How to upgrade your MacBook Pro’s hard drive

It might seem incredible, but today Apple only sells a single MacBook Pro that still uses a hard drive. As of Apple’s update in October, all of the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros — aside from the single non-Retina display model — have all moved over to solid-state storage. And that lone 13-inch MBP, with its 500GB 5400 RPM hard drive is clearly not long for this world. At $1200 the last-man-standing non-Retina Pro is only $100 cheaper than the next model up and it lacks both the Flash storage and high-resolution display that make the new MBP so good.

If you’re here you’re probably not in the market for a new MacBook Pro. You likely have an aging laptop that you’re trying to breath some life into. Well, good news, there is no better upgrade you can make to a laptop today than upgrading the hard drive. This article will explain how to upgrade your MacBook Pro’s hard drive, allowing you to drop in a bigger HDD, a speedy HHD, or super-fast SSD.

Even if you wouldn’t think twice about cracking open a desktop to drop in a new video card, you might pass on doing anything with a laptop — their cramped interiors and specialized hardware are instant turn-offs. And if the laptop in question is Apple’s MacBook Pro, you might dismiss the idea immediately. After all, Apple doesn’t have an upgrade-friendly reputation.

Don’t let that stand in your way. You can give your MacBook Pro faster storage in just a few steps. Doing so will require some minor surgery and void your warranty, but you’ll almost certainly find the process easy enough to be worth the (minor) risk.

Upgrading the MacBook Pro’s hard drive

Before you get started, you’ll want to back up your data. If you have an external hard drive and a recent version of OS X, Apple’s Time Machine software is the easiest way to go — you probably already have it working for you. Otherwise, check out SuperDuper to make a backup of your entire disk.

Once you’ve secured any data you’re going to want to keep, you’re ready to begin the upgrade process. Exactly what you’ll have to do differs depending on when you bought your system. When you’ve discerned that, click on the links below to go to the page for your particular model. If you’re not sure when you got your MacBook Pro, turn it over and use the descriptions below to help you figure it out.