Can I simply swap SSD from one MBP to another?

[theMouthPiece]

OK, given the amount of disc swapping and updating I have done over this last month I guess I should know the answer to this, but I wanted to get your input on it first.

I have managed to get a replacement Macbook Pro, which I nabbed off my son who is updating his kit to Alienware, and want to know if I can simply swap out the SSD I have recently purchased and installed in my early 2011 MBP i5 machine to the one I have just obtained which is a late 2012 MBP i7 machine.

He has already installed High Sierra on his machine, but I remained on El Capitan. If I am able to simply swap them out, I will be happy to upgrade to High Sierra on my SSD.

Is this just a case of swapping the drives from my old machine to my new one?

Ta

 

[Audit13]

I believe the late 2012 MBP is a retina machine that uses a blade-style SSD. The Early 2011 MBP would use a 2.5" sata drive.

 

[DeltaMac]

Yes, late 2012 MBPro is a retina model. The blade SSD in your 2012 retina will not swap out to an Early 2011.

 

[theMouthPiece]

My mistake folks - it's a mid 2012 MacBook Pro i7.

What I plan on doing now though is to leave the internal HDD drive in the 2012 machine as-is, and install the SSD currently in my early 2011 into the mid 2012 - as the bootable drive to replace the optical drive. I have replaced the optical drive in my 2011 and therefore I have one of the caddies which I will move to the newer machine and replace my older one with the one I remove from the new one.

Phew... that was an awful para!

 

[Audit13]

Yes, it should work since both machines use 2.5" sata drives.

 

[IHelpId10t5]

You need to be careful about missing fireware updates that would have been applied to the laptop when installing High Sierra.

For example, many newer OMC M.2 replacement drives come with a warning message in the box that you MUST upgrade the system to High Sierra first, prior to installing the new drive. I did not believe this and spent an extra several hours proving to myself that reading the instrustions was actually important for once.

 

[Audit13]

The OP will be using regular 2.5" sata drives rather than blade-style m.2 or nvme SSDs so I don't think this applies.