Swapping HDDs between different models of MBP?

[mustgroove]

I have a Mid-2007 MBP... I upgraded it to a 500gb HDD some time ago and I'm currently running 10.6.2.

If I were to buy a new MBP (hopefully a Core i5 one if/when they come out), would it be possible to simply swap the HDD from the old MBP into the new one?

I'm aware that Time Machine and/or imaging products like Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper are ways of achieving the same thing, but I'm interested whether the physical hard drive swap would work in theory.

Has anyone attempted this, and if so, did it definitively work (or not work) for you?

 

[spinnerlys]

MRoogle is a good place to search these forums.

The physical swap will be no problem, but the drivers for your old MBP will not help you running the new MBP.

So a clean install might be better and you can use the Migration Assistant to move your data over.

 

[DoNoHarm]

i had a similar issue when Apple replaced my old macbook pro. i asked the genius and he said that migration assistant was the best choice. If you think about it, this is a program specifically designed to transfer your files. It will probablyt give the best results.

 

[ultraxiv]

Yes, you can move your 500GB HD to a new computer, as long as you're aware of one crucial fact: you must have a version of Mac OS X on that 500GB HD which was released after the new computer came out. In other words, if you bought a new uMBP right now and transferred the HD, you'd be fine, because 10.6.2 came out after this model of the uMBP came out. But if you wait until Apple releases the new uMBP model, you would have to wait until the next Mac OS X update came out, install that update on your current machine, then transfer the HD. This is because only OS dot-updates (10.6.2, 10.6.3, etc.) contain updated drivers, which the new computer will surely need. At the moment, your current computer has all the drivers it needs to run a new uMBP, but that won't be true for a little while after the brand-new ones come out.

Clear as mud?

 

[Habitus]

I have a Mid-2007 MBP... I upgraded it to a 500gb HDD some time ago and I'm currently running 10.6.2.

If I were to buy a new MBP (hopefully a Core i5 one if/when they come out), would it be possible to simply swap the HDD from the old MBP into the new one?

I'm aware that Time Machine and/or imaging products like Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper are ways of achieving the same thing, but I'm interested whether the physical hard drive swap would work in theory.

Has anyone attempted this, and if so, did it definitively work (or not work) for you?

Given that we're speculating, the drive should work if the connection and dimensions are the same. However, I had a 500GB HDD in my old MacBook and am now using it in my new 13" MBP

Habitus

 

[tenderidol]

I asked the same/similar question yesterday and received some replies in this thread.

In my case, I'll be giving my SSD to my wife, and I just want to transfer the drive and make few changes (e.g., change admin account, install few software and restore her data from the Time Capsule) instead of starting with a clean install... It seems like it "should" work, but I'll have to decide how much time this will save me over a clean install.