Can I swap the HD from my 15" into my 13" to recover the data?

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MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Mid 2015

2.2 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz), 2.5 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.7 GHz), or 2.8 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 4.0 GHz) quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 6 MB shared L3 cache.

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Kelv @pinheadplanet

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Posted: Jan 28, 2021

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Can I swap the HD from my 15" into my 13" to recover the data?

Hi.

I have a 15”Macbook Pro retina mid 2015 that has given up the ghost, won’t charge, won’t start.

Can I take out the Hard drive and put it in my 13” Macbook Pro Retina Early 2015?

Are they different sizes/fittings? I’m guessing if not it should just boot up from the old hard drive once I swap it over right?

Thanks

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There may be driver issues or something, but there’s no reason not to try.

Jan 28, 2021 by Tsar_ Bomba

Without sounding daft (I literally have no idea), wouldn't the drivers be stored on the Hard Drive that I was installing? Where is the OS stored, is that in the Hard Drive?

Jan 28, 2021 by Kelv

I have no idea either, but it will probably work. And yea the OS is in the hard drive, but it’s also in the computer or something. Anyway you should have little to no problems.

Jan 28, 2021 by Tsar_ Bomba

Thumbs Up! Cheers

Jan 28, 2021 by Kelv

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Dan @danj

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Posted: Jan 28, 2021

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Here’s a good reference on the Apple SSD’s The Ultimate Guide to Apple’s Proprietary SSDs

Both systems 13” & 15” MacBook Pro use a 8.0 GT/s PCIe x4 SSD

So yes they could be switched!

But! Are you using the same macOS on both systems? You may encounter an issue with the version of file system the system is using. Basically, HFS+ Vs APFS. The systems firmware may need to be updated using an external bootable drive.

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I have two other MBP's I could swap the drive into, in fact the one I was going to put it in has recently been updated to 11.1 Big Sur whereas the other one still has 10.11.6 El Capitan, probably better of trying the older OS first as that's more likely to match.

I can see this newer OS is running on APFS but the older one is on HFS+. No idea what the donor mac was on.

Jan 28, 2021 by Kelv

@pinheadplanet - I would setup an external bootable drive using Sierra (HFS+) Then use the Option (⌥) key to gain access to the Startup manager.

Reference: Mac startup key combinations

Jan 28, 2021 by Dan

Do you mean mean put the drive in an external caddy?

Jan 28, 2021 by Kelv

Thats one way, but I think you can do it with just a USB thumb drive.

Jan 28, 2021 by Dan

Sorry, not sure what you mean, how would I do that?

Jan 28, 2021 by Kelv

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There may be driver issues or something, but there’s no reason not to try. — Tsar_ Bomba
Without sounding daft (I literally have no idea), wouldn't the drivers be stored on the Hard Drive that I was installing? Where is the OS stored, is that in the Hard Drive? — Kelv
I have no idea either, but it will probably work. And yea the OS is in the hard drive, but it’s also in the computer or something. Anyway you should have little to no problems. — Tsar_ Bomba
I have two other MBP's I could swap the drive into, in fact the one I was going to put it in has recently been updated to 11.1 Big Sur whereas the other one still has 10.11.6 El Capitan, probably better of trying the older OS first as that's more likely to match.

I can see this newer OS is running on APFS but the older one is on HFS+. No idea what the donor mac was on. — Kelv
@pinheadplanet - I would setup an external bootable drive using Sierra (HFS+) Then use the Option (⌥) key to gain access to the Startup manager.

Reference: Mac startup key combinations — Dan
Thats one way, but I think you can do it with just a USB thumb drive. — Dan