Swap 2010 MBP HDD into 2011MBP

[djpuma]

I recently purchased a 2011 Early 2.3Ghz 15" Macbook Pro.

I'd like to know if I can just pull my hard drive out of my 2010 17" and swap the drives?

I have a backup with superduper and I could go the migration assistant route (unsure if you can use that with a superduper backup)

I'm just wondering if this can be done and is it even worth trying.
Thanks

 

[AFPoster]

They should be the same size so yes it's possible.

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

yeah it will work, but obviously you are going to be stuck with whatever capacity you had on your 2010 (whether that be the same, more, or less than the 2011)

You also will have whatever OS was on the 2010 model (SL unless you upgraded it) whereas your 2011 may have Lion on it depending on when you purchased.

 

[djpuma]

I'm fine with the size I've already swapped it out twice.
I just don't want to go through the hoops of copying everything over, making sure all apps are installed,activated, etc.

It's running lion and I'm assuming the used one I got (in the mail) has snow leopard on it.

I just don't want any problems that have to do with the OS.
I'm thinking from a windows perspective where all the drivers get messed up if you try to swap a hard drive from an old to new computer

 

[xxBURT0Nxx]

no you should be fine. As long as the capacity is good and Lion is already installed just throw it in the new machine and you'll be up and running with all of the same apps and settings in no time.

 

[djpuma]

Cool.

Thanks

 

[Mojo1]

Just use Migration Assistant to transfer everything from the old drive to the new drive. I have done this numerous times and 99%+ is transferred; the only things that sometimes don't make the trip successfully are some preference settings and the like.

You can use MA to migrate data directly from the old Mac or your SD! clone.

At most after using MA I will spend 30 minutes getting things perfect. Most of the time MA moves everything and the new drive looks and operates just like the old drive right from the first boot-up after the data transfer.

Of course, if the Macs have different operating systems you should make sure that your old Mac software is updated to ensure compatibility with the new OS.

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

The only issue you may run into is if you have professional apps, they may need to be reactivated as the activation key is tied to the hardware. So, for example, when I did something similar I had to reactive my Adobe apps, and re-enter the serial number for Final Cut.

 

[djpuma]

Old one is on Lion and new one presumably is on Snow Leopard.
I really want to use my 500gb 7200rpm vs the 750gb 5400rpm in the new one.

I could pull out the old drive toss it in the new one, reinstall lion and then use migration assistant as stated earlier.

 

[djpuma]

Ok quick update.

I got the 2011 mbp
It didn't have lion, so here is what I did.

I took out the stock 750 5400rpm and put in my 500 7200rpm drive from my 2010 mbp with lion.

i booted into internet recovery and reinstalled lion.

problem is I didn't use disk utility to wipe the drive, so it booted up and looks just like my old mac.
I want all my data, but I was going to put it all back with migration assistant.

Will reinstalling lion over lion without formatting the drive cause any issues.

Remember it was a 2010 mbp with lion and I essentially put the hdd in the 2011 and did a repair on the os (if possible)

Thanks