Upgrade HD on Retina?

[Bokes]

Has anyone tried the HD upgrade from OWC?

I see they offer SSD upgrades for Retina macbook pros.
I have a late 2012 128gig and I should have paid a bit more for a larger HD.

Replacing the macbook with the latest release will not gain me much besides the HD space. So I am considering the upgrade.

I have swapped out many HD's and RAM in the past.
Super easy.
But I have never opened up a Retina.

I inquired about upgrading at a local Mac repair shop and they refused to do it.

So my concern is - How fool proof is this OWC upgrade?

 

[T5BRICK]

They provide instructions. Alternatively, look up your rMBP on iFixit and look through the instructions they have.

Finally, I'd just like to throw in my two cents and say that IMO, OWC is a huge rip off. The SSDs they sell are SandForce based and don't offer great performance or longevity. Check out Trancend, they offer the Jetdrive.

 

[Weaselboy]

If you search the forums there are quite a few posts from people who have installed these. It is very straightforward and just involves a few screws.

You will get varying reports on OWC though. Some like myself are not a fan of the Sandforce controller they use in all their flash storage. Plus OWC tends to overcharge.

Transcend recently came out with a replacement drive that will work in your Mac and it costs less than the equivalent OWC product. You can read about it here.

 

[DeltaMac]

Replacing the SSD on a Late 2012 MBPro can be a bit of a challenge, but if you have been in and out of other laptops, it's pretty easy.
iFixit.com has a good repair guide.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Retina+Display+Late+2012+SSD+Replacement/12823

You can review that and see what you think! You'll want to make sure that you have the proper tools before you start - there's a couple that are not common tools.

Or, OWC also has a video that takes you through the various disassembly steps, so you can compare slightly different install steps.
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbookpro_13_retinadisplay_late12_unibody/

 

[Bokes]

looks good and easy.
Thanks.

 

[mawyatt1]

Has anyone tried the HD upgrade from OWC?

I see they offer SSD upgrades for Retina macbook pros.
I have a late 2012 128gig and I should have paid a bit more for a larger HD.

Replacing the macbook with the latest release will not gain me much besides the HD space. So I am considering the upgrade.

I have swapped out many HD's and RAM in the past.
Super easy.
But I have never opened up a Retina.

I inquired about upgrading at a local Mac repair shop and they refused to do it.

So my concern is - How fool proof is this OWC upgrade?

I just replaced the SSD on my 2012 MBPr with the Transcend 720 960GB. They sell a kit that includes special screwdrivers and USB box for the SSD you take out of the laptop. My only issue is the TRIM function that Transcend has in the toolbox you can download doesn't work with the Lion OS. Not a big deal for me since I will be moving up to the newer OS soon.

I understand that the 720 has been replaced with the 725 which is slightly shorter than the 720, this was done because some folks were having trouble with the fit of the 720 in some MBPr. If you decide the Transcend route, get the 725 to be sure of a proper fit.

I did a BlackMagic test after the install and the Transcend drive is very fast with 480/440MB/s R/W speeds.

Mike

 

[OldITGeek]

I replaced the 256GB SSD on my 2012 rMBP with the Transcend 720 960GB. They sold me a kit that includes the special screwdrivers and a USB box for the SSD that you take out of the laptop. Working great, took me less then 15 min.