Macbook-New Hard Drive voids warranty

Any 2.5" SATA drive should work.

If you take out the stock drive and put it to one side and then replace it with say a 160GB 7200rpm Seagate(i think they exist) then when trouble comes re-install the drive Apple won't know right?

I'm quite tempted by a MB and big internal harddrive is a feature that might tip the balance.

johnjeffrey said:

so I called up Apple and they said that using any other hard-drive besides the one provided in the new Macbook's will void the warranty--that is, unless a certified service center did the switch....

so my questions are..

1) is this true? isn't one of the nice new points of this new machine the ability to easily swap out the harddrive?

2) can the HD go beyond 120 is you get let's say just any serial ata drive...will that work, forgetting anything concerning the warranty?

was anyone else planning on getting the machine then putting in a different hard-drive?

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1. If they said so, then it's true.
2. Basically, you should put any SATA drive in there. The system can easily handle 500GB external sata drive, so you should be able to do it easily.

Oded S.

Yeah, the limiting factor for drive logical size is going to be the drive's physical size -- 2.5" SATA drives aren't available at sizes much larger than 120GB at present, are they (I think there is a 160, but it's very expensive)? The 3.5" SATA drives are available in large sizes, of course, but the limit is on what fits in a 2.5" drive.

But as soon as one is, then boom. Boom goes your warranty but also your storage space.

I was under the impression that under the Moss-Magnuson (or whatever it is) law, a warranty can't be voided by a user upgrade unless that upgrade can be specifically pinpointed as being responsible for the part that broke. IE. if your screen goes dead, they can't deny warranty based on an upgraded HD.

Of course, it's on you to fight that out with them if they do decide to deny coverage, which is a whole other story, but...

WildCowboy said:

It's interesting that something they've made so easy for a user to replace voids the warranty...AppleInsider says that swapping in a new hard drive is almost as easy as adding RAM.

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Judging from the pictures of the disassembly of a MacBook going around, it's more like swapping an Airport extreme card in a 12" Powerbook, which is even easier than installing RAM imo. Really don't understand if it would void the warranty.

What's the extra cost of taking it to a certified Apple tech?

munckee said:

I was under the impression that under the Moss-Magnuson (or whatever it is) law, a warranty can't be voided by a user upgrade unless that upgrade can be specifically pinpointed as being responsible for the part that broke. IE. if your screen goes dead, they can't deny warranty based on an upgraded HD.

Of course, it's on you to fight that out with them if they do decide to deny coverage, which is a whole other story, but...

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That is exactly true. The only thing that a hard drive would void is the coverage of the hard drive, the new drive (obviously) and the SATA controller. Dell pulled this on me back in October. I ended up winning the fight by having out corporate attorney wright a letter to Michael Dell.

As a safety net, keep the old drive and update it every month.

munckee said:

I was under the impression that under the Moss-Magnuson (or whatever it is) law, a warranty can't be voided by a user upgrade unless that upgrade can be specifically pinpointed as being responsible for the part that broke. IE. if your screen goes dead, they can't deny warranty based on an upgraded HD.

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I'm not 100% sure... they might honor that. But I think that such a law allows a manufacturer to state that an upgrade is or is not user performable. And that logic only applies for something that is documented as user upgradeable... But I'm not 100% sure. Anyone have any links on that law?

I do not believe th Apple will / can void the warranty for that reason - BUNK response IMO.

mkrishnan said:

Yeah, the limiting factor for drive logical size is going to be the drive's physical size -- 2.5" SATA drives aren't available at sizes much larger than 120GB at present, are they (I think there is a 160, but it's very expensive)? The 3.5" SATA drives are available in large sizes, of course, but the limit is on what fits in a 2.5" drive.

But as soon as one is, then boom. Boom goes your warranty but also your storage space.

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The 160GB drives are only $224.99 at New Egg. Not too expensive at all.

well even if it does void the warranty...

it is always there for you to upgrade once it is out of warranty and running great....

think outside the box haha

in most cases the extra 20gb now is not going to be worth the stress imo

Apple Corps said:

I do not believe th Apple will / can void the warranty for that reason - BUNK response IMO.

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It depends on exactly what question was asked. If you ask "if I replace the harddisk in a MacBook with a larger one, and the MacBook stops working, will it be covered by warranty?" then this might be understood as "if the MacBook stops working because I replaced the harddisk", and that would not be covered by warranty. The same question could be understood as "if the MacBook stops working for some completely unrelated reason", and that would be covered.

The way I understood Apple's answer: If a certified service center swaps the harddisk, then it is covered by warranty, even if the technician messes up and kills the MacBook. If you swap the harddisk yourself and mess it up and damage the MacBook, then it is not covered.

Transeau said:

That is exactly true. The only thing that a hard drive would void is the coverage of the hard drive, the new drive (obviously) and the SATA controller. Dell pulled this on me back in October. I ended up winning the fight by having out corporate attorney wright a letter to Michael Dell.

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There might be a problem if the new harddisk needs more power and generates more heat. If a portable computer comes with a manual that says "any harddisk with a power consumption up to 12 Watt", and you add a harddisk that takes 30 Watt, and your computer goes up in flames three months later, you might have lost your coverage.

gnasher729 said:

The way I understood Apple's answer: If a certified service center swaps the harddisk, then it is covered by warranty, even if the technician messes up and kills the MacBook. If you swap the harddisk yourself and mess it up and damage the MacBook, then it is not covered.

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It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few weeks. Surely someone will kill their MacBook trying to swap harddrives. We need a guinea pig.

I just chatted with an apple rep on the education site and he or she said that it doesn't void the warranty catagorically and is no different WRT the warranty as upgrading your RAM.

emaja said:

The 160GB drives are only $224.99 at New Egg. Not too expensive at all.

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Those are PATA drives, not SATA. Currently no 2.5" drive exists on the market that is both SATA and larger than 120GB... trust me, I have looked. :/

Odd that my old Pismo can get a larger HDD than my MBP can.

As for the topic... I would think that Apple would refuse to service the machine if the new HDD failed. They didn't install /that/ HDD, so they won't do work on it. However, if you upgrade the HDD, and the logic board fails, then they will replace the logic board.

Apple Corps said:

I do not believe th Apple will / can void the warranty for that reason - BUNK response IMO.

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If Apple discovers that you have switched the hard drive in iBooks, they could and sometimes would void the entire warranty (according to the Mac Genius I talked to in the Apple Store a few months ago). Macbooks apparently have a hard drive that is much easier to replace, but I'm not surprised if Apple maintained the same policy.

Xeem said:

If Apple discovers that you have switched the hard drive in iBooks, they could and sometimes would void the entire warranty (according to the Mac Genius I talked to in the Apple Store a few months ago). Macbooks apparently have a hard drive that is much easier to replace, but I'm not surprised if Apple maintained the same policy.

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What about switching the old drive back in before it's off to the Apple?

Krevnik said:

Those are PATA drives, not SATA.

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Thanks for the catch. I overlooked that.

Could have been a costly mistake.

dialo said:

I just chatted with an apple rep on the education site and he or she said that it doesn't void the warranty catagorically and is no different WRT the warranty as upgrading your RAM.

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Update: I also spoke to someone at the apple store when purchasing my MacBook and they said exactly the same thing that the education store apple rep said: it impacts the warranty exactly as much as upgrading the RAM does, ie, not at all unless the upgrade breaks something else, in which case the only stuff not covered is what was directly damaged by the upgrade.

dialo said:

Update: I also spoke to someone at the apple store when purchasing my MacBook and they said exactly the same thing that the education store apple rep said.

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It seems like, later on, even if you get hassling about this, if you keep your original HD, this upgrade is *so* easy to perform that downgrading will be very easy as well, and no one will be the wiser....

Or you could just tell them that every apple rep you talked to said it doesn't void the warranty, so it's not your problem. In fact, the guy at the store praised how easy it was for a user to upgrade the drive.

If anyone here wants to verify it without going on the phone, go to the online education store and chat with a rep.

The fact is that with all these reps at the point of purchase saying it's not a problem (and even advocating it), they can't later tell you that it voids the warranty.

This warranty does not apply: (a) to damage caused by use with non-Apple products; (b) to damage caused by accident, abuse, misuse, flood, fire, earthquake or other external causes; (c) to damage caused by operating the product outside the permitted or intended uses described by Apple; (d) to damage caused by service (including upgrades and expansions) performed by anyone who is not a representative of Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider; (e) to a product or part that has been modified to significantly alter functionality or capability without the written permission of Apple; (f) to consumable parts, such as batteries, unless damage has occurred due to a defect in materials or workmanship; or (g) if any Apple serial number has been removed or defaced.

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http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/hardware.html


That is the Warranty Agreement Apple has posted and linked from the Macbook Product Page.

If we use this as a guide, it indicates that upgrading the Hard Drive WILL NOT void your warranty. However damage resulting from the upgrade or non-apple part will not be covered by Apple within the warranty period.

So I interpret this as if i put a new hard drive in and the screen does not work down the road, Apple will still honor the warranty and repair the screen. However, if I put a new hard drive in and it immmidiaetly causes the screen to stop working and it is determined that it is a result of using a non-Apple hard drive in the system, than I will be stuck with the repair costs.

It seems fair to me and I am sure Apple will be flexible with this warranty. It looks kto me that there is some sort of mounting tray affixed to the hard drive (dont have a macbook, just saw a video on youtube)... if apple really didnt want you to touch it. They could affix a warranty void if removed sticker onto the hard drive and mounting device.

If you swap, make sure you use an appropriate drive (sata 2.5 inch) and i would even stay within 5400RPM so that it does not have an impact on battery life or power usage. Other than that, I dont see any logical way you could break your macbook by doing this!