How to prepare before replacing HDD with SSD

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MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012

Mid 2012 model, A1278 / 2.5 GHz i5 or 2.9 GHz i7 processor.

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Miguel @miguel98201

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Posted: Mar 6, 2013

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How to prepare before replacing HDD with SSD

Device: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012

After searching for a guide to replace my current HDD with an SSD, I stumbled upon this page:

http://blog.laptopmag.com/how-to-replace...

However, I don't know what a "mSATA enclosure or adapter" is, and if I need one at all.

I heard from a friend that SSDs are slimmer than normal HDDs, so perhaps this a way of "filling up the free space"? I'm trying to prepare myself before actually trying to replace the drive.

Btw, the SSD I'm thinking of replacing the HDD with is this one: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B009LI7C...

Alternate recommendations, as well as any tips, are most welcome.

Thanks in advance!

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mayer @mayer

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Posted: Mar 6, 2013

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For just replacing the drive you need no adapter. When the adapter or external enclosure is needed is to transfer data to the new drive. This adapter will allow you to connect your old drive. You can then use Migration Assistant to move data onto the new drive. If you prefer, get an external enclosure and put the old drive in it for storage.

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5 Comments:

Thanks, mayer. I now understand what it is for. Good idea getting the enclosure to use the old drive for storage. May I assume the ssd I'm thinking of getting would fit, then?

Mar 6, 2013 by Miguel

Can you give me a link that's not in German?

Mar 6, 2013 by mayer

Sorry! I'm in Austria and automatically used .de instead of .com. Here is the correct link: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronic...

Mar 7, 2013 by Miguel

The Samsung drive should work just fine. Just remember to format it before trying to install a system. Here's how to install it: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Hard Drive Replacement

Mar 7, 2013 by mayer

Thank you very much for your time and help. I am happy to say everything worked perfectly!

Mar 15, 2013 by Miguel

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Thanks, mayer. I now understand what it is for. Good idea getting the enclosure to use the old drive for storage. May I assume the ssd I'm thinking of getting would fit, then? — Miguel
Sorry! I'm in Austria and automatically used .de instead of .com. Here is the correct link: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronic... — Miguel
The Samsung drive should work just fine. Just remember to format it before trying to install a system. Here's how to install it: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Hard Drive Replacement — mayer
Thank you very much for your time and help. I am happy to say everything worked perfectly! — Miguel

Jim @jim36715 Rep: 13 1 · Answer 1 · 2013-06-19T13:30:59-07:00

I'm using a Samsung 840 Pro (256GB) in my mid 2013 13" MacBook Pro and it works very well. Most application open in two seconds or less, and boot is faster as well.

Unless you want to do a complete, fresh install of OSX, and then reload your applications and data, the easiest way to do the SSD upgrade is to use an external drive and clone your current system onto the external. Then install the SSD and boot from the recovery partition of the clone, use disk utility from the recovery partition to restore the clone to the new SSD and you'll be all set. All your data and applications will be restored and everything will work just as before, but much, much faster. Some application may ask you to re-enter the license key, but that's more the exception, rather than the rule.

Once you're up and running with the SSD, put your original hard drive into a portable enclosure, and if it's large enough, partition it with disk utility into two partitions: one for data and one for a backup clone of your SSD. This provides additional storage space so you don't eat up too much of your SSD, plus if your SSD goes bad, you can boot from the external drive and keep working until you can replace the SSD.