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Does replacing HDD void warranty? YES or NO???

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PhaserFuzz

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Dec 12, 2007
485
38
Okay, I've seen many different answers in countless threads and I want to know for real. Does replacing hard drive void warranty in MBP's? If the answer is yes, is there any possible way I can get it swapped while still keeping warranty? Such as having Apple replace it?

Also how easy is it to screw something up when swapping it out yourself? I've seen videos and it looks pretty complicated. The part I'm most concerned about is unhooking the keyboard.

Thanks for any help!
 
YES.

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 (“AASP”); (e) to a product or part that has been modified to 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; (g) to cosmetic damage, including but not limited to scratches, dents and broken plastic on ports, that does not otherwise affect the product’s functionality or materially impair your use; or (h) if any Apple serial number has been removed or defaced.
Click to expand...

Upgrading the hard drive falls under "alter[ing] the functionality or capability", even if you don't break anything doing it.

Of course, if you swap the drive out and put the old one back in if it's going in for service, they shouldn't be able to tell as long as you don't **** anything up. It depends on if you want to take that chance or not.
 
With a 3rd party drive, if the drive is in the diagnostic service tree they may charge you for replacing the drive with a stock unit -- and you pay a huge price for a downgrade

So putting the stock drive back in may be a good idea for service purposes.
 
voids the warranty as far as the hdd goes and any components you would have to "touch" to change the drive. which = pretty much all of the guts inside the computer.
 
Am i the only one reading the above quote as in

any damage that is caused by your upgrade? If there is no damage then there is nothing to worry about. Just be careful when you do it.

nothing scary about taking the keyboard cable off...just pull it off the motherboard...

edit: okay at least someone agrees with me here. It does not void your warranty. Altering capability is not upgrading your HD. Its more on the lines of replacing your superdrive with a HD, or adding a Draft-N card to a first gen Macbook Pro.
 
Haha see what I mean??? Everyone says something different. After I read Apples policy, it appears that it DOES NOT void it. Am I reading it right? So as long as I don't damage anything, the warranty is intact?
 
yes.

Just because apple doesnt make the HD as accessible as the Macbook's does not mean the user can't replace it.

otherwise many macbook users have lost their warranty when they did their own RAM and hard drive upgrade.

the macbook pro hard drive isnt too hard to replace anyhow.
 
PhaserFuzz said:
Okay, I've seen many different answers in countless threads and I want to know for real. Does replacing hard drive void warranty in MBP's? If the answer is yes, is there any possible way I can get it swapped while still keeping warranty? Such as having Apple replace it?

Also how easy is it to screw something up when swapping it out yourself? I've seen videos and it looks pretty complicated. The part I'm most concerned about is unhooking the keyboard.

Thanks for any help!
Click to expand...

I guess if you *uck sh*t up while your trying to change the hdd (which imo is pretty much near impossible to do unless your trying to mess up your mbp on purpose) then yes but if you just change it out and if you need to ship your laptop to apple, you can just stick the original hdd back in and ship it to apple and your fine. I've done it plenty of times with no problems from applecare. :D
 
e12a said:
yes.

Just because apple doesnt make the HD as accessible as the Macbook's does not mean the user can't replace it.

otherwise many macbook users have lost their warranty when they did their own RAM and hard drive upgrade.

the macbook pro hard drive isnt too hard to replace anyhow.
Click to expand...

You are dead wrong.


If I didn't know better, i'd say you are totally making this up. Upgrading memory does NOT void your warranty. Apple even has instructions on how to swap the memory in the included user manual.


as for HDD upgrades: Go for it. It "technically" does void your warranty, but like many others have said, the person repairing your mbp is not going to know. If something is wrong, just put the original drive back in, and they won't know a thing. This is of course an issue of personal morals. To me, its fine. Apple restricts its users way too much and i feel we should have much more control over our components.
 
Something I hate about the MBP. The MacBook you can remove the drive as it can be accessed from within the battery compartment, whereas the MBP you can't. Yes it will void your warrantee, unless you get an Apple service centre to install it for you. I know the Apple Store in the UK charge £70 for this service. If you do replace your HDD yourself, it voids your warrantee and they charge £110 for the service plus hourly charge, the same as water damage.

I have taken m MBP top cover off, to see warrantee seals over the screws below. My friends machine did not though.
 
SimonTheSoundMa said:
Something I hate about the MBP. The MacBook you can remove the drive as it can be accessed from within the battery compartment, whereas the MBP you can't. Yes it will void your warrantee, unless you get an Apple service centre to install it for you. I know the Apple Store in the UK charge £70 for this service. If you do replace your HDD yourself, it voids your warrantee and they charge £110 for the service plus hourly charge, the same as water damage.

I have taken m MBP top cover off, to see warrantee seals over the screws below. My friends machine did not though.
Click to expand...

No it does not void your warranty, unless you screw something up in the process and have to
get it looked at as a result of this. To get over this issue you merely swap back to original parts
 
KT322 said:
There were no warranty seals when I upgraded my 2.4GHz MBP's HD. (Ridiculously easy btw)
Click to expand...

I agree it is ridiculously easy to change the hdd out. I can do it in no longer than 10 minutes, probably 5 minutes if I hurried.
 
If you ask Apple they will tell you it voids the warranty, but if you ask them more, they will tell you they can't tell if you swapped out the HDD or an authorized shop did it unless you tell them.
 
zioxide said:
YES.
Click to expand...

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 (“AASP”); (e) to a product or part that has been modified to 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; (g) to cosmetic damage, including but not limited to scratches, dents and broken plastic on ports, that does not otherwise affect the product’s functionality or materially impair your use; or (h) if any Apple serial number has been removed or defaced.
Click to expand...

zioxide said:
Upgrading the hard drive falls under "alter[ing] the functionality or capability", even if you don't break anything doing it.

Of course, if you swap the drive out and put the old one back in if it's going in for service, they shouldn't be able to tell as long as you don't **** anything up. It depends on if you want to take that chance or not.
Click to expand...


Funny this...
i wrote on various threads that changing the HD would void the apple warranty (technically). Yet a whole load of MR users bit my bloody head off, stating it doesn't void the warranty cause they've check with some apple sale guy... what the **** does a sales guy know?

noobs... know best huh! :rolleyes:

my advice...
Change it if you want, peeps here can't and most probably won't warranty your machine
if or should Apple discoverers your machine been opened before...
i.e. do it at your own risk, your an adult, right?


excuse me for ranting...
 
It does not void your warranty as long as you don't damage anything else. The hard drive you put in can't be warranted but everything else is still fine as long as you didn't snap a ribbon cable or something just be careful if you do it. Its not that bad.
 
So let's see, if I buy a HD for my MBP, and I bring it to an authorized repair center and have them replace the HD, that voids the warranty as well?

What would be the difference if I did it that way or if I replaced the HD myself? As long as I didn't damage anything, how would Apple or anyone else know who upgraded the drive?

And even if there is a problem, I could always put the old HD back in before being services, as there's no way Apple could know it's been opened unless something was broken inside.
 
tmoney468 said:
So let's see, if I buy a HD for my MBP, and I bring it to an authorized repair center and have them replace the HD, that voids the warranty as well?

What would be the difference if I did it that way or if I replaced the HD myself? As long as I didn't damage anything, how would Apple or anyone else know who upgraded the drive?

And even if there is a problem, I could always put the old HD back in before being services, as there's no way Apple could know it's been opened unless something was broken inside.
Click to expand...

Apparently so...

However, iMac Users with the glass systems ain't so lucky.. Apple started putting warranty stickers on certain parts of the iMac, though I think it related to swapping out the CPU.... guess it'll take a little time to filter through to the other systems. OMG - let hope that doesn't happen.


But seriously though...
How hard is it to change a HD?
Not heard anyone killing their machines yet...
 
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