Reading further into that thread, I've learned that 15" uMBPs have 9.5mm optical drives, which are the "industry standard". Also, I've learned that it has a 12.5mm drive. Also, I've learned that it has a 12.7mm drive. Also, I've learned that it uses a "slimmer" drive, but not a 9.5mm or a 12.5mm or a 12.7mm.

Cool...
 
The General said:
Right, that's 9.5mm tall and accepts 9.5mm harddrives, but that can't be the largest that will fit in there, because I've read posts where people fit 12.5mm harddrives in their optibay.

You seem pretty sure about 9.5mm, though. I sure wish someone had real answers.
Click to expand...

I've had it in my machine for the last week.
 
The General said:
Right, that's 9.5mm tall and accepts 9.5mm harddrives, but that can't be the largest that will fit in there, because I've read posts where people fit 12.7mm harddrives in their optibay.

You seem pretty sure about 9.5mm, though. I sure wish someone had real answers.
Click to expand...

In the current MBP, the normal HD bay can accept a 12.7mm drive. However, the optical bay can only accept a 9.5mm drive. So you can have a 12.7mm HD, but not in the Optibay.

If you want to use one (such as a 1TB drive) for storage, then that will have to go in the original HD bay. A faster 9.5mm drive (like any SSD) can go in the Optibay and be selected as the start-up drive.

Personally, I think this set-up makes the most sense, since I would trust the original drive bay to hold the drive still (reduce vibration) more than the Optibay, which is aftermarket. An SSD, with no rotating medium, is better protected against any movement/shock/vibration that the aftermarket mount allows.

Cheers!
 
idea_hamster said:
In the current MBP, the normal HD bay can accept a 12.7mm drive. However, the optical bay can only accept a 9.5mm drive. So you can have a 12.7mm HD, but not in the Optibay.

If you want to use one (such as a 1TB drive) for storage, then that will have to go in the original HD bay. A faster 9.5mm drive (like any SSD) can go in the Optibay and be selected as the start-up drive.

Personally, I think this set-up makes the most sense, since I would trust the original drive bay to hold the drive still (reduce vibration) more than the Optibay, which is aftermarket. An SSD, with no rotating medium, is better protected against any movement/shock/vibration that the aftermarket mount allows.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

I have yet to find a 12.7mm hard drive. They are all 9.5 or 12.5mm.

You know what? I'm just going to open my laptop and take the optical drive out and measure the damn thing. I know the 12.5mm drives fit in the hard drive bay, I just need to know if I can fit a 1TB, 12.5mm drive in the optical bay. If the optical drive that comes with the computer is shorter than that, I'm going to assume that means I can't.

Then I'll just put the SSD in the optibay and the 1TB in the HD bay like you say.
 
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