Getting to the MBP's guts

[Steve.P.JobsFan]

I'm considering getting a 15" MBP with the High Res display either in January, or waiting for the new models. I know that the battery is now built into the system. Can you still get into the machine and upgrade the RAM, and do other things like you could before?

 

[Orlandoech]

Yes you can.

I upgraded my RAM, replaced my HDD for a SSD and put my HDD in the Optibay which I removed the Optical drive. I put the Optical Drive in a USB enclosure.

You could even replace the battery if needed.

 

[heisenberg123]

I'm considering getting a 15" MBP with the High Res display either in January, or waiting for the new models. I know that the battery is now built into the system. Can you still get into the machine and upgrade the RAM, and do other things like you could before?

yes the enitre bottom is one pannel that comes off and you can access, the battery, the Ram, the hard drive and the optical drive all easily


the Ram and the hard drive are the only 2 things that can be changed by the user without voiding the warranty

 

[Steve.P.JobsFan]

Can you explain this whole optibay thing? Let me see if I understand this. Since the SuperDrive also uses a SATA connection, you can disconnect and remove your SuperDrive, and put another hard drive in place of it?

 

[sweetbrat]

the Ram and the hard drive are the only 2 things that can be changed by the user without voiding the warranty

^^^ This. Note the without voiding the warranty part. Not sure what kind of tinkering you want to do, but you definitely don't want to do anything to void your warranty shortly after you purchase your MBP.

 

[heisenberg123]

Can you explain this whole optibay thing? Let me see if I understand this. Since the SuperDrive also uses a SATA connection, you can disconnect and remove your SuperDrive, and put another hard drive in place of it?

yup, exactly think of it as a metal holster for a 2nd hard drive thats the same shape as the optical drive, and yes like you think uses the same SATA connector that the optical drive uses

 

[Steve.P.JobsFan]

^^^ This. Note the without voiding the warranty part. Not sure what kind of tinkering you want to do, but you definitely don't want to do anything to void your warranty shortly after you purchase your MBP.

I love to tinker, but I'm not going to tinker with a $1800 MacBook. I can guarantee you I'm getting under the hood of it, but just for a RAM upgrade. If SSD's go down in price, I might get one.