Replace the Hard Drive on a MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo
Apple Computer has made it alternatively difficult and easy to replace parts in its various lines of laptop computers over the years. Some earlier models for professional use made it a series of a few steps to remove and replace the hard drive, while for others it entailed taking most of the computer apart. On the Macbook Pro Intel Core Duo computer, no matter what size or what configuration, it takes only a few steps.
Instructions
1. Turn the Macbook over on a soft cloth or towel on a flat work surface so the screen is face down. The laptop should be closed when you do this. If you have a pre-unibody Macbook Pro, use both your index fingers to press the battery tabs. Then remove the battery. If you have a unibody model, with no access door on the bottom, remove the 10 screws with a Phillips-head screwdriver to remove the bottom portion of the case.
2. Unscrew three Phillips-head screws on the side of the now-empty battery compartment for the non-unibody model Macbook Pro. With these screws removed, you can raise the door of the memory compartment, then slide it toward the empty battery bay to remove it. Then turn the Macbook around and unscrew the two Phillips-head screws that remain in the area of the latch. Six more screws--two Torx T6 and four Phillips-head--still remain. Unscrew the Torx screws on either side of the RAM chips and the four other screws on the bottom of the case near the hinge. There also will be screws on both sides of the computer and at the back near the hinge that need removing. Turn the Macbook over and open the screen. Gently lift the top of the case on either side of the keyboard, then move along under the top case to unclip the other retainers.
3. Remove the bottom case of the unibody Macbook Pro and set it aside. In this model, because you are not removing the battery, disconnect power to it while working inside. With the hard drive on the left nearest you, go over to the right. Just above the battery is the power connector, a small rectangular unit just to the right of the random access memory chip. Use a spudger, which essentially is a flat, semi-flexible plastic tool--you can use a small spatula, too, if a spudger is not available--to gently pry up the connector. This breaks the power from the battery to the logic board and can help avoid damage from a shock.
4. Use the spudger to disconnect the keyboard and trackpad cable that still attaches to the upper case in older models. Set the case aside. Use the spudger again to lift the connectors for the sleeping light and sensor that may be glued to the hard drive near the open battery compartment. Unscrew the two screws to the right of the hard drive in the bracket and remove the plastic bracket.
5. Lift the hard drive gently from the older model Macbook Pro and carefully rock the connector cable at the end to remove it. Two screws on the hard drive’s side must be removed and retained for use with the new hard drive.
Use the attached plastic tab to gently lift the hard drive in the unibody model. It will pivot out, but still will be connected to the computer by a cable on the left side. Gently remove this, then lift out the hard drive. On the same side of the hard drive as the plastic tab will be two Torx T6 screws. Remove these and keep them. You will need to use them in the new hard drive.
Tags: hard drive, Intel Core, battery compartment, bottom case, either side, hard drive