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Tried Upgrading 2012 MacBook Pro SSD

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pers0n

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 5, 2014
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I have a 2012 MacBook Pro and tried to upgrade it by putting in a SSD. But everything online says to put the SATA III drive where the old mechanical drive goes because the optical drive port has problems with SATA III (6.0) and its not 100% reliable with it.

So I was doing that, but then realized that the HDD I have, is a little too "fat" or high so I wouldn't be able to seal up the bottom. It's probably by 3-6 milimeters.

So I guess my only choices are:
  • Get a SATA II HDD that is thinner (good luck on finding the height specs online or on ebay, and for a decent price)
  • Get a SATA II SSD, but they cost way more than the SATA III SSDs (and I don't trust used ones)
  • Leave it as is :/
 
I did this on my 2012 MacBook Pro 13. I put a new Crucial 500gb SSD in place of the hard drive 3+ years ago, it made it into a new machine speed wise. Then last year I used an OWC data doubler to mount a used 128gb Micron Sata II SSD, that I got really cheap, in place of the DVD drive that no longer worked. I didn't really need the extra storage but just wanted to do it.

I'm surprised the hard drive is too thick to use, what frame are you using to mount the hard drive in place of the DVD drive? Sounds like the hard drive isn't original? Anyhow, OWC has a 1TB 7mm thick Toshiba hard drive at https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Toshiba/MQ04ABF100/ for $50.
 
Audit13 said:
The stock mechanical drive on the 2012 MBPs were 9.5 mm drives. The DVD drive itself is also 9.5 mm; therefore, only 7 mm drives will work in a DVD caddy.
Click to expand...
I used a OWC Data Doubler and it works with 7mm and 9.5mm drives.
 
A 9.5mm will squeeze in the optical bay, it does press into the bottom cover a little though, 7mm is best. On a 2012 both bays are sata3. I run 2x240gb crucial ssd's in a raid 0 in mine.
 
I've used OWC data doubler with my 2012 Macbook Pro running Raid0.
IMG_2412.png
 
There was never a problem with the 2012 MacBook Pro 15 inch. There was a problem using a SATA III SSD in the optical bay of the 2012 MBP 13 inch until EFI Update 2.9 in Sept. 2012. I somehow missed this during my research when I was upgrading.
 
Are you sure that was for the non-retina Macbook Pro?

I looked up the drive I have and its a 750GB WD7500KPVT (5400 rpm, didnt know that, which sucks), but most important I found out that it is 12mm tall.
The following site mentions this and says it may not fit in all laptops - https://www.disctech.com/Western-Digital-WD7500KPVT-2-5-SATA-Hard-Drive So the drive fits in the main bay ok, but its too big for the optical drive area.
 
12mm must be old. There'd be three platters in there. You should retire that sucker to the bin stat. Ssd's are 7mm with the very occasional 9. 5mm, either will fit both bays just fine. I'd recommend 2 ssd's in a raid 0.
 
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Update incase anyone in the future finds this and wonders about the solution:

I bought a used SATA II 7.5mm hdd (7200rpm) drive and put that in the a "data doubler" (had to buy that also) in the optical drive slot. A 9.5mm hdd might of fit, but didn't want to waste time attempting that. The standard optical-to-disk-drive bays that are cheaper (usually for PC laptops) might work, but they dont have all the screw holes to lineup properly, so the drive wont be stable, you'd have to tape it down or hotglue or something. So the data double is the best option.

My ssd (sata III) went into the main drive bay.

Anyway, got triple boot working (macOS, Win10 & Linux) and I'm happy :)
 
@pers0n - I would handle that MBP VERY carefully from now on. The system that protects platter drives from damage when the laptop is moved suddenly (the SMS or sudden motion sensor, it parks the heads to prevent impact with the easily-scratched platters) appears to only be connected to the main drive bay. The optical bay is NOT protected. For this reason - the optical bay would be preferred for the SSD rather than a platter drive.
 
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That's a good point. Considering this info, and the fact that the 2012 has dual sata3 interfaces, it's probably best to swap the drives.
 
hallux said:
@pers0n - I would handle that MBP VERY carefully from now on. The system that protects platter drives from damage when the laptop is moved suddenly (the SMS or sudden motion sensor, it parks the heads to prevent impact with the easily-scratched platters) appears to only be connected to the main drive bay. The optical bay is NOT protected. For this reason - the optical bay would be preferred for the SSD rather than a platter drive.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I did on my Late 2008 MacBook. I get 3GB speed in both bays so no worries is here.
 
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