Upgrading Hard Drive on a MacBook: couple of questions

argeliusargelius
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I just got a MacBook (Black) and am contemplating the not-too-distant future when I will need more hard-drive space, especially after installing BootCamp or Parells + Windows. (I'm starting to think I made a mistake in getting a MacBook instead of a MacBook Pro...)



Couple of questions:



[1] Can the MacBook HD be "easily" (i.e. by me with a screw driver) swapped for something bigger?



[2] How big can I go?



[3] I assume a faster drive (7200 vs 5400) gives faster performance?



[4] I assume a faster drive also results in worse battery life?



Thanks.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    untsiguntsig Posts: 47member
    1. yes

    2. i think 120 is the biggest but i could be wrong

    3. generally, yes. you'd get better performance from a 7200

    4. dunno.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    argeliusargelius Posts: 309member
    Okay...perhaps I posted too quickly. I went to OWC and discovered the answers to two of my questions:



    [1] easy? Yes! OWC has a great video.



    [2] how big? Looks like 120GB.



    Still moy exactly sure about



    [3] probably yes...



    [4] probably yes...
  • Reply 3 of 7
    kmhtkmhtkmhtkmhtkmhtkmht Posts: 193member
    Err...



    Biggest you can go is 160GB... ( http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardw...le.php/3606921 )
  • Reply 4 of 7
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    A 7200 RPM drive is faster and doesn't draw significantly more power or heat.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    joeyjoey Posts: 236member
    Plus... a faster drive will read your data faster... so it's that much less time it needs to run at full speed... so depending on how much disk access you have... you may actually use less power.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    argeliusargelius Posts: 309member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Joey

    Plus... a faster drive will read your data faster... so it's that much less time it needs to run at full speed... so depending on how much disk access you have... you may actually use less power.



    Cool...thanks! Makes sense (sort of...)
  • Reply 7 of 7
    frykefryke Posts: 217member
    I heard some reports of people having more heat related problems with 7200 rpm drives. I've put in a 100 GB 5400 rpm drive and heat is the same as with the original 60 GB drive. Works perfectly and wasn't too expensive either.
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