Hard Drive Upgrade Option MBP 13

[ov10mech]

I currently have a 5400 RPM drive in my unit. Its not performing well enough to host a virtual machine with Fusion to my satisfaction. I called the local Apple Store asking for a quote on upgrading to a 7200 and she said this was not possible and the drive size/type has to be picked at time of order.

I have been working with computers for about 17 years and have never heard anything so odd in my life. Anyway.. I have a couple of questions.

1. Is it true I cannot pay apple to upgrade the drive to SSD or 7200 and stay in warranty?

2. If I do it myself are they going void my apple care even if the problem has nothing to do with the hard drive?

3. Any way of getting around them knowing what i did here.. Even if I have to replace the original drive back in it in the event I have to take it in?

 

[ThemacNub]

Apple allows the user to chnage thr harddrive and ram. Do not worry this will not void your waranty. I would opt for a ssd and optibay hdd, however if you cant afford that route a 7200rpm 750gb hdd can be had for a much lower price. I dont think that the harddrive is whats slowing you down when doing virtualizations but your ram, i reccomend you upgrade that to 8gb from corsair or crucial (from newegg) and see if that fixes the slowness. Can you launch Activity Monitor and tell me your page in/outs numbers so we can eliminate certain factors.

 

[CWallace]

I have an MBP 13" and HDD replacement is very easy and there are no seals or anything you need to break, so you can always put the old drive back in if you need warranty work and Apple will be none the wiser.

I started with a Seagate Momentus 750GB and then went to the Seagate Momentus XT 500GB because the integrated 4GB SDD is nice for performance. My MBP is a secondary machine so I tend to do the same things with it and the SDD caches that data, so it improves speed.

 

[Danindub]

I would recommend either go for Momentus XT 500 GB, it's 7200 RPM but the SSD part makes huge difference for OS and apps startup time.

If you need more storage, I would strongly recommend the latest 1 TB from WD (WD10JPVT). Thanks to extremely high density of data, even though it spins at 5400 RPM, still offers performance higher than most 7200 RPM disk, at lower power usage and noise.

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-2.5-mobile-hard-drive-charts/Mobile-Performance,1138.html

 

[Naimfan]

In order:

1. Apple will generally not upgrade a machine once it is sold.

2. You will NOT void your warranty by replacing the hard drive yourself. Note that the "optibay" mod DOES void your warranty as it constitutes an unauthorized modification.

3. Because of the answer to #2, you don't have to worry about Apple finding out that you upgraded the hard drive yourself.

In terms of upgrading a 13", I would avoid the Momentus XT. I've tried three of them, and all of them have created excessive amounts of vibration in the laptop - it feels like there is an electrical current running through it. If you need a 7200 RPM drive, the only one I've found (and I've tried just about all of them) to not create excessive vibration is the Hitachi 750 GB 7200 RPM drive.

 

[dusk007]

2. You will NOT void your warranty by replacing the hard drive yourself. Note that the "optibay" mod DOES void your warranty as it constitutes an unauthorized modification.
3. Because of the answer to #2, you don't have to worry about Apple finding out that you upgraded the hard drive yourself.

As there is no seal you have to break for an optibay mod, that voids your warranty only in theory but not in practice (if you are smart about it and undo it before sending in).

HDD and RAM (and usually batteries) are considered user replaceable parts by all Notebook & Computer companies and have always been.

 

[Naimfan]

As there is no seal you have to break for an optibay mod, that voids your warranty only in theory but not in practice (if you are smart about it and undo it before sending in).

HDD and RAM (and usually batteries) are considered user replaceable parts by all Notebook & Computer companies and have always been.

With respect:

While it's true re seal, if you leave the optibay in and request service, Apple will void the warranty for the machine. And to do what you suggest is, bluntly, dishonest.

The HDD was NOT considered a "user replaceable" part on non-unibody Macbook Pros, hence your statement is incorrect.

 

[alust2013]

I would never suggest paying apple to do a hard drive or RAM upgrade on a MBP. It's really easy to do yourself and costs maybe a third of what apple would charge you. Apple also refuses to install 7200 RPM disks in the 13" models, for whatever reason, likely vibration. I have a 7200 RPM drive in mine, and it works great, albeit with a slight increase in noise and vibration.