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Can you put a fully configured hard drive from a MacBook into a MacBook Pro?
Thursday, November 5, 2009 / Hardware, Laptops & Notebooks
I just replaced a MacBook with a MacBook Pro. Is it possible to swap the fully configured hard drive from the MacBook and put it into the Pro? I ask this because it is faster than the one that comes in the Pro (7200 vs 5400 rpm), it is the same size, and it already has a Bootcamp partition that I’d hate to have to start over with. I know I can use Winclone, but I thought this might be a convenient solution. What do you think?
- Michael
You should be able to swap that SATA hard drive between MacBooks. Make sure that you have the latest OS installed on the MacBook’s hard drive before you install it on the MacBook Pro, and be prepared to use the OS X install disk that came with the MBP. You probably will not need them but you can always do an Archive and Install if you experience any issues. Both the MacBooks, and the Unibody MacBook Pros, make it a trivial job to swap out hard drives.
Do not be too surprised if Windows needs some driver updates after the swap though. The Mac OS is portable but Windows often chokes on a hardware transplant. Have the Mac Boot Camp drivers handy.
- Jacob
December 14th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
I just did the opposite, with my Macbook Pro hdd into a first generation Macbook and it seems some things arent working properly (changing Desktop pictures, and some other stuff). I there a way to fix the drivers on the machine with an update or something, or will I need to backup the data and do a fresh install?
Cheers
Alastair