Upgrading hard drive new 2011 MBP

[Cumulus32]

Is it easy? Any special tools besides a small philips? I was told by Apple it was not replaceable, and even the Genius Bar would not update it.

 

[stridemat]

Im not sure about the internals of the new MacBooks, but it should be possible. You will need a Torx screwdriver though.

 

[iZero]

Can't look just this second as I am not at home but... The 2010 MBP's not only were upgradeable, they had instructions on how to do it in the owner's manual, and it didn't void your warranty to do so As long as you didn't mess anything up inside, of course. I'm pretty sure the 2011's are the same, didn't even think to look. You can certainly upgrade it, anyone that told you that you can't was misinformed. It may no longer be supported by warranty/instruction book though I guess, I'll look later.

 

[bilbo--baggins]

It is in the manual for the 2011 mbp (13 and 15) for hard drive and ram. It recommends a qualified technician does it, and says that any damage caused by the installation isn't covered by warranty. Quite fair I think.

 

[johnnyturbouk]

for macbookpro 2010 all i needed was:

phillips00 screwdriver
Torx T6 screwdriver
OWC video instruction -found here:
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbookpro_17_unibody_mid10_hd_h/

-dead easy

 

[JodyK]

It's so easy a Windows user could do it!

Seriously it is super easy ... don't be intimidated at all once you see all the boards and internals of the computer.

 

[HBOC]

i used a small eyeglass phillips screwdriver and works perfectly! I think there are 10 screw on the bottom, and then 2 slightly larger on the HDD "retaining clip". Really easy

 

[zenio]

It's just a computer. I put an SSD & ram in mine. No big deal. A bit different than my 2010 which is to be expected. The time consuming messy part was removing the globs of excessive thermal paste, doing the clean up, and applying a small thin coat of higher quality paste. The "computer in a kit" thing Apple sells is getting old. They ought to be able to get it right after years.

Oh well, it's fast cool & quiet now, even if it did add substantially to the cost. I expected an obscene total anyway. Experience teaches you that. It's an Apple.


Here's a link to another users guide
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1105643/