Apple

The hard drive in my Mac has failed.  Again.  For those of you keeping track, this is the third time.

It’s a hassle, but it is usually okay, since:

• TimeMachine is always there, making backups and keeping them up to date.
• Apple support is wonderful.  We can’t send back the hard drive, but they let me open the case and remove the drive without voiding the warranty.

Sadly it is also a pain because:

• The MacBook Pro is some of the most poorly designed hardware I have ever encountered for maintenance.

It’s not just that it is a laptop.  Disassemble a MacBook Pro and then disassemble a ThinkPad and tell me what you think.  There is a clear difference.  I won’t speculate as to why things are the way they are… but they are that way.

Apple listened, and has made it much easier to replace the hard drive in the new MacBook Pro.  They’ve also made it much harder to replace the battery.  I understand somewhat the reasons for the latter… but still.

The Process

Here’s how you replace the drive in the MacBook Pro model I own.

1. Four tiny screws on each side of the case. Phillips.
2. Two tiny screws in back. Phillips.
3. Four long screws on the bottom. Phillips.
4. Three tiny screws under the battery holding the memory cover. Phillips.
5. Two tiny screws in the battery compartment securing the front. Phillips.
6. Remove the memory.
7. Two tiny screws in the memory compartment. Torx.
8. Remove the back, then front of the keyboard panel. Remove the connector.
9. Two tiny screws holding a metal shim on one side of the hard drive. Phillips.
10. Remove the tape and adhesive-backed connectors from the back of the hard drive.
11. Carefully remove the hard drive and the metal shim.
12. Four “bumpers” attached to the hard drive with tiny screws. Torx.
13. Congratulations! Now I have removed the drive. Out with the old, in with the new.
14. Now reverse the process to re-assemble the MacBook Pro.

It’s just that easy.

Reliability?

I have a ThinkPad X40.  It always works.  It has never failed, and it’s pretty old for a laptop (2005).  I have a T60p, and it Just Works.  I’m running Ubuntu on it these days, since it boots in under a minute.  The Mac?  Well… it has a new drive in it now.  I’m pretty sure it’s a lemon.

But I get to use Leopard.  I really, really like the OS.  If I could run Leopard on a ThinkPad… (yes, I know, you can).