Advice on installing SSD to a brand new MacBook

[Trj]

I've tried to read through but I haven't found exactly what I'm after so a little help would be greatly appreciated.

I just purchased a 2011 macbook pro 13" refurb and I ordered a SSD drive to install - What I would like to do is install the SSD right from the start ( they are both still shipping) so I haven't even powered this computer on yet.

What is the process to do a clean install from a brand new macbook to the SSD....do I have start the macbook up first and make a copy of lion etc...any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[T5BRICK]

You can access internet recovery by holding down command + R when you turn on the computer.

 

[richnyc]

Besides the T5BRICK's link, the post and thread below was useful for me, too

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

I first tried to clone my HDD with the SuperDuper! software but was getting some errors after taking out my HDD and replacing it with a cloned Samsung 830 SSD. Using disk utility I was prompted to repair the SSD disk which I did but my boot up times were nothing to brag about, the start up felt really sluggish.

So, I decided to give it a try with the internet recovery since my MBP was new and I didn't have much data and software on it anyway... The clean was much better, after the install the boot up times were a lot faster, too

 

[T5BRICK]

this post and thread was useful for me

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

There is a lot of good info in that thread, but most of it is unnecessary if you're putting a SSD into a brand new computer. Just install the OS on the new drive and go.

 

[Trj]

You can access internet recovery by holding down command + R when you turn on the computer.

So I can install the SSD before I've even powered the new computer on and follow the command + R ?

 

[T5BRICK]

So I can install the SSD before I've even powered the new computer on and follow the command + R ?

That is correct. You may want to plug the computer into Ethernet to avoid any wifi issues(Internet recovery doesn't work on a WEP secured network, but it should work on unsecured networks and certain types of WPA secured networks).

 

[richnyc]

There is a lot of good info in that thread, but most of it is unnecessary if you're putting a SSD into a brand new computer. Just install the OS on the new drive and go.

Yep, I edited my post above... Definitely, the fresh install through the OS X internet recovery was a better experience, even if it took me a little longer...

 

[Trj]

appreciate the help!