changing MacBooks - can I just swap HDs?

[djneils98]

I currently have a macbook with an SSD in and i'm about to get a second-hand 2011 macbook pro to replace it. I plan to swap the SSD from the old macbook to the new (to me) macbook pro.
My question is can I just physically swap them and expect everything to still work (installed apps etc) or is there some process I need to follow?

 

[Fishrrman]

It depends.

If the OS installation from the previous MB is still capable of booting the newer MBPro, it will work.

If the OS is "too old", it WON'T work, and you'll have to update the OS...

 

[djneils98]

that's great - so i'm running the latest version of Yosemite on the old machine - should transfer no probs then?

 

[Gav2k]

Yes as above. As long as the machine the drive is going into supports the OS on the drive your putting in it'll be fine.

 

[djneils98]

thanks for taking the time to help

 

[Weaselboy]

My question is can I just physically swap them and expect everything to still work (installed apps etc) or is there some process I need to follow?

As others mentioned, it will work fine. The issue you may have is some apps, notably MS Office and Adobe apps, will see they are on new hardware and you will have to register them.

Once you do the swap and boot up, go to the Startup Disk pane in System Prefs and select the new drive as the boot drive.

 

[Gav2k]

As others mentioned, it will work fine. The issue you may have is some apps, notably MS Office and Adobe apps, will see they are on new hardware and you will have to register them.

Once you do the swap and boot up, go to the Startup Disk pane in System Prefs and select the new drive as the boot drive.

Very good points raised by @Weaselboy. Failure to set the startup disk will give you long boot times.

 

[djneils98]

Very good points raised by @Weaselboy. Failure to set the startup disk will give you long boot times.

thanks to all of you for the tips and help. will post back how it goes