MacBook Pro Hard Drive Removal

Written By: McKaila Ruud
  • Comments: 11
MacBook Pro Hard Drive Removal

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

7

Time Required

10 - 20 minutes

Introduction

This guide will show you how to remove* the hard drive from your MacBook Pro.

*Note that opening up your MacBook Pro will void any Apple warranty.

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    • Turn the Macbook Pro off and unplug all power sources. There is a possibility of danger if the Macbook Pro has power when the hard drive is removed.

    • Flip the Macbook Pro over so the Apple logo is on the table and the black laptop hinge is furthest from you.

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    • Unscrew ten screws using a Phillips #000 screwdriver. Push screwdriver into screw and then turn, keeping firm pressure on the screwdriver, to avoid stripping the screw.

    • After unscrewing a screw, place it next to the hole it was taken from. When it is time to replace the screws this will avoid any confusion, as there are several longer screws.

    The two closest to the rear hinge are the short screws

    lucas -

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    • Lift back cover off of your MacBook Pro and set aside. It might make a loud sound and that is okay.

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    • Locate the hard drive. With the hinge facing away from you, the hard drive can be found in the bottom left corner closest to you. It is rectangular and silver.

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    • Locate the black bar holding the hard drive in place. This bar is on the top of the hard drive.

    • Loosen the two black screws on the black bar using the screwdriver. Make sure to not unscrew the silver screws.

    • Pull the black bar off of the hard drive. Set it aside.

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    • Pull plastic tab to lift the hard drive out of place.

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    • Carefully pull the black bar attached to side of hard drive off. This black bar will still be attached to the computer.

Conclusion

To install a new hard drive into this computer, follow these instructions in reverse order. Begin by unscrewing the mounting screws from the old hard drive and screwing them into the new hard drive.

If you plan to use the current hard drive as an external hard drive, leave the mounting screws in place. Purchase a hard drive enclosure to keep the hard drive in.

Author

McKaila Ruud

Member since: 29/03/17

671 Reputation

10 comments

Great documentation, photography was very good.

Jim Brennan -

wonderful, thank you very much.

Luc Constantin -

Will a T6 screwdriver work to remove the screws holding the back and hard drive?

Iris R -

Save the four mounting screws located on the side of the hdd . You will need them for your new hdd.I'm

James Michaud -

How do I remove those screws? They seem to be permanent placed.

lalof-1 -

Can I remove the old harddrive as instructed above and just have macpro use and external harddrive?

Ron -

The computer should work fine without a hard drive installed, but you will want a high speed external hard drive that connects over something faster than USB2 in order to have a usable experience. Depending on the model of computer you have, the drive could be connected over Firewire, Thunderbolt, USB3, or USB-C.

David Green -

Once I have my old HD out, how do you transfer the existing OS/files from it to the new SSD drive?

melvinwahl -

Suggest you install fresh copy of MacOS on another drive, and then run the ‘Migration Assistant’ (found in Applications/Utilities) The Assistant will ask for the source drive and whether you just want documents, or everything, applications, etc.

Hal D -

Excellent descriptions and photos, upgraded from 250GB to 1TB. Thanks!

Base ManDan -