Replacing MBP's hard drive at Apple Store

[almond]

I'm considering upgrading the hard drive on my MBP (Early 2008). The poor thing has 3 GB of free space left but I don't want to carry an external HD everywhere I go.

There's lots of info out there on doing this yourself, but nothing on whether Apple will do it for me. (Yeah, yeah, I could just call them, but you guys are a font of wisdom and advice ) I'd rather not do it myself and void the warranty, seeing as I (unnecessarily?) shelled out for the extra 2 years.

So. Does anyone know if I can get an Apple technician to replace my MBP's hard drive for me? And if so, will it be outrageously expensive, and will I have to buy one of their drives?

 

[MacDawg]

Definitely more expensive than doing it yourself

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[parapup]

Deleted - useless reply!

 

[Ruahrc]

Check to see if doing it yourself actually voids the warranty. On the new ones it doesn't, but I don't remember if the older ones supported it due to the more extensive disassembly required.

Apple won't do it for you, but a 3rd party Apple Authorized service center can. If you don't know of one, talk to one of the geniuses at your Apple store. I asked about this when I was there last and the guy I spoke to told me about a place nearby where they do this kind of thing. Since things like this are sanctioned by Apple, they probably know of a place locally to do it.

You'd probably have to buy the drive from said 3rd party seller and they would install it for a fee and not void the warranty. Chances are the drive will be more expensive than if you bought it yourself from newegg or something, and the installation will cost probably $60-100 (just my guess). Whether or not the price is worth it to you is up to you. Your answer might change depending on the warranty status of replacing the HD yourself in your MBP.

Ruahrc

 

[ryannn]

Hard drives and RAM are "user upgradable" which essentially means doing so won't void your warranty. Although, I do believe if you cause any damage while upgrading the drive they will not cover it. Changing a hard drive is fairly easy, so I really wouldn't be too concerned.

 

[Darth.Titan]

Hard drives on a early 08 MBP are not considered user-serviceable.

Even so, changing the drive yourself will only void your warranty if you screw something up while doing it.

 

[almond]

Thanks, Ruahrc! That's exactly the answer I was looking for.

Hard drives on a early 08 MBP are not considered user-serviceable.

Even so, changing the drive yourself will only void your warranty if you screw something up while doing it.

Thanks, I wasn't sure about that. I've seen some people recommend that if you've changed your hard drive and need to send your MBP in for (unrelated) warranty work, it's best to change it back before you do so.

I'll have to consider whether it's worth the risk to do it myself. I'd be pretty mad at myself if I screwed something up and voided the extra 2 years of warranty I've already paid for. (So much for saving money with AppleCare...)

 

[iLog.Genius]

Apple doesn't do upgrades and you're lucky if you can get a Genius to do one. Upgrading the HDD on an early-2008 MacBook Pro is a bit difficult, but it is doable by anyone but if you are worried, get someone who is comfortable with computers. I could only imagine how much a 3rd Party service provider will charge.

 

[BobbyCarbn]

Pull the how-to from ifixit.com, get some decent tools from sears hardware or home depot and get to replacing. Take your time, take pictures if you need to or video the tear down and have some fun.

In the end you will feel very liberated if you upgrade the laptop yourself. Its a really cool learning experience.

On a side note, my 8 year old will assist in the morning dropping a new Intel X25 Sold State Disk into my new MBP13