Apple MacBook
Pro 15 inch: Disassembling
Hard drive
Use
your fingers to push both battery release tabs away from the battery, and lift
the battery out of the computer.
Remove
the three identical Phillips screws from the memory door. Make sure to record
which sets of screws came from where. This will help when re-assembling.
Lift
the memory door up enough to get a grip on it, and slide it toward you, pulling
it away from the casing. Remove the two Phillips screws in the battery
compartment near the latch.
Remove
the following 6 screws: Two 10 mm T6 Torx screws on either side of the RAM
slot.
Four
14.5 mm Phillips screws along the hinge.
Remove the four Phillips screws on the port side of the computer.
Remove the four Phillips screws on the port side of the computer.
Rotate
the computer 90 degrees and remove the two Phillips screws from the rear of the
computer. Rotate the computer 90 degrees again and remove the four Phillips
screws from the side of the computer.
Do
not yank the upper case off quickly. The case is attached to the logic board
via a ribbon cable. Lift up at the rear of the case and work your fingers along
the sides, freeing the case as you go. Once you have freed the sides, you may
need to rock the case up and down to free the front of the upper case. This
stage can be quite tricky. Over the DVD reader are 4 tabs set back which pull
out vertically. Note that the two small tongues on the left hand front of the
upper case may bend while you remove the upper case. When re-installing, you
may need to bend them back to fit in the grooves in the lower case.
Disconnect
the trackpad and keyboard ribbon cable from the logic board, removing tape as
necessary. Remove the upper case.
Disconnect
the orange hard drive ribbon cable from the logic board. Use a spudger to
carefully loosen the adhesive securing the sleep light and IR sensor connectors
to the top of the hard drive.
Remove
the two silver Phillips screws securing the hard drive retaining bracket to the
lower case. In some machines these screws may have T6 Torx heads. Slide the
Bluetooth board out of its slot next to the hard drive. The Bluetooth board is
still connected to the orange hard drive cable, so don't try to remove it
entirely from the computer.
Lift
the hard drive up with one hand and use your other hand to remove the retaining
bracket from the side of the hard drive. Disconnect the orange hard drive
cable. After installing the new hard drive, make sure the vent hole (on top) is
not covered by the orange ribbon cable.
Remove
the two silver T6 Torx screws and black rubber bumpers from the right side of
the hard drive. You'll need to transfer these screws and bumpers to your new
hard drive if you're changing drives. Remove the two black T6 Torx screws and
black rubber bumpers from the left side of the hard drive. You'll need to
transfer these screws and bumpers to your new hard drive if you're changing
drives.
Install
operating system and software from scratch.
Follow
these instructions after physically installing your new hard drive.
# Insert an OS X installation disc into your optical drive.
# Start the computer up on the installation disc by holding down the “option” key while the computer boots.
# Select the installation disc from the menu.
# Select your language and wait for the installer to load.
# Select “Disk Utility” from the Utility drop down menu.
# Select your new hard drive from the left column in Disk Utility.
# Click on the “Erase” tab.
# Choose the Volume format (we recommend “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)”).
# Select a name for the drive.
# Click “Erase.”
# After erasing is done, quit Disk Utility.
# You may now continue with the OS X installation process. If the drive doesn’t show up as an available volume to install the OS onto, restarting the computer should fix the problem.
# Insert an OS X installation disc into your optical drive.
# Start the computer up on the installation disc by holding down the “option” key while the computer boots.
# Select the installation disc from the menu.
# Select your language and wait for the installer to load.
# Select “Disk Utility” from the Utility drop down menu.
# Select your new hard drive from the left column in Disk Utility.
# Click on the “Erase” tab.
# Choose the Volume format (we recommend “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)”).
# Select a name for the drive.
# Click “Erase.”
# After erasing is done, quit Disk Utility.
# You may now continue with the OS X installation process. If the drive doesn’t show up as an available volume to install the OS onto, restarting the computer should fix the problem.
Clone
your existing hard drive
If you’re happy with your existing operating system installation and simply are upgrading your hard drive capacity, you can clone your existing hard drive to your new drive.
To clone a hard drive, you’ll need a way to connect two hard drives to your Mac. You’ll need to make sure you have an ATA enclosure (IF136-005) if you have a PowerBook or iBook, or a SATA enclosure (IF107-055) if you have a MacBook or MacBook Pro. After you’re done cloning the drive, you can put your old drive in the external enclosure and use it as a backup drive. You can also use an external USB or Firewire backup drive to clone your hard drive. However, in this situation you’ll need to first clone your existing drive to the external drive, and then clone the drive back to your new internal drive.
If you’re happy with your existing operating system installation and simply are upgrading your hard drive capacity, you can clone your existing hard drive to your new drive.
To clone a hard drive, you’ll need a way to connect two hard drives to your Mac. You’ll need to make sure you have an ATA enclosure (IF136-005) if you have a PowerBook or iBook, or a SATA enclosure (IF107-055) if you have a MacBook or MacBook Pro. After you’re done cloning the drive, you can put your old drive in the external enclosure and use it as a backup drive. You can also use an external USB or Firewire backup drive to clone your hard drive. However, in this situation you’ll need to first clone your existing drive to the external drive, and then clone the drive back to your new internal drive.
The
following instructions assume you’ll be using an external
Firewire enclosure for a laptop drive and SuperDuper. If you’re using a
different setup, your installation process may be somewhat different.
# Install your new hard drive in the external Firewire enclosure.
# Connect the Firewire enclosure to your Mac.
# Open Disk Utility.
# Select your new hard drive from the left column in Disk Utility.
# Click on the “Erase” tab.
# Choose the Volume format (we recommend “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)”).
# Select a name for the drive.
# Click “Erase.”
# After erasing is done, quit Disk Utility.
# Your new hard drive should now appear on the computer’s desktop.
# Download and install SuperDuper!
# Open SuperDuper.
# Select your current hard drive in the dropdown menu labeled “Copy.”
# Select your new hard drive in the dropdown menu labeled “to.”
# Select “Backup – all files” in the dropdown menu labeled “using.”
# Click “Copy Now.”
# If prompted, provide your password.
# Wait for the drive to copy (this could take several hours if you have a lot on your hard drive already).
# After the copy is complete, quit SuperDuper.
# At this point, your new hard drive should be loaded with your existing software and ready to install; however, we recommend testing the software installation.
1 Restart the computer while holding down the “option” key.
2 Select your new hard drive from the menu.
3 Wait for the computer to boot up, then verify that everything looks right (make sure you’re actually booting up off the new drive).
4 Your new hard drive is now ready to be installed in your computer.
5 Remove your new hard drive from the external enclosure and install it in your computer.
# Install your new hard drive in the external Firewire enclosure.
# Connect the Firewire enclosure to your Mac.
# Open Disk Utility.
# Select your new hard drive from the left column in Disk Utility.
# Click on the “Erase” tab.
# Choose the Volume format (we recommend “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)”).
# Select a name for the drive.
# Click “Erase.”
# After erasing is done, quit Disk Utility.
# Your new hard drive should now appear on the computer’s desktop.
# Download and install SuperDuper!
# Open SuperDuper.
# Select your current hard drive in the dropdown menu labeled “Copy.”
# Select your new hard drive in the dropdown menu labeled “to.”
# Select “Backup – all files” in the dropdown menu labeled “using.”
# Click “Copy Now.”
# If prompted, provide your password.
# Wait for the drive to copy (this could take several hours if you have a lot on your hard drive already).
# After the copy is complete, quit SuperDuper.
# At this point, your new hard drive should be loaded with your existing software and ready to install; however, we recommend testing the software installation.
1 Restart the computer while holding down the “option” key.
2 Select your new hard drive from the menu.
3 Wait for the computer to boot up, then verify that everything looks right (make sure you’re actually booting up off the new drive).
4 Your new hard drive is now ready to be installed in your computer.
5 Remove your new hard drive from the external enclosure and install it in your computer.
