[Closed] Dummies guide to replacing my hard drive with SSD in MacBook Pro

The HHDs physically will be the same size (2.5" laptop HDD size). You literally unplug one and plug in another one afaik. Never heard of a spacer being needed.

You'll need a OS CD to format and install the operating system. Mid - 2010 still had CD drives thankfully.

Personally, I always treat these moments as a time for a "new start" - it's healthy to start over for your computer as you say, some less than meticulous uninstallers leave bits of program all over the place.

But if you google there is loads on how to clone your HDD to SSD:

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=clone+hdd+to+ssd+mac

Note if you clone you might not need your OS CD. Not sure, never done it.

I've seen a few guides that look to clone my existing drive - is this the best way?

I just cloned mine, plugged the new one in to a USB port (using an adaptor which came with the SSD drive). Cloned by existing HD to the SSD using Carbon Copy, and then swapped the drives over. Was very simple.

As above, put the SSD in an external caddy, use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your current hard drive to the SSD. For peace of mind boot from the external drive and check it works OK. Swap them (never heard of a spacer being needed). Done.

EDIT: I wouldn't bother with a 'clean start'. I started with a copy of the OS X public beta and over many years upgraded it with all the updates and migrated it across loads of different hardware without ever doing a 'from scratch install' and never had any noticeable slow down.

The Samsung SSD I bought came with a disc, easy peasy

If you have a time machine backup of the old drive there's no need to clone it onto the new one, you just put the new drive in, start the machine in recovery mode and point it to the back up then it does the rest.

The Samsung SSD I bought came with a disc, easy peasy

samsung's software is windows only

I was going to suggest Timemachine too. You do use it anyway right? Having said that I know lots of people prefer cloning.

Yes, I use Timemachne but that does't bring over programs as well does it?

Yes, I use Timemachne but that does't bring over programs as well does it?

Right..thanks all - I'll get it ordered now

......I'll return when it arrives

Have changed drives in a few different mac's and process is as above

Buy the ssd and an external caddy
Put ssd into fhe caddy and connect to mac, reformat the ssd as os-journaled extended (in disk utility, make sure you reformat the ssd and not the mac 😯 )
Use carbon copy cloner or Super Duper to copy everything (you can use free trial versions to do this, no need to buy it). Note this does assume thessd is at least as big. Also the "old machine is full of obsolete fikes" is a throw over from windows users really
Then reboot the machine holding down C key, this gives you the option to boot off either the internal drive or the ssd in the caddy - chose the ssd and make sure it all starts up and works fine
After you know it works put the ssd into the mac and if you like keep the old drive and use it in the caddy for external storage

yep carbon copy cloner piece of proverbial to clone anything anywhere

Clonezilla is good for making an exact copy (clone), I managed to get a disc to clone despite having some dodgy sectors that other utilities couldn't handle. However I wouldn't describe it as dummy friendly.

I always prefer a clone personally.

and an external caddy

If you have used Timemachine, why not just restore onto a blank drive with Timemachine and avoid the need for the caddy and cloning? It doesn't need a drive with a viable system on it to boot into recovery mode and from there it can even access your back-up on a NAS drive.

Well, now everyone has proven its possible to do with out going catastrophically wrong... can anyone suggest a good SSD drive to buy? Im in the same place as the OP, i could probably do with throwing some more RAM in there too while its open 😀

Just to pick up on the spacer issue above:

You're correct OP, you may need a spacer but they usually come with the drive, but not always. You can also sometimes get away without a spacer but it can make getting the screws in fiddly as you need to support it whilst putting them in.

The reason is most/many laptops (including your MBP) use a 9.5mm drive, but some use 7mm so that's the size of some SSDs*. The mount holes and connectors are in the same places though, it's just thinner.

I prefer cloning to a TM restore, as it is a clone. The TM restore doesn't always restore all licenses etc properly.

*drive size fans will also know there's a 12.5mm spec too, but typically reserved for high density server kit.

It's about time mine was updated too

More ram and an ssd

All sorted!

Crucial BX200 480GB SSD in mid-2010 MBP 13"

Came with the 2.5mm spacer which was needed

Borrowed a USB-SATA cable (doesn't come with SSD)

Plugged in the new SSD and tried to clone my existing HD using Disk Utility - it didn't work / i messed up?

Did a restore on the new SSD from Time Machine - worked a treat and dead easy to do

Its like a brand new machine now 🙂

Where did you get the ssd from?

Hang on, aren't we missing something on the list of things you need?
It's an Apple, right?
Surely you need a Court Order before they let you mess with the inside of one of their machines.

You need a court order for someone else to mess with your machine.

I upgraded mine too (late 2011 MBP) and didn't mess it up. 8GB RAM upgrade and new SSD bought direct from Crucial for around £115 the lot. machine flies now and has saved me from buying a new machine as it was creeping before.

I bought an enclosure and usb lead from eBay, cloned the drive and then swapped it over (included spacer is required) I have kept the old one in the enclosure as a back up drive.

Potentially a better option (which I did to my 2011 MBP) is to replace the HDD with SSD but put the old HDD back into the DVD drive space. That way you can use the SSD for the OS and Apps, but still have lots of storage capacity. You just need a spacer for the HDD and I bought an external caddy for the DVD drive (though I think I've only used it once or twice).

This might be less relevant now if the price of SSDs have come down significantly since I did mine.