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Is it possible to replace my 13" MacBook Pro Mid 2012 model's Hard Disk Drive to a Solid State Drive?
I need faster speeds and was hoping that Solid State Drives are able to be a replacement for my slow Hard Disk Drive.
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Yes, your system can support a 2.5" SSD replacing your current HD. Make sure you get a large enough drive. You'll want to leave no less than 1/3 of the drive free if you have anything smaller than 512 GB SSD anything larger you'll need 1/4 free. Unlike a HD, SSD's need more free space.
Here is the IFIXIT guide you'll need to follow: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Hard Drive Replacement
But before you physically replace the drive you'll want to prep your new SSD drive. You'll want to get a SATA to USB adapter like this one: Startech 2.5" SATA to USB adapter.
To prep your new SSD drive connect it via the adapter using Disk Utility from your system format the drive with a GUID partition map and Mac OS Extended (Journaled) petition. Download the OS installer to your system and run it if you don't already have it. At the end the installer will ask you if you want to migrate your user, apps & data to your new drive. Select as you need the user data and migrate your stuff over.
Once the system restarts you're ready to swap your drives. One word of caution here. This systems SATA drive cable is fragile so do be gentle. If you encounter any issues I would recommend replacing the cable as the first thing. Here's the IFIXIT guide to do that: MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Hard Drive Cable Replacement.
Guide
Difficulty:
Moderate
—
30 - 45 minutes
Guide
Difficulty:
Easy
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10 - 25 minutes
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Hi there, I've just done all the above, and now am running my mid 2012 MacBook Pro (A1278) via USB on my new Samsung SSD. My concern is if I swap them out now (i.e. put my SSD in where my old HDD was), will it all start up OK? Will the system automatically calibrate to a new SSD on its SATA connection?
To simplify things I always put the new drive in and then use the old drive via the SATA to USB adapter. In either case you'll still need to use the Boot Manager to select the drive to boot from (with both connected).
Reference: Mac startup key combinations
In your case you have an additional step as now you also need to set the Startup Disk setting in Prefs to the SSD. Once set you're good.
Do these steps still apply if the current format of the Mac HDD is Journaled & Encrypted? Do I need to set up the new SSD as the same format? I keep running into error messages
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Your systems specs: MacBookPro9,1
by Dan