New Laptop?

#21

Thank you! It’s a MacBook 13" late 2009

#22

yeah! it’s really easy to take these guys apart.

a 2.5in SATA SSD would do you perfectly here :slight_smile:

#23

Super Duper, works really well to clone your existing disk as well. I’m sure there’s some USB to SATA doohickies in the space somewhere, but if not, I’ll bring one in.

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

#24

It’s extremely easy on that particular model.

  1. Remove the back cover.
  2. Remove the screw holding the HDD bracket down.
  3. Unplug the drive.
  4. Swap the screws onto the new one.
  5. Put the new drive in.
  6. Replace the HDD bracket.
  7. Replace the back cover.
  8. Hold Command + R to get into Internet Recovery.
  9. Install OS X.

Basically the key thing is how to transfer the data from one drive to another, if you have a backup else where then it’s easier, otherwise you’ll need to make one, or backup online, or buy a SATA to USB adapter to plug in the old drive and migrate the data automatically during Internet Recovery.

It’s very easy, just needs a bit of confidence, there is an iFixit screwdriver set at Makerspace, so you could use that and the ESD strap to protect the machine.

However if you need some help I am more than happy to help, but I recommend giving it a go yourself first.

#25

It looks fantastic…and it’s tax +VAT deductible! Just not sure if maybe I should be going for another bulky workhorse like my Dell XPS 15, which has outlasted any other PC/laptop I’ve ever had.

#26

I used mine to code, is not built as a tank but it will not fall apart like my last Sony Vaio for sure…

1 Like
#27

I have one of these
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/raidsonic-2-bay-icybox-docking-clone-station-for-25-35-sata-hdds-with-jbod-function-and-usb-30-uasp-

if you want to clone a drive,

You are welcome to borrow it (subject to you signing a disclaimer that neither me nor makerspace is responsiBle for any loss of data, fingers, personal or 3rd party injury or life.)

:imp:

2 Likes
#28

I did this to my 2010 13" macbook. Gave it years of new life !
The ribbon cable is quite fragile though (its a very common weak spot and had already broken in mine) but luckily it is a cheap £10 part and also very easy to replace. If you’re using the original one be careful not to pull on the connections!

#29

yeah, that ribbon cable has been replaced in mine maybe 4 times by the genius’

#30

Thanks loads to everyone for the advice! Will give it a shot and may well come back for more help!

#31

my disk cloning “icybox” is on the electronics bench

#32

I decided to just keep my laptop for a while: it’s 2 GHz i7, 6 GB ram, discrete graphics card…

I’ve ordered an SSD…

1 Like
#33

You might want to upgrade your ram at the same time. 6GiB is not very much for graphics work particularly on a mickycrap system.

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#34

I looked at that, but was surprisingly pricey, so thought I’d start with the SDD.

#35

I have 4 gig ram on my macbook and with the ssd installed I can still run adobe cc without too many problems.

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#36

Minor note – that assumes OS X and Windows handle swapping memory out (to the SSD) as well as each other. I hear they don’t. But yeah, I also ran 4GB with an SSD for years on a Mac and did plenty of crazy stuff.