Replacing a hard drive in a Macbook Pro A1502

[Braverutherford]

Hi, I have a Macbook Pro I purchased in 2016. It is a A1502 model built in Q4 of 2015 I believe. It stopped working around 2019 due to it constantly freezing and restarting. This issue persisted even after multiple reformatting and now it won't even get past the boot screen and launching it in safe mode has the same results. I was considering selling it for parts but maybe I was thinking that I could fix it myself if it was not too difficult? as I purchased new for around 2k so it might be worth a try, I know I won't get anywhere near that number now but still, I might get a little and it all helps. I was just wondering if the hard drive (assuming that's the issue) can be easily bought and replaced for this particular model A1502 and what are the steps involved if it's worth doing at all. Let me know. Many thanks - J

 

[barbu]

Look up the procedure on ifixit, it is pretty straightforward. You can do it! Also a good chance to take some canned air and clean out your fans etc.

 

[Audit13]

The a1502 uses a solid state drive with a proprietary connector. The only way to get a replacement would be a used unit. It's easy to replace with the right tools.

Do you have any logs from the restarts or freezing you can post? Sometimes, the logs will contain useful information.

I would not replace the drive right away without eliminating the possibility of defective memory or logic board.

I suggest removing the internal drive, installing macOS onto an external drive and running everything from the external. If the MacBook still crashes, restarts, or freezes, the problem lies somewhere else.

 

[barbu]

Yes the odds of the onboard ssd being the cause are quite low. I’d explore the cleaning route since bad thermals can lead to all kids of slowdowns as the machine tries to protect itself.

 

[Fishrrman]

What happens if you boot to INTERNET recovery?
Command-OPTION-R
at boot.

You'll need your wifi password, and it will take a while for the utilities to load.
Can you get to the "internet utilities" page?

 

[Braverutherford]

What happens if you boot to INTERNET recovery?
Command-OPTION-R
at boot.

You'll need your wifi password, and it will take a while for the utilities to load.
Can you get to the "internet utilities" page?

I waited approximately 30 min and then it comes with an error symbol with the error code "-2003F". I don't believe my internet is sufficient enough to do an internet recovery.

 

[Braverutherford]

The a1502 uses a solid state drive with a proprietary connector. The only way to get a replacement would be a used unit. It's easy to replace with the right tools.

Do you have any logs from the restarts or freezing you can post? Sometimes, the logs will contain useful information.

I would not replace the drive right away without eliminating the possibility of defective memory or logic board.

I suggest removing the internal drive, installing macOS onto an external drive and running everything from the external. If the MacBook still crashes, restarts, or freezes, the problem lies somewhere else.

There are no error logs as it can't even boot as it gets about 80% of the way then goes to black and attempts to restart itself where the same thing happens again. When I used to use this Macbook as the main computer before this issue arose it was constantly crashing whenever I would do mostly anything such as just opening chrome, opening pages etc. and it wasn't a space issue as I managed to successfully reformat at least twice but I ran into the same crashing issues whenever I opened anything and then one day it wouldn't even get past the boot screen and I haven't been able to ever since I just had it set aside since late 2019 early 2020 as I purchased an iMac but it would be great if I could get a few quid for it even if I had to sell it as parts but it would obviously be worth more if I managed to actually fix it but if it ends up more complicated such as an issue with the logic board then that would probably be beyond me and that's when I would just sell it as spares repairs.

 

[Braverutherford]

Yes the odds of the onboard ssd being the cause are quite low. I’d explore the cleaning route since bad thermals can lead to all kids of slowdowns as the machine tries to protect itself.

Might be worth a try with canned air if it may be a cheap fix. I'll give it a go.

 

[Audit13]

There are no error logs as it can't even boot as it gets about 80% of the way then goes to black and attempts to restart itself where the same thing happens again. When I used to use this Macbook as the main computer before this issue arose it was constantly crashing whenever I would do mostly anything such as just opening chrome, opening pages etc. and it wasn't a space issue as I managed to successfully reformat at least twice but I ran into the same crashing issues whenever I opened anything and then one day it wouldn't even get past the boot screen and I haven't been able to ever since I just had it set aside since late 2019 early 2020 as I purchased an iMac but it would be great if I could get a few quid for it even if I had to sell it as parts but it would obviously be worth more if I managed to actually fix it but if it ends up more complicated such as an issue with the logic board then that would probably be beyond me and that's when I would just sell it as spares repairs.

Are you able to take the MacBook at an Apple store?

Booting and using the MacBook from an external drive may help?

Are you able to run the Apple diagnostics: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT202731 ?

 

[Braverutherford]

Are you able to take the MacBook at an Apple store?

Booting and using the MacBook from an external drive may help?

Are you able to run the Apple diagnostics: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT202731 ?

Thanks for the advice, I would probably be able to take it to an apple store but I'm just worried what they are going to quote me and if it's super high I'd be thinking if it would be worth it to just sell as spares repairs plus I'd be paying to travel to an apple store. Yes, I may do the external hard drive test but I don't know much about it. I managed to run an apple diagnostic and it is just saying about the battery needing to be replaced soon.

 

[Audit13]

Thanks for the advice, I would probably be able to take it to an apple store but I'm just worried what they are going to quote me and if it's super high I'd be thinking if it would be worth it to just sell as spares repairs plus I'd be paying to travel to an apple store. Yes, I may do the external hard drive test but I don't know much about it. I managed to run an apple diagnostic and it is just saying about the battery needing to be replaced soon.

Disconnect the battery and then try to boot? It may be super slow because a battery isn't connected but it will help eliminate the battery as an issue too.

Diagnostics are free and you can always go home and consider the results of their disagnosis. They can use their own WiFi to re-install the OS too.