I'm approaching 7 months now for my ibook and was starting to get worried abotu it's harddrive life. On my old HP notebook, the harddrive would die once a year. I haven't left my ibook on 24/7 like I did my HP but I still leave it on a lot. How long have you other ibook users had your original harddrive for?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
How long did your ibook harddrive last for?
- Thread starter WillMak
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I've had 5 hard drive replacements in as many years and 1 optical drive replaced for my 2 iBooks.
I bought my first Apple machine back in November 2003, an iBook. The hard drive in this machine is still running fine.
WillMak said:
Remember folks, Apple doesn't make the HDs.
But I'll bet it is the Fujistu drives that are crapping out on people faster than the Toshibas or Hitachis.
Mine's a year and a half old and still soldiering on. As California says, the hard drive is not Appleware per se. 
My PowerBook drive lasted just under 1.5 years. I think anything over a year is actually pretty good for a laptop drive especially since I use my laptop for long periods of time every single day.
Also, I'm not particuarly careful about not moving it when it's on. I'll pick it up and move it from the desk and sit it on my knee on the couch without closing the lid. I'm sure if everyone kept their laptops completely stationary when they were on then laptop drive lives would be much longer on average.
If you are worried about a hard-drive failing (and even if you aren't worried) the smartest thing you can do is make sure you make regular backups. I recommend something that does it completely automatically or else you'll do it once or twice then forget about it.
I used to use deja-vu (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/dejavu.html) to do daily backups over the network and then I switched to having my mac mini set up as a server with the pbook having a mobile home linked to it. This means the pbook backs up any changed files every 20 minutes. Both these techniques happen completely in the background so you are never bothered with anything and you have a very recent backup at all times.
Also, I'm not particuarly careful about not moving it when it's on. I'll pick it up and move it from the desk and sit it on my knee on the couch without closing the lid. I'm sure if everyone kept their laptops completely stationary when they were on then laptop drive lives would be much longer on average.
If you are worried about a hard-drive failing (and even if you aren't worried) the smartest thing you can do is make sure you make regular backups. I recommend something that does it completely automatically or else you'll do it once or twice then forget about it.
I used to use deja-vu (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/dejavu.html) to do daily backups over the network and then I switched to having my mac mini set up as a server with the pbook having a mobile home linked to it. This means the pbook backs up any changed files every 20 minutes. Both these techniques happen completely in the background so you are never bothered with anything and you have a very recent backup at all times.
26 month old iBook. Never had any problems with it. (It's used to make some "clicking" noises, which had me worried, but has actually stopped doing that, which I'm not sure if is a good sign or something that should make me really worried).
Actually I've never had any problems with the original hard drives in any of my (or my girlfriend's) Macs. I had one 3rd party HD that I bought and installed in my Pismo go bad, but even that worked well enough that I could take a complete backup before I returned it (after a year!) and got a new one.
I do consider myself very lucky in the HD department, though, and I'm pretty good at keeping current backups...
Actually I've never had any problems with the original hard drives in any of my (or my girlfriend's) Macs. I had one 3rd party HD that I bought and installed in my Pismo go bad, but even that worked well enough that I could take a complete backup before I returned it (after a year!) and got a new one.
I do consider myself very lucky in the HD department, though, and I'm pretty good at keeping current backups...
My original hard drive lasted about 21 months before it started reporting SMART failures. It never actually caused any problems, but I replaced it just to be safe.
Mitthrawnuruodo said:
This is the same case for me, however around the 1-year mark the hard drive died one day and wouldn't start up. I was soooo upset. After doing hardware test it said it was the HD so I was bummed... it was just after the 1 year warranty. So, I turned it off.... stayed off of it for a couple hours, came back later and it magically worked. I was pretty happy to say the least. I backed up everything since then and the same problem has never occured. SMART status is still verified.
My powerbook drive is almost 4yo. Still working. Quite the trooper. I will also point out that I am pretty hard on it. Use it with Maya, AE, Creative suite, etc...
My CD burner seems to be waning though. Im hoping for my pb to last until at least june so I can get an intel machine.
My CD burner seems to be waning though. Im hoping for my pb to last until at least june so I can get an intel machine.
I've had my 12" PB for 2 years and 3-4 months now, and after reading this thread, I'm getting a bit scared of losing everything.
Well then listen to the doctor...Abstract said:I've had my 12" PB for 2 years and 3-4 months now, and after reading this thread, I'm getting a bit scared of losing everything.
4.5 year old iBook, 1.5 year old iBook, 1 year old PowerBook...all still running fine. You mean hard drives can crash?
Ashapalan said:
Yes except PowerBooks usually have higher capacities. But they are the same physical size and made by the same manufacturers and you can take the hard-drive out of an iBook and swap it with one from a PowerBook no problem.
So yes, they are the same.
This 1Ghz ibook was my first laptop and in less than a year's time my iBook was making some crazy noises due to the hard drive. I have not even used it all that much and I find it a little dissapointing. Heat and vibration I know can reduce the lifespan of a drive but the thing is I hardly ever move it (usually sits on a table) and the room it sits in is usually well cooled. I considered swapping it for another hard drive but didn't end up doing it... yet anyway.
On my PC I have a WD 74GB Raptor which has a 5 year warranty and that has been performing great. I've owned many hard drives (almost all Western Digital) and I never had a problem with any of them. So basically i figure that either it was bad luck that I ended up with a weak drive, toshiba drives are not that great or laptop drives in general are not very reliable.
Then again if drive failure is especially common on apple laptops maybe it has something to do with the design or other laptop componants. I don't really know but no drive should fail in one year... I personally think every hard drive should have a minimum 3 year warranty and I'd prefer something more like 5 years such as the one my WD Raptor carries.
On my PC I have a WD 74GB Raptor which has a 5 year warranty and that has been performing great. I've owned many hard drives (almost all Western Digital) and I never had a problem with any of them. So basically i figure that either it was bad luck that I ended up with a weak drive, toshiba drives are not that great or laptop drives in general are not very reliable.
Then again if drive failure is especially common on apple laptops maybe it has something to do with the design or other laptop componants. I don't really know but no drive should fail in one year... I personally think every hard drive should have a minimum 3 year warranty and I'd prefer something more like 5 years such as the one my WD Raptor carries.
dude! y r u trying to scare me with this thread....talking about hard drive dying....***walks off biting nails***
Bless
Bless