memory for internal HD

[cindyjj]

My Macbook Pro purchsed in 2011 has only about 25 GB of storage left so I need to either increase the storage or replace the hard drive. I'd kinda rather keep the hard drive it has so I can access all of my files and not have to move them back into the new hard drive. How do I go about this? Can I add to the memory (which is currently 500 GB) or do I have to replace with a 1 TB or larger? Where do I get the hard drive and what brand should I purchase?

 

[kevink2]

I've seen many people who have put in a kit that replaces the DVD drive with an additional drive.

 

[snaky69]

My Macbook Pro purchsed in 2011 has only about 25 GB of storage left so I need to either increase the storage or replace the hard drive. I'd kinda rather keep the hard drive it has so I can access all of my files and not have to move them back into the new hard drive. How do I go about this? Can I add to the memory (which is currently 500 GB) or do I have to replace with a 1 TB or larger? Where do I get the hard drive and what brand should I purchase?

You cannot increase storage without replacing the hard drive. You cannot wish a hard drive into becoming bigger. What you're asking is impossible.

Changing a hard drive is a pretty fast and painless process, and cloning your current drive to a larger one is easy and pretty quick.

 

[CoastalOR]

My Macbook Pro purchsed in 2011 has only about 25 GB of storage left so I need to either increase the storage or replace the hard drive. I'd kinda rather keep the hard drive it has so I can access all of my files and not have to move them back into the new hard drive. How do I go about this? Can I add to the memory (which is currently 500 GB) or do I have to replace with a 1 TB or larger? Where do I get the hard drive and what brand should I purchase?

If you want to replace the internal HD you will need a 2.5" SATA drive.
Since you did not provide specific information on your MBP (early or late 2011, 13" or 15"), I can not provide specific reference links.

Here are some links where you can input details about your MBP to get recommendations from the site:
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/

This site can show instructions on how to replace the internal HD:
https://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook_Pro

It is not hard to replace the internal HD. I did it in my late 2011 15" MBP. Do your research, get the right tools, and take your time.

 

[cindyjj]

You cannot increase storage without replacing the hard drive. You cannot wish a hard drive into becoming bigger. What you're asking is impossible.

Changing a hard drive is a pretty fast and painless process, and cloning your current drive to a larger one is easy and pretty quick.

Thank you, that was helpful. Can you explain how to replace it and how to clone the current one to the new one?

 

[cindyjj]

If you want to replace the internal HD you will need a 2.5" SATA drive.
Since you did not provide specific information on your MBP (early or late 2011, 13" or 15"), I can not provide specific reference links.

Here are some links where you can input details about your MBP to get recommendations from the site:
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/

This site can show instructions on how to replace the internal HD:
https://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook_Pro

It is not hard to replace the internal HD. I did it in my late 2011 15" MBP. Do your research, get the right tools, and take your time.

I purchased it at Staples in November, 2011. It is 13" Macbook Pro

 

[cindyjj]

I purchased it at Staples in November, 2011. It is 13" Macbook Pro

 

[cindyjj]

If you want to replace the internal HD you will need a 2.5" SATA drive.
Since you did not provide specific information on your MBP (early or late 2011, 13" or 15"), I can not provide specific reference links.

Here are some links where you can input details about your MBP to get recommendations from the site:
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/

This site can show instructions on how to replace the internal HD:
https://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook_Pro

It is not hard to replace the internal HD. I did it in my late 2011 15" MBP. Do your research, get the right tools, and take your time.

How about any of these?









Pretty much all I can find locally where I live.

 

[cindyjj]

How important is "buffer size?" Is 8 MB adequate?

 

[CoastalOR]

You have a Late 2011 13" MBP (MacBookPro8,1).
Here are some specific links:
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?sort=pop&model=438&type=InternalDrives
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Late+2011+Hard+Drive+Replacement/7656

 

[CoastalOR]

Most of the drives you listed will not work because they are 3.5".
Remember you need 2.5", the 3.5" drives will NOT fit in your computer.
8 MB is adequate.

 

[austinpike]

Taking a step back, are you doing any kind of backup, or is everything you digitally own on your macbook? The absolute simplest thing to do would be to get an external drive and move some of the stuff you don't need with you at all times over to that.

If you want to add internal storage and would rather not disturb your existing hard drive, replacing the DVD drive with a second hard drive would be the most straightforward solution. But that process is more involved than swapping the hard drive, so that might not be for you if you are already hesitant about opening your mac. You would need to buy any 2.5" drive along with the caddy linked below.

hard drive caddy at OWC --- dvd drive replacement at iFixit
_______________________________
If you want to go ahead with replacing your existing drive, the best option would be an SSD which would speed up your machine considerably. But those are expensive in 1TB sizes. --- Crucial 1TB SSD at Amazon

For a typical hard drive replacement, if you don't care about speed as much, I would just get a 2TB drive which should last you quite awhile. --- Samsung 2TB at Amazon.

For a 1TB I would get this Seagate hybrid, which has 8GB of flash memory, so it works somewhat like an SSD - it will learn and store your most-used files on the flash memory portion. But any 2.5" 1TB drive should work.
_______________________________
You can get any cheap 2.5" USB enclosure to use for cloning - this tool-free one looks pretty simple and slick. Put the new drive in the enclosure, clone over your existing drive, then do the swap. Note this will take awhile as you only have USB 2.0 ports on your macbook. Carbon Copy Cloner is what most people seem to like for this.

The best solution for your particular machine would be an enclosure that includes Firewire. These are a little harder to find, but here is a very cheap Acomdata on Amazon. For that one you will also need a Firewire 400 to 800 cable to attach from the drive to your Macbook. This will be much faster than USB 2, and also allows you to boot from it, so you can verify that the clone worked before you open up your macbook to swap the drives.

 

[cindyjj]

Taking a step back, are you doing any kind of backup, or is everything you digitally own on your macbook? The absolute simplest thing to do would be to get an external drive and move some of the stuff you don't need with you at all times over to that.

If you want to add internal storage and would rather not disturb your existing hard drive, replacing the DVD drive with a second hard drive would be the most straightforward solution. But that process is more involved than swapping the hard drive, so that might not be for you if you are already hesitant about opening your mac. You would need to buy any 2.5" drive along with the caddy linked below.

hard drive caddy at OWC --- dvd drive replacement at iFixit
_______________________________
If you want to go ahead with replacing your existing drive, the best option would be an SSD which would speed up your machine considerably. But those are expensive in 1TB sizes. --- Crucial 1TB SSD at Amazon

For a typical hard drive replacement, if you don't care about speed as much, I would just get a 2TB drive which should last you quite awhile. --- Samsung 2TB at Amazon.

For a 1TB I would get this Seagate hybrid, which has 8GB of flash memory, so it works somewhat like an SSD - it will learn and store your most-used files on the flash memory portion. But any 2.5" 1TB drive should work.
_______________________________
You can get any cheap 2.5" USB enclosure to use for cloning - this tool-free one looks pretty simple and slick. Put the new drive in the enclosure, clone over your existing drive, then do the swap. Note this will take awhile as you only have USB 2.0 ports on your macbook. Carbon Copy Cloner is what most people seem to like for this.

The best solution for your particular machine would be an enclosure that includes Firewire. These are a little harder to find, but here is a very cheap Acomdata on Amazon. For that one you will also need a Firewire 400 to 800 cable to attach from the drive to your Macbook. This will be much faster than USB 2, and also allows you to boot from it, so you can verify that the clone worked before you open up your macbook to swap the drives.

Thanks.