MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Hard Drive Replacement

Written By: Andrew Optimus Goldheart
  • Comments: 102
MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Hard Drive Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

9

Time Required

30 - 45 minutes

Introduction

Use this guide to replace a dead hard drive.

If your new hard drive seems slow or doesn’t work correctly, try replacing the hard drive cable. The cable is a common point of failure that can slow down or prevent data transfer to and from a hard drive. This is commonly found to be an issue with SSDs due to their high read/write speeds.

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    • Remove the following ten screws:

    • Three 14.4 mm Phillips #00 screws

    • Three 3.5 mm Phillips #00 screws

    • Four 3.5 mm shouldered Phillips #00 screws

    • When replacing the small screws, align them perpendicular to the slight curvature of the case (they don't go straight down).

    How much weight can I save by removing the optical drive?

    gunes314 -

    You can save a lot of weight if lets say your installing a solid state drive or putting in a second hard drive but if you know that you use the CD/DVD disc drive a lot then you might just want to leave the drive alone.

    Marshall WahlstromHelgren -

    Tip: Use one of those weekday pill holders to have a cheep way to store screws you remove and each day of the week can be for different sizes or parts. It has been handy to have (much less expensive than the magnetic mat.

    Robert Wacker -

    Hello, where can I buy the screws I need in case I lose one of them?

    taylornya -

    iFixit sells a kit: MacBook Pro Unibody Lower Case Screw Set

    Darrell Johnson -

    I have one stripped screw... How opening without drill it?! Any suggestions please?

    rodrigosady -

    I also stripped a couple screws. I wasn’t able to open it up without drilling. After drilling the heads and removing the cover it was easy to hacksaw the tip and unscrew with a standard driver.

    Michael Wilkens -

    We have a guide for that!

    How to Remove a Stripped Screw

    Sam Omiotek -

    My top tip - make sure you buy good quality Phillips screwdrivers and a magnetic holder. Cheap screwdrivers won’t get the screws undone safely. Without a magnetic holder you have no chance of getting the tiny crews in and out safely.

    jeremyyoung -

    A good Phillips 00 is your friend here. Also, when reinserting the screws, gently start anticlockwise and you wil feel a click at the start of the thread. This tells you you’re in the right place and less likely to cross-thread through force in the wrong place.

    Iain Boyd -

    I feel like these are 000 screws. Amazon sales describe them as such and my 000 screwdriver fits better

    cam2000deluxe -

    Before ordering a new Trackpad remove the existing battery and try clicking the Trackpad. If it clicks OK with the battery out the source of problem is likely a swollen battery, which should to be replaced even if it still works to some degree. From the side of the battery you will likely see the soft part of the battery bulging beyond the hard case.

    Patrick Langvardt -

    That’s absolutely correct as I can testify. With the battery removed I also adjusted the T6 set screw that adjusts the sensitivity of the trackpad click, evidently someone had cranked mine down tighter than the factory setting.

    Gary Register -

    Le quatrième paragraphe dans les instructions en français n’est pas correct : ce ne sont pas les 2 petites vis, mais les 7 petites vis qui sont inclinées. Et les 3 grandes sont bien verticales.

    Degeorges -

    Bonjour ! Merci de votre observation. J’ai corrigé la traduction. iFixit étant un wiki, n’hésitez pas à modifiez si vous remarquez une erreur :) Encore merci de votre attention et à bientôt !

    Claire Miesch -

    Tip: if you have a magnetic screw mat or similar, lay the macbook over the mat to make sure it catches any screws that may decide to fall of and hide under your table

    Moritz -

    Funny, it's not her hands that are doing the close ups. :)

    Cinemated Man -

    What's the difference between the shouldered and non shouldered screws? They look exactly the same to me.

    MLNLRD -

    There are bateries labeled as "A1322" but marked as "High Performance" and rated 76.56WH/11.6V. Also sold as replacement for the MacBook Pro 13" mid 2012 Model A1278. Does the different rating, in particular the voltage, is compatible? Does it really provides some extra "performance" in any actual way?

    Thanks

    locutus -

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    • Use your fingers to pry the lower case away from the body of the MacBook near the vent.

    • Remove the lower case.

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    • Use the edge of a spudger to pry the battery connector upwards from its socket on the logic board.

    • It is useful to pry upward on both short sides of the connector to "walk" it out of its socket. Be careful with the corners of the connectors, they can be easily broken off.

    Is this step of removing the battery connector required?

    manodh -

    yes - as with disassembly of any electronic component you have to remove any power source. You don't want to accidentally turn the Mac on

    khull -

    Prying the battery connector off does not take much force. I did exactly what the guide suggested (walked it off back and forth) with the spudger without any problems. Just be very gentle, much like with anything inside laptops, they are very fragile and need to be worked with carefully. A+ instructions, battery replacement was a success.

    aekinaka -

    Be patient on disconnecting this one. It worked for me step by step, little by little.

    Phil Wagner -

    I used the nails of thumb and pointer finger simultaneously - worked pretty fine

    Reinhard Kaune -

    I whittled down ends of two wooden strips to use, along with my fingernails to start with. I used halves of a wooden clothespin, but popsicle sticks should work too.

    Mike Baker -

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    • Bend the battery cable slightly away from its socket on the logic board so it does not accidentally connect itself while you work.

    I put some tape between the connector and socket while working on the drive.

    Stephen Smith -

    That's a good tip

    Anrothan -

    Great tip, I did that too

    Ahmed Mahran -

    One other note: The screw heads fit flush with the curvature of the case -- which means that they aren't exactly horizontal. In other words, they aren't perpendicular to the table that the computer is resting on. Don't try to force them straight in vertically, because you'll risk cross-threading them. (nearly ruined one screw hole myself!)

    lelandjordon -

    On my MacBook Pro, the connector seems to be an integral part of the battery.

    Jerry South -

    I suspect it’s just like the special screwdriver required for seatbelts on cars – to discourage regular consumers from attempting repairs. Of course, this only encourages consumers to use the wrong tool to attempt to repairs

    colleenthompson -

    Dissambling my MacBookPro Premium Mid 2012 (i5-3210M 2.5Ghz) was easily, Careful with the screws, use screwdriver fitting exactly with the screws, you damage them very fast. Work very exactly, relaxed with time, consentration, good Tools and with feelings in your hands. Disconnect the Akku was easy if you take care, remove it to be safe, Two screws more, more space to work & haven`t to think about damaging someting. Apple use diffrent screws, you should have many difffrent scewdrivers. It is also good to clean everything inside, With time everything gets very dusty & dirty, don`t forget the sides and little fittings at the case. Use a pinsel, alcohol, soft peace stuff, it will look like new. If you have knowledge & experience, you can paint it in any colour or airbrushing for individualizing. You can also just polish it with a soft Politure (Sonax car Polish No1, NOT with wax or take an other light Politure you familiar & can do the job, A Laptop should serviced once a year, keeping it good working over years

    Stefan Lindner -

    First thing i do is open & cleanig everything inside,specially the cooling & fan, renew the thermal paste with an high quality product. Install the Nain System, clean up Bloatware and other unnecessary things, install standard software for daily use, additional change system components against better one (Edge to Firefox, Windows Media Player to VLC , an Office Suite and configuring everything for Data Protection, Privacy- & Indentety Protection, install Drivers from the component Manufactur (incedible effect, disable limitations, more functions, work better & faster, increasing performance, additional change the WiFi & Bluetooth Card to a better one a UMTS WWAN to an LTE Card, increase RAM with two Dual-Channel working SODIMMs, Use M2 or 2,5" SSD if no M2 Slot aviable) as System- and Software iDrive, a FAT32 formatted 32GB Partition to be safe of metaviruses comes with harmless downloads, and a big 2,5 HDD to store the user data. What does you guys think about this? Old Computer become a new life,

    Stefan Lindner -

    I livein Austria, near Vienna, if someone needs help or anything else, i would be glad to help. I always searching old or broken devices to bring them to new live. I also searching for spare parts, specilly a Bottom & Side Case and a 256GB or higher NGFF Storage Card for a Sony Vaio Tab 11 SVT1144HE (2014), some 14,1" Displays for a HP Probook 440G5 (2016), Elitebook MT 43 Mobile Thin Client, (2011), Dell Vostro 3460 (2012) Lenovo Thinkpad T440s (2014), and a Logic Board for an Lenovo Ideapad 330-15ARR (2017, damaged by Water i think) and a Logic Bord for an Alienware 17R4 with i7-6870HX & Nvidia 1080 (2018, CPU dead, maybe there is a repair Guide or workaround to bring it back to Life). I need always 8GB or 16GB DDR3 and DDR4 RAM Storage (perfectly two ident one for Dual-Channel use for Laptops, M2 SATA 6GB/s and NVMe PCIe SSDs 500GB or more and 2,5"SSD or HDD with 1TB or more and 3,5" HDD with 4GB or above. If you have some of this or other useful parts and doesn`t need them, please make me an offer, maybe

    2

    Stefan Lindner -

    an change something you need. This is not a Business what i do, it`s more a Hobby with challenging new Excercices.. Thats the best Point. Plase forgive me as a Newbie this very long Post in the wrong Section, but if you are start writing you cannot stop.... But now i have to come to an end and would be happy if someone wants to get in contact. My E-Mail is: udontknowme@gmx.at (the adress name is just a notice against Big Data and for Privacy Protection!

    Stefan Lindner -

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    • Remove the two Phillips screws securing the hard drive bracket to the upper case.

    • These screws will remain attached to the hard drive bracket.

    These were Philips #0 screws in my computer.

    Church Tucker -

    FYI my used Mac didn’t have the bracket or screws. 3D printed the bracket someone did (it’s on Thingiverse), M2x10mm screws were short but worked.

    sbierly -

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    • Remove the hard drive bracket.

    • The hard drive bracket may be firmly seated against the upper case.

    Don't miss this step: I almost did and of course couldn't get the disk out until I looked at the video !

    francistasset -

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    • Use the attached pull tab to lift the hard drive out of the upper case.

    • Don't try to completely remove the hard drive just yet. It is still attached to the hard drive cable.

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    • Pull the hard drive cable away from the body of the hard drive.

    • Remove the hard drive.

    The hard drive cable is a recalled part on these machines. You may need to replace it before your drive will be read correctly. The Apple Store will replace your cable for free if it's problematic.

    Eric March -

    @emarch wrote "The hard drive cable is a recalled part on these machines. You may need to replace it before your drive will be read correctly. The Apple Store will replace your cable for free if it's problematic."

    Thank you, Eric. This is excellent information. I'm reading this guide because my Mac booted with the flashing 'folder with question mark' icon. It turns out that my drive is no longer recognized internally, but thankfully it works okay through a USB hard drive adapter cable--phew. I read somewhere (on iFixit?) that some have had success by putting two layers of masking tape on the plastic around the data side of the SATA connector on the hard drive; supposedly this improves the fit and contact. I might try this or otherwise replace the cable (c/o Apple or DIY). Thanks again!

    Sean Stewart -

    dont forget to save the torx T6 screws froom your old hard drive and install in your new one if you are replaceing the HDD at the same time

    Charlie -

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    • Remove the four 6.0 mm T6 Torx hard drive retaining posts from the sides of the hard drive.

    • Transfer the hard drive retaining posts to your new hard drive.

    • If desired, transfer the pull tab over to your new drive.

    • If you are installing a new hard drive, we have an OS X install guide to get you up and running.

    • If you upgraded your EFI Firmware ROM you can also perform an internet recovery.

    T5, not T6 on mine.

    pilzn -

    Reinserting the tiny screws was a pain, until I discovered this: initially turn them counterclockwise, till the threads 'agree' and the screw drops down into it's threded slot. Then go clockwise and they seat properly.

    Dave -

    The paint on the screw threads makes it a little finicky to get them to 'find' the threading in their matching holes.

    Bad words were said, but job complete.

    Dave -

    T6 were just too small to fit the screws of the retaining post, and T8 was just too big. I suspect a T7 will fit. I will get a T7 screwdriver and report back.

    Beware other users: T6 as the guide suggests may not be the correct choice for all.

    fludiumvatn -

    If replacing the hard drive with a 7mm SSD, is a spacer required? This guide from Crucial suggests it is, but there's no mention of it here.

    http://guides.crucial.com/Guide/MacBook+...

    Just wondering if people are managing without the spacer.

    Jeff Smith -

    I had the spacer and used it, and all seems fine. I put in a Crucial MX500.

    Steve Jones -

    I just replaced the original hard drive on my mid 2012 MBP with a Crucial SSD from iFixit and am amazed at the new zip this has giving it! I first upgraded the RAM from 8 to 16 GB and that helped the speed but nothing like this new SSD, I found everything in this guide to be accurate for my computer. I did take the course of first cloning my original drive onto the SSD using the recommended SuperDuper! software, following the guide for that, and highly recommend taking that route.

    Patrick Langvardt -

    Great instructions as usual. Once I removed the old drive I found a round black rubber part (like a nipple) that had a rim on one end. I looked and googled to no avail! So there is a oblong hole (looks like a female lightning port) through the side of the MacBook right where the HDD is. And on the inside of the Mac there is a black frame near that oblong hole with a perfect circle shaped hole that this black rubber part fits into. All done and back together. Then I recalled person that I bought it from worked at auto dealer and took it into the shop where a co-worker used a blow gun to clean it up before selling. I guess 90 PSI blew the rubber part out!! So if any one finds one, you will know where to put it back

    CAM SEC -

    The instructions are admirably clear and I successfully installed a 1TB Crucial SSD. However, it might be helpful to remark that the new drive MUST be formatted in APFS. Not knowing this, I formatted in HFS+ and loaded a Time Machine backup onto it. The new disk at first booted and then hung after the initial process had completed (the progress bar stayed on the screen). I only discovered the formatting problem when I wanted to clean install Mojave on the new HD. A day lost and a splitting headache later, everything is now up and running and LOTS faster!

    Christopher Clarke -

    Great instructions. The only and VERY important thing I would add is to copy your hard drive FIRST before you remove it. If someone above hadn’t mentioned this, I would’ve been screwed. (seems obvious now, but I’m a newbie with computer repair). I installed a Samsung V-nand SSD 860 EVO 500GB using the Sabrient 2.5 SATA hard drive USB 3.0 Enclosure with the Super Duper software. Took almost 6 hours to copy the HD. Then I just swapped it out with the old one. Voila! my 2011 MBP booted up perfectly! Thanks again for your help!

    FYI: I tried to order the Crucial SSD as recommended on this site; however, it never shipped from Amazon after over 2 weeks. The Amazon listing never said it was out of stock. So, I researched Crucial and discovered it’s been sold to China and the customer service/product isn’t what it used to be. I cancelled my order and just went to Best Buy. Do your own research.

    Christi Ruby -

    To confirm (uk) T7 for the retaining post screws.

    To confirm - no need for a spacer for a 7mm drive the retaining post keep it in place, then there is just a bit extra 2mm “space” above (or below , depending on your perspective) the drive :-)

    With no SATA connector to clone straight to the new drive before removing, which would be simplest way IMO.

    I cloned to an external usb drive > fitted new drive > started up while holding alt key, choose the external usb clone as the startup OS > cloned that usb drive to the new internal drive> shut dow> unplug usb > startup > bingo!

    Used trail version of “Carbon Copy Cloner” to do this.

    nijafe -

    The posts can also be removed gently with a pair of pliers, if you don’t have the torx T6, as was the situation with me.

    Speach Lobes -

    Did these exact steps and yes very simple and easy! Took longer to clone the SSD with the HDD for hours but the hardware swap took only 15mins!

    Manee -

    FWIW, having replaced dozens of hard drives for clients, I’ve found it very helpful to stick a label or a piece of tape on the new drive with the purchase and/or install date, vendor, and warranty period. This is especially useful because typically the label of the new drive ends up facing down, so you have to remove it to see that information.

    colleenthompson -

    Thanks and quite helpful.

    Gary Renick -

    Thanks, was an easy upgrade!

    r2rzen -

    I have a 9,2 1278 13" macbook pro that has no time machine backup. I do, however, have another of the the same machines that I can make a carbon copy clone from. Will that boot the notworking computer? And can I use the new ssd in the notworking computer after I do that?

    Dan Sirks -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Andrew Optimus Goldheart

Member since: 17/10/09

505446 Reputation

44 comments

You saved me $150 by helping me replace my hard drive on my own! Thank you!!! I know where to turn when my mac acts up now!!

Jennie -

In case you need to install/reinstall your OS, the new MBPs no longer come with an install disc. To install your OS you will need to hold down CMD + R while booting up until it chimes. It will then walk you through the process.

Lynzi -

After holding command + R during start up I ran into a problem using Time Machine trying to restore all the files in my system. Apparently the Samsung solid state SSD 859 EVO drive I put in first needs to be formatted before Time Machine can even recognize it! No error message appeared, but no destination disk could be located. Apparently that's what happens with an unformatted hard drive. The solution is to select Disk Utilities in the first window seen after pressing command +R. Then In the left sidebar I could see all the drives including the external hard drive with my Time Machine back up and also the Samsung solid state hard drive I installed. With the newly installed hard drive selected, use the default erase and re-formating options and click on ERASE (this will also format the erased drive). This operation was very quick. I then returned to Time Machine and voila, the hard drive was locatable as a destination disk.

Martin Kluger -

To the people that this still doesn’t work, try pressing cmd+alt+R, after connecting to WiFi go to Disk Utilities, format the new hard drive, and then you can proceed to restore or clean install iOS.

Felipe Mail-no-principal -

I needed to install the OS X in the new HD using a USB (manual in applesfera), then I was surprised when after do all this guide I see a message "Can't verified the copy...." I fixed reinstalling my old HD, and run the old OS, changed the date and time, I change again the HD, but (this is the important) don't pull off the battery connector. If you disconnect the battery, the system lost the date and time and yo can't install the OS X with and USB. I don't test the cmd + R option.

Agustin Jimenez Fernandez -

Awesome guide. Very easy to follow. Took me less than 10 minutes to do the whole thing.

Roberto -

Hi, I just replaced the original 750 gb hard drive on my machine that was having some problems. I replaced it with a 1tb hdd pluss ssd combo thing from seagate. When i booted and held down the option key the drive wasn't recognized at all. Any help would be greatly appreciated

erik35angeli -

I have tried 8 hard disks but none of them worked... Some of them can't be detected at all while some cannot pass through initialization process... Mac has got compatibility issues.

uniashish -

I had the exact same problem. I used Carbon Copy Cloner to copy my old drive to the 1TB Hybrid drive. I put it in and it wouldn't boot. I ended up taking it into the Apple Store and they determined that the cord connecting the drive to the motherboard was faulty. This is a recalled part so they fixed it for free. Once the cable was replaced it started up without a hitch.

Eric March -

Great guide that worked fine... however to actually get the computer going with a new drive (the old one was dying so I decided not to clone it) I had to do the following

1. Create OSX installer on a usb thumb drive

2. install the new drive (following this guide)

3. Start up with thumb drive inserted

4. Format the new drive using disk utilities (the disk is not recognised until you do this)

5. Reset the date using terminal (until I did this the installer would not work)

6. Install the new OS

jeremyyoung -

How can I format to macintosh journaled if my ssd wasn't detected on the disk utility ? Well I double checked I followed this tutorial but somehow my ssd wasn't in the disk utility. I used corsair neutron xt 240GB. Any advise perhaps ?

Aryo Prakarsa -

Use diskutil in Terminal if it doesn’t show in Disk Util! That’s what I had to do.

Jonatan Liljedahl -

Jeremy is right - when installing from a USB drive, boot the the usb, launch terminal, and run “ntpdate -u time.apple.com”. You should be able to install macOS at this point.

Kevin V -

When upgrading to SSD, I don't see anything here about the TRIM setting.

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/installing-s...

The Mac won't enable TRIM automatically. You need this if you want your SSD to last. It makes it work more efficiently.

In fact, this tip should be on every iFixIt instruction page for all Macs HDD upgrade pages. Not just this one.

rondlarson -

well thought out instructions with just the right amount of video. My only complaint is it would be nice to have the option to follow for example, the 3 most common scenarios for your readers to finish the installation. User 1, replacing old hard drive with new solid state drive and backup new solid state drive with the old hard drive using time machine. User 2, "replacing old.....new solid state drive and only want some of the data and backing up via direct connection to the old hard drive using blah blah blah. User 3, replacing old hard drive with SSD that already has been formatted and has the desired data and software on it. etc. If you all developed and A to B complete instructions with a drop down menu. You would raise the bar on DIY online. A) option 1 - have 2012 MacBook with the original 'Scorpio Blue' hard drive and I want to install a B) solid state drive and copy all of my data...option 2) just get a bland SSD drive installed for selling..etc. You all prob. have 60% options covered.

George Elliott Maier -

One problem I ran into - I could not install macOS from a Bootable USB. It indicated the installer was damaged. After re-creating the boot disk several time, re-downloading High Sierra, and confirming it works on other Macs, I found an apple discussion that suggested setting the time via terminal command before installing Mac OS from USB. The terminal command: ntpdate -u time.apple.com

This likely stems from unplugging the battery and the internal clock being reset.

After doing this, I was able to install macOS on the new SSD - hope it helps!

Kevin V -

For anyone reading about time-related problems in these comments, I have a thought before you begin following this guide: you don’t need to disconnect the battery.

I have done 2.5” hard drive replacements like this on 13” and 15” MBPs dozens of times and never once disconnected the battery for this simple operation. I always use an anti-static mat to work on and am very careful about static electricity; but overall I would say for these types of Macs where the HD is such an easy swap, there is demonstrably no need to disconnect the battery, at least in my experience.

Glad you were able to figure out the Terminal time reset, Kevin.

drmacnut -

Saved us from having to buy a new computer to replace my GF’s aging MBP. Easy peasy, and it’s super zippy now. Thanks!

eigenhombre -

I replaced RAM and added a modest 128gb SSD and so far everything is working great. Install was very simple, although I found that a couple of Torx screws on the old HDD were missing. This seemed to have no effect on anything, the drive seated properly in its bay. I suspect this may have been a second hard drive as the pull tab was also missing. This machine was purchased used to allow upgrade to Mojave, my 2011 MBA will be orphaned under the new system coming up.

Steve -

I replaced my 500GB HDD with an SSD of the same size, using the iFixit instructions and videos. It was very easy and fast to do. Love iFixit.

MelG -

Useful tutorial, this one is not even moderate… it's easy :)

Just replace the HDD with a SSD and you revive your long dead laptop :)

Saves you a few years :D

Luís Caldeira -

Hi there, I’d like to find out if I can install the 1 TB SSD HD that I used in my 13’’ MacBookPro (mid 2012) into a 15’’ MacBookPro (mid 2012)? Are teh HDs size compatible? Thanks for your help!

TOUCH nGbK -

Dude, I just bought a 2TB Seagate FireCuda for my laptop, and I was having trouble getting the hard drive out. Your instructions saved the day!! Now onto setting up my dual boot Mac/Win system!!!

Robert Noneofyabusiness -

Bonjour,

opération vraiment très simple et facile à réaliser, qui prend 20 mn tout au plus. Il est bien plus compliqué d’opérer sur un Iphone, mais sur le macbook Pro, c’est vraiment simple.

merci à Ifixit et aux traducteurs pour ces tutos bien pratiques.

Auriac Pierre -

Hi guys,

I’m having a weird issue when replacing the hard drive on a MacBook Pro 2012 with a Crucial 500 GB SSD.

After installing and booting up in Internet Recovery Mode Disk Utility sees the new hard drive and I formatted as APFS.

I am able to run the Mojave installer to the end but when the computer restarts it boots back into recovery mode. I cannot choose the SSD as boot drive though it now has about 6GB used (for Mojave, I think).

What is wrong?

I’ve tried installing Mojave from a bootable usb drive too, but same result. Could that be a cable issue?

Best Regards,

Kristoffer

krislinus -

Try resetting PRAM!

https://thenextweb.com/lifehacks/2017/06...

Michl Drilling -

Thank you very much for this guide. I did it often enough so now I can do it in <10min without damaging anything :-D

Thor Weinreich -

Hi, thanks for those explanations.

I would like to use the ssd of my old macbook pro (mi-2009) to put it in a mi-2012 one. Would it work directly, or should I need to formate it or to make a clone of it before to install it ?

Meche -

It may work but it is always best practice to back up your files, fomat the new hard drive, and install a fresh operating system.

Sam Omiotek -

Does this model allow for upgraded hard drive such as a 1TB when it originally came with 500gb? If so how would you install?

chandra giesler -

Yes, you can certainly upgrade to a larger hard drive. The installation is the same, you don’t have to do anything different than if you were to put another 500GB hard drive in.

Sam Omiotek -

So smooth…. great instructions iFixit crew!! In a past life I was strictly PC and built/modded a loads of systems over the years, but never a Mac. To ease the tech-xiety I copied the old drive to the SSD in a USB case, and then booted from USB for a couple of weeks until I was sure there were no surprises. Swapped the SSD for the HDD and it was like the heavens opened and the choirs sang (Monty Python choirs of course). And thanks everyone posting, for your tips and lessons, they definitely came in handy.

I’m now looking at swapping the optical drive with another SSD, and then maxing out the RAM. Where will this madness end…..???? :)

K

ThreeRs -

Excellent and very detailed guide.

My mid 2012 MBP feels like new after I installed a new SSD.

Armen Tiraturyan -

adquiri el bx500 de 1tb es compatible con esta mac?, para instalar catalina

Angel Medina Foto -

Still find this useful to this day. My main driver is a 2012 MBP & I wanted to make it up and running like new again so I'm upgrading to an SSD & 16GB RAM. This helped a lot. Thanks!

Noah Rider -

Just put a new SSD in, this guide is great.

Logan Loiacono -

Grazie mille, molto utili e spiegato alla perfezione ogni passaggio

samir -

Personally found this VERY easy. Less than 15 minutes to do. Took longer to find one of the TEENY screws I dropped putting it back together.

Michael Maxson -

Thank you, got a Macbook Pro from my friend who had it collecting dust in the garage, upgraded to 2TB with 16GB RAM and now it runs super smooth and rocks Pop!_OS Linux.

r2rzen -

so on mine for some reason the messages app stopped working when i installed a ssd. how do i fix that?

Daulton Jack Gentry -

Thank heavens for iFixit! I´m sixty years of age and have regarded my MacBook pro as something that should be handed over to professionals for whatever is needed to be done, but by chance I stumbled over this website and decided to have a go at it.

After reading some of the repair guides I decided to invest in the pro repair kit - a stroke of genius assembling this that is. Through the years a great amount of tools has been piling up and now, instead of searching through 10 sets of tools just to find out that you don´t have what you need I now have «everything» in this handy, affordable kit.

Computers, cameras, turntable, amps - you name it, the pro repair kit´s got it covered.

And the guides; perfect! well illustrated and understandable. Hooray!

Christer Hedin -

I installed an 4TB SSD, with 3 partitions. It seems to fail to load on time and even in disk utility, it take like almost 20 minutes to load completely. Sometimes, it takes forever to boot. I had to take the drive to the USB externally and it seems to work well. Why does the internal connection fail? Any solutions to this? Thanks

Solomon London -

Is there a way to replace the internal HDD (currently a 1TB HDD) with, for example, 2x2TB M.2 hard drives WITHOUT disabling the internal optical Drive?

Thanks

locutus -