Late 08 MBP 15 > June 09 MBP > Hard Drive Swap

[turbineseaplane]

Hi.

Going from a Late 08 Unibody MBP 15 2.53 w/ Snow Leopard to a June 09 Unibody MBP 15 2.8.

I'm planning to literally just put my old hard drive (SSD) into the new laptop.

Will that cause any problems does anyone know?

Other than the processor and some motherboard changes, the computers are basically the same, so it would seem to be a non-issue other than the extra difficulty of opening up the newer cases.

Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[Bill Gates]

It's 100% physically compatible. The only thing that I would be afraid of is the 1.7 firmware issues that seem to be lingering for some. Since they both are running the same build of Snow Leopard, I would expect it to work without any issues.

 

[fehhkk]

Do it, and if you see issues, just do a clean install.

 

[turbineseaplane]

It's 100% physically compatible. The only thing that I would be afraid of is the 1.7 firmware issues that seem to be lingering for some.

Is that different firmware than my Late 08 MBP is running?

 

[Bill Gates]

Is that different firmware than my Late 08 MBP is running?

Yes. Your late '08 MBP shipped with 3Gbps SATA, whereas the mid '09 MBP shipped with 1.5Gbps SATA, which was later changed back to 3Gbps through a firmware update. However, that firmware update has caused issues for many, and some have rolled-back to the older firmware. Search this forum and you will see at least 1 detailed thread on the subject.

 

[Z06jerry]

Hi.

Going from a Late 08 Unibody MBP 15 2.53 w/ Snow Leopard to a June 09 Unibody MBP 15 2.8.

I'm planning to literally just put my old hard drive (SSD) into the new laptop.

Will that cause any problems does anyone know?

Other than the processor and some motherboard changes, the computers are basically the same, so it would seem to be a non-issue other than the extra difficulty of opening up the newer cases.

Thoughts? Thanks!

I'm not sure about your '09 15" MBP but this definitely does not work with the '09 13" MBP models. If the hardware has changed in any way you will need to reinstall the OS after you have swapped the drive from your old MBP.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Smooth so far...

Just wanted to comment that I'm now running a June 2009 MacBook Pro 15", 2.8, with 1.7 firmware and the 120gb OCZ Vertex (1.3 Firmware) and all is moving very very smoothly thus far.

Simply took it out of the Late 08 UMP MBP 15 2.53 and dropped it into the new machine and it's worked flawlessly thus far.

 

[garyd9]

(just in case someone searching finds this thread...)

I had to exchange my "late 2008" 15" unibody MBP (2.4 GHz) for a current model (15" 2.66 GHz unibody MBP.) The seagate 500 GB 7200rpm drive (non G-shock)from the old notebook booted up and worked perfectly in the new one.

The new notebook appears to already have the EFI 1.7 update. It _may_ be significant that my seagate drive is one of those from the initial batch with the original firmware, and I never had any noise or other problems with it...