SSD for an Early 2011 MacBookPro

[IanA2]

Currently I have a 750 GB drive which is beginning to sound wheezy. I'm thinking of replacing it with a SSD.

Questions are:

Would 500GB or thereabouts suffice? Currently have 518GB free.

Is it an easy job?

Is there a downside I haven't spotted?

Are Crucial ok? What's the best SSD?

Thanks.

 

[bob6600]

1. 500GB is sufficient as you have used only half.

2. No idea on a Macbook but if it's anything like a laptop should be easy

3. Not that I can think of

4. Crucial are fine, the Samsung Pro's are rated but more expensive, I personally have a Samsung Evo 1TB that I got at a good price, am wondering how I ever used a normal drive as it is lightning quick!

 

[IanA2]

1. 500GB is sufficient as you have used only half.

2. No idea on a Macbook but if it's anything like a laptop should be easy

3. Not that I can think of

4. Crucial are fine, the Samsung Pro's are rated but more expensive, I personally have a Samsung Evo 1TB that I got at a good price, am wondering how I ever used a normal drive as it is lightning quick!

Thanks, re speed, agreed. I have an SSD in my AirBook, it's F1 speed

ETA: Just read the review for Crucial 500GB SSD on Amazon. Folks rate it as a Mac upgrade and say fitting it is easy peasy. Just got to figure out the cloning now!

 

[hitenhirani]

buy a disk caddy from Maplin (LINK)
there's a few around for £25.

then put new drive in caddy, caddy to USB in MacBook and then run Disk Utility from the boot up menu...
the process can vary from OSX version - plenty of search results in Google.

There are some posts, which say to Use Carbon Copy Cloner - I never did this for my friend and it seems to work OK without.

the HDD replacement is easy - again Google is your friend!
OWC Video Installation Guides for memory, hard drives, SSDs, and more...

 

[bionoc]

I changed one from Crucial last year. Crucial will guarantee compatibility and can supply a caddy along with some basic instructions.
For detailed instructions, go to ifixit.com. That site is excellent for messing around with electronics.
There are plenty of instructions on YouTube for cloning your drive.
It is really simple. ifixit will list all of the tools you will need.

 

[rirhill]

Hi Ian
I have used CCC on upgrading my hard drive and it makes easy work of the task. I would buy a caddy as hitenhirani recommends and after you cloned your hd you can boot from the new ssd externally and test before replacing.

1. 500GB might do you for now but you could consider an external drive for backing up to.

2. MacBooks are very easy to upgrade Hard Drives on.

3. Cost only issue

4. Crucial are good and come with a good warranty.

Good Luck and let us know how you go.

 

[markjay]

1. Intel make top-notch SSD but they are pricey.

2. In addition to the brands already mentioned, also Sandisk make reasonably-priced SSD.

Hope this helps.

 

[IanA2]

Thanks for all the responses. I've discovered that I can get a Samsung 500GB SSD for the same price as the Crucial equivalent. I've also dug out a caddy I forgot I had, so just need to get a copy of CC Cloner and I'm away...

Thanks again all.

 

[C350 Carl]

Having swapped my HDD for SSD in all my MacBook Pro's i can quite safely say it's very easy.

Just make sure you have the correct screwdrivers etc to do it.

It's a case of unscrew the back and remove, unscrew the screws holding in the old drive and unplug it, remove, plug put new SSD in it's place. Re screw it in place, re screw the back on. Switch on, format in utilities and then either reinstall OS X fresh or from a TM back up.

I currently have 2 SSD's in mine. A 500gb Samsung 840 Evo and in the Optibay i have a 240gb OCZ Vertex 3 which used to be my main drive until i got the samsung.

When running Mavericks from the laptop being completely off it took 14 secs from press of the power button to everything up and running. It's a bit slower at the moment due to running Yosemite but thats because its still in DP.

Once up and running though everything is lightning quick. Apps in the dock single bounce then open. Aperture with over 8k photo's opens up in 2 secs and all pics are visible within 3 secs after that.

It seriously is THE best thing you can do to a laptop. It's the Remapping of the IT world

This is a good guide to follow. No requirement to unplug the battery. I've never done it and never had an issue. But it's your call as it's your laptop

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Early+2011+Hard+Drive+Replacement/5119

 

[IanA2]

Having swapped my HDD for SSD in all my MacBook Pro's i can quite safely say it's very easy.

Just make sure you have the correct screwdrivers etc to do it.

It's a case of unscrew the back and remove, unscrew the screws holding in the old drive and unplug it, remove, plug put new SSD in it's place. Re screw it in place, re screw the back on. Switch on, format in utilities and then either reinstall OS X fresh or from a TM back up.

I currently have 2 SSD's in mine. A 500gb Samsung 840 Evo and in the Optibay i have a 240gb OCZ Vertex 3 which used to be my main drive until i got the samsung.

When running Mavericks from the laptop being completely off it took 14 secs from press of the power button to everything up and running. It's a bit slower at the moment due to running Yosemite but thats because its still in DP.

Once up and running though everything is lightning quick. Apps in the dock single bounce then open. Aperture with over 8k photo's opens up in 2 secs and all pics are visible within 3 secs after that.

It seriously is THE best thing you can do to a laptop. It's the Remapping of the IT world

This is a good guide to follow. No requirement to unplug the battery. I've never done it and never had an issue. But it's your call as it's your laptop

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Early+2011+Hard+Drive+Replacement/5119

Yup, I upgraded to 16GB memory a while back so I've done "open the case bit". Seems to me the most complicated thing is cloning the drive, but I shall be using CC Clone so that should be ok. I've ordered the 500GB Samsung 840 drive also.

You have two HDDs in your MacBookPro? How does that work?

 

[Giantvanman]

You have two HDDs in your MacBookPro? How does that work?

There are kits available that allow a second drive to be placed in the space where the DVD/CD drive currently resides.

 

[IanA2]

There are kits available that allow a second drive to be placed in the space where the DVD/CD drive currently resides.

Ah, so I guess you lose the DVD/CD drive. I think I'd rather have an external drive and keep the DVD/CD.

Thanks for the info.

 

[C350 Carl]

As above it replaces the DVD Drive.

I use an OWC data doubler which is basically a caddy for the drive to sit in. So i have 740gb of SSD in my MBP. I rarely use the DVD drive and i got an external enclosure for it for about £6 iirc.

You just can't use the Optibay (where the DVD drive sits) to house your main drive or you have issues. But as you don't want to go with 2 SSD's you shouldn't need to worry.

I also have 16gb of Ram in mine so i reckon this MBP will do me a good few years yet.

 

[IanA2]

Update:

Well it was very easy. Bought a very very cheap caddy from eBay (which worked!) and used a trial (ie free) copy of CCC. Whole thing went off without drama in under three hours.
If I was doing it on the regular basis it would be better/quicker to use a firewire connected caddy, but no complaints and machine now flies.