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Apple's MacBook sports user-replaceable hard disks

appleinsider.com — Owners of Apple Computer's new MacBook consumer notebooks will find that upgrading or replacing the computer's hard disk is as simple as adding more memory.

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  • samsoffes, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11they used a 5200rpm for 1. money and 2. heat. i was reading about some guy who put a 7200rpm in his powerbook and said he couldnt touch the bottom of it while it was on after he did it.
  • supernova17, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Cool, maybe I should replace this 60 GB one with something bigger.
  • GGERG15, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2i want 7200 RPM if I buy one of these.
  • Miniman, on 10/12/2007, -81/+19WOW, You cant upgrade your own mac.
    Pc's have had this for Years, if not Decades, what a Trip - Mac's Being upgradeable, i always thought that you just had to trash the old one and buy a new one if you wanted more ram.

    Mac fanboys on Digg are crazy.
    • tabledesk, on 10/12/2007, -6/+38Easily accessible hard drives aren't always a common feature of PC laptops. Please go away.
    • Gardenhead, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9I thought I knew what FUD was. Wow.
    • prockcore, on 10/12/2007, -10/+24None of the PC laptops I've used (Vaio, Compaq and HP) have had difficult to access harddrives. Most of them slide right out of the side.

      I've never seen *anything* like what you need to do to an iBook.
    • drakethegreat, on 10/12/2007, -16/+5I'm not going to mod this down just so people can see how horrible the non mac fanboys are when it comes to stupid ignorant posts.
    • funkytaco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12What's up there, flamebait? I've upgraded the drive on my iBook. Apple has just made it easier on the new Mac Books.
    • rasterbator, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3You can upgrade a Mac. Most of the components do not need replacement though. Usually I add a ton of RAM and a new video card, and maybe a secondary drive or DVD, but the built in components are just better than the "Value PCs" (which is what al other PCs are now that Apple uses Intel).
    • kcampos, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13When I first switched from PC to Mac I had the same concern...why do they make it so dang tough to swap stuff out. I was used to having to replace lots of hardware on PC laptops(Vaio, IBM, Dell, I've had them all). But then a funny thing happened. I bought my first PowerBook and years later I haven't had to touch any hardware at all. It just works. Same goes for my G4, my iMac.....get the picture? What do I care how easy it is to replace, I don't ever have to replace it cause they just work. Crazy concept to PC users I know, I was there. But I've been set free.
    • ImTheDarkcyde, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"I've never seen *anything* like what you need to do to an iBook."

      no pictures on the article of what you have to do...though from the description i'm guessing you just unscrew a plate and pop it out the bottom?
    • Fett101, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@tabledesk

      They aren't always common, but it's no excuse to have an article praising Apple for thier mind blowing innovation.
    • superal1394, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Dear prockcore: I had a Sony Vaio V505 for awhile, and I had to replace the hard drive before i sold it because it had died. I had to completely dissasemble the machine short of removing the motherboard. If my memory serves right, 15 screws.

      Dear Fett101: Have you ever owned a Mac laptop? Easily replacable hard drives is NEVER an option.
    • Personatech, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5Windows fanboys on Digg are clueless.
    • Fett101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3superal1394

      That's not the point. It's not innovation. Windows wasn't available on a Mac until this year either. Doesn't mean Apple should be fawned over.
    • gimpbully, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1erm, iirc, the older macs did have a lil bay for drive enclosures/trays, they went away with the intro of the toilet books and the aluminum powerbooks.
  • uptown, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6It also sports white cabling even if you pay extra for the black model:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/pealco/sets/72057594136649292/
    • underburn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Nothing new here, so does the iPod.
    • SilentSpyder, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9nice touch with the user login picture use of the isight.
    • prockcore, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3man.. look at how glossy that screen is... so much glare.
    • felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That last photo with the giant legs in the foreground scared me!

  • Gardenhead, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3All the more reason to wait for the second revision of the Macbook Pros. They'll obviously have these features and maybe even swappable video cards. This is definitely a step in the right direction.

    I for one, welcome our new swappable overlords.
    • veauger, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11I think you will find that with Apple, they tend not to do what many people think they 'obviously' should.
    • Canthros, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Garden head, do you have any idea what you're talking about? Swappable video cards? In a laptop?

      Have you ever taken a laptop apart?

      Your video chipset is probably soldered to the motherboard, or is at least on a mini-PCI card or riser of some sort (not necessarily proprietary, but it's probably the case that it may as well be). You're not going to swap it out unless you have a spare laptop to use for parts, and probably not even then.
    • oboreruhito, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Swappable video cards? In a laptop?"

      Yeah, those Apple dudes are totally not known for their design expertise. If anyone could figure out how to make a new connectivity standard for computer hardware that could revolutionize the industry, it sure as hell isn't Apple.
    • Fett101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Canthros, various wintel laptops have had swapable video cards for a shot while. I don't know what good they are currently as the laptop manfuactrers seem to have their own lil formats so you don't really have much in the way of choice. It's a good start though.
    • Canthros, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Fett: proprietary risers/cards didn't seem to be what the OP had in mind. And I mentioned both of those. While notebook harddrives and RAM are basically standard across machines and manufacturers, I'm not aware that anything else really is, nor that any such components are available as after-market additions through third parties on a widespread basis.
    • matt.rubin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2hell i have a notebook from 1998 that has a user swappable drive with 2 screws oh yeah from frekin DELL

      and guys stop giving Garden a hard time cause Alienware does it :)

      http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/alienware.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=5020&p_created=1147479033&p_sid=ia4f-H7i&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0yNTU5JnBfcHJvZHM9JnBfY2F0cz0mcF9wdj0mcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9mbmwmcF9zY2ZfZmFxcypjJGxhbmd1YWdlPTIwNSZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1

      and the standard for upgradeable notebook graphics is called MXM2

      yeah i got u
    • youareretarded, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1What apple needs to release is iclue for it's clueless apple fans boys!

      What's next? A front page story on a new apple laptop with a two button touch pad?!

      Come to think of it that would be news!
  • Linkage155, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6They couldn't before?
    (sorry if I sound newb-ish)
    • pants428, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6no, replacing a hard drive (or optical drive) in an iBook is a LOT of work... I have done it a couple of times (at work we have 30 iBooks from 2001, all out of waranty) it is not easy by any means... the only harder part to replace is the logic board... You basically have to tear the whole thing apart in order to do it... I like the iBook design, it is durable, and it has a metal frame (unlike a lot of pc laptops), but I don't like working on them...
  • tabledesk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I've read that 5400rpm disk drives lead to better battery life than a 4200rpm drive because the reduced amount of read time overcomes the extra power needed to spin the drive. Does that apply to 7200rpm vs 5400rpm?
    • mattmichielsen, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0That makes sense, but it would depend a lot on how much I/O load you're putting on the drive.
  • errer, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7The expense of the black model is absolutely retarded. 150 bucks for black? No thanks.
    • frem001, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3now if it was a carbon fibre case that would justify the extra cost
    • pxa270, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4Heh, for $150 you get the privilege of making your Apple look more like a Dell :)
      http://www.flickr.com/photos/18512405@N00/
    • Truegod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1you get a hard drive upgrade so it's actually "only" $100 for the black case... But it does sucks you pay more just for the blackness.
    • deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Black is going to be in short supply for a while so obviously it cost more. Wecome to Business 101.
    • oboreruhito, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1But once you go black...

      ...sorry.
    • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2that is "once you go Mac..."
    • errer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No, the hard drive upgrade only costs 50 bucks on the Apple site. Therefore, 150 dollars for black.
  • stonyhill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I replaced hard drives in a 2002 iBook and a 2003 12" Powerbook. It went OK, but there were parts that could have been broken by making simple errors.

    I'm glad to see them making it easier to upgrade.
  • sankymoron, on 10/12/2007, -18/+7"user replaceable hard-disks"?? wow, you mac users probably never heard of that before huh? so dance in joy since your benevelont dictator stevie jobs decided to give you a little freedom!
    • victorsays, on 10/12/2007, -5/+6forgive my ignorance, but I don't hear many PC notebooks having "user replaceable hard disks."
    • kcampos, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9us Mac users don't need to reinstall our OS every year either...doesn't mean we haven't heard of users who do have to. We just pity them. Good luck with that.
    • asmodeus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4With the old IBM Thinkpads (or at least the models I encountered at my last job), the hard disk was easily replaceable - after removing a couple of screws on the bottom you could slide them out of the edge. Since Thinkpads are my only real experience with PC notebooks I have no idea how widespread similar design is, or if the drives were event standard.
    • startrek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0With My old Thinkpad, I pop up the keyboard and everything is there, the CD-ROM, Harddrve, and motherboard.
    • Canthros, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have a TI laptop (manufactured by Acer, I think, but it's TI-branded) from 1997 that has an easily accessible hardrive: pop off a panel on one corner of the machine, push in a couple sliding tabs and the hard drive enclosure pops out, neat as you please. If you have a spare enclosure with a HD in it, it'll swap right in. I think I remember a couple from following years that had even simpler solutions.

      Granted, my Extensa is a clunky old beast (USB? Eh?), but it did the job well enough for four years of college.
    • youareretarded, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Quote: "forgive my ignorance, but I don't hear many PC notebooks having "user replaceable hard disks."

      That's because it's such a basic and standard feature that it's hardly even a "feature" let alone news worthy!
  • drewcurtis, on 10/12/2007, -17/+4This is good news. Everything about a Mac should be as simple as possible. The majority of Apple users are simpletons.
  • frem001, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2didn't it sya you had to get past some foil to get to the dard drive, so if you did do it wouldn't that void the one year warranty?
  • frogstik, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4just because it's easier to get to the hard drive it does NOT mean that the macbook has user installable hds... if you install one yourself, you'll void your warranty... end of story.
    • iamdw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1for new machines yes, but the story picks up again when your warranty has run out. as mine did, twice.
    • frogstik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah, true... if your warranty is up -- the go for it. I'd just hate to see someone get the cheaper one thinking the can just toss a bigger drive in it and then take it to an Apple Store when it gets messed up -- they'll look at it, see it has a bigger drive, but no record of service and say no way.
    • aquax, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"if you install one yourself, you'll void your warranty... end of story."

      Not entirely. You'll certainly void any warranty related to your original hard drive, and would void the warranty on any part of the machine that was damaged during the installation, but it would not invalidate your entire warranty on unrelated parts, like the display, or power supply.
    • frogstik, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3if you open the system, and you are not an authorized apple technician certified on portables, then yes... opening up anything other than the access to the ram slot will void your warranty. just like opening up a mac mini to pop in ram will technically void your warranty since you are not authorized to do so.
    • chadseld, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You do NOT void you warranty by opening the machine and changing the hard drive. The deal is that your warranty does not cover anything that you break while doing so.
  • iamdw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1little confusing... i've replaced a few drives on older PowerBook and iBooks. perhaps the title should have read "Apple's MacBook sports easily replaceable/upgradable hard disks"
  • Fett101, on 10/12/2007, -6/+14My Dell only requires 1 screw to replace the hard drive. Beats Apple by one screw and at least 2 years. Innovation my butt.

    Also upgradeable/installable by a screw. Two RAM slots. One MiniPCI slot. One modem/NIC.

    (Let’s wait and see this get modded down. I want to hear excuses from those who choose to)
    • aquax, on 10/12/2007, -6/+7You forgot another feature: 7.1lbs with a 90 minute battery.
    • Tom_Riddle, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4Too bad Dell is simply a steaming pile of ***** with a big price tag.

      Dell charges way too much for such poor hardware.

      I feel sorry for you actually.
    • JasonDelta, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I'm also not impressed. I have a 2-year old HP zt3000 (the HP equivalent of the Compaq x1000) and I just recently replaced the hard drive in about 2 minutes - 2 screws and the hard drive pops out of a convenient slot on the bottom. And just like Fett's laptop, both RAM slots are easily accessible, as well as the miniPCI. The video card and processor can also be replaced with a little more effort. This is all just another example of how everyone goes crazy when Apple reinvents the wheel...yawn...
    • jazzwolf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3My Old IBM Thinkpad i1200 from way back in 2000 had a user replaceable HDD. So Apple is quite a bit late on this.

      But I do say... I’m oddly reminded of: http://www.engadget.com/2005/09/17/apple-patent-hints-at-integrated-webcams-for-future-imacs/ :P
  • evilempire, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yeah - I would love to see them as easily upgradable as IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads. One screw, pull out the HD. It is incredibly easy to do.

    Compare that to taking apart an iBook - which if you have ever done it is probably 2 hours of work.
    • JohnClay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It takes about 40 minutes to take appart an iBook, replace the hard drive, put it back together and get an OS installing... 2 hrs my ass.
  • aquax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Generally, in Apple terminology, "user replaceable" means that the item can be replaced by a consumer in their own home as part of a warranty repair, instead of sending/taking the unit to an Apple certified technician, saving time.

    Apple's support site has a listing of parts in the various iMacs that are "user replaceable", and I would expect a similar list for the MacBooks sometime in the future.
    • frogstik, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2honestly, i'd be shocked if apple gave the green light on the HD being user replaceable... but, stranger things have happened...
  • masamunexs, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Should this really be characterized as a new feature? This is more like a fix to a flaw.
  • MichaelW2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Now you can replace your old ibook hardrive into this one easily?

    Someone tell me if I'm wrong. But this is the main benefit I see.
    • JohnClay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0damn double posts...
    • JohnClay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0You are wrong in this assumption, as it is a different interface (ATA to SATA).
  • frosted, on 10/12/2007, -10/+6HAHAHA

    Yet again proving my point. Apple takes OLD technology that has been around for ages on the PC, dresses it up and calls it a special feature. *****! This is just Apple following an old PC trend in laptops. Big deal. No digg.
    • aaryn, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2I like digging these stories, just for people like you. :D
  • WackyT, on 10/12/2007, -6/+7WOW! Now Apple notebook users will be allowed to do more with their computers than just put a piece of colored paper behind the Apple logo?! That is amazing!
  • jhudson, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Oh I get it. It is just as easy to replace memory as it will now be to replace the hard drive. From the quote "replacing the computer's hard disk is as simple as adding more memory." I was having a heck of a time trying to figure out why you add more memory to replace a hard drive. Dang english langauge and it's funny ways.
    • Fett101, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Same here. I was thinking that, as far out as it would be, they had added a RAM drive. Now that would have been something to write about.
  • mickaloha, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5It is funny that Apple is promoting a feature that has been around on PCs for a long time. What is even funnier is when people say that Apple is using higher quality parts for the new Intel macs. They don't. Apple doesn't even make the laptops. They outsource to the same outsourcers that Dell and HP do. They are using the same parts that go into a Dell or HP. They stick a different case on it and voila! You have a laptop that is your favorite brand but is in reality, brand x from a Taiwan company such as Quanta Computer, Twinhead Computers, Acer, Asustek, and the list goes on. The macbook is really just an Asus computer with different case and different size screen. Too bad the Asus can't run OS X legally though.
    • eatrains, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Where is Apple promoting it as a feature?
    • lavo96, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Easily replaceable drives were available on the Wallstreet, Lombard and Pismo Powerbooks between the late 90s to when the Titanium powerbooks came out (even those were easy).

      What is sad is that everything points to this laptop being the first Apple laptop since the first Powerbook 100 that was not designed by Apple themselves (bar the case design).
  • Truegod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Nice, does anyone have a picture of the hard drive access?
  • enzomedici, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1

    ...and a cheesy glossy screen. What was Apple thinking? I guess that's for the Windows converts. I would never buy any laptop with a glossy screen. Put those new Macbooks in the same pile as the Cube.
    • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2glossy screens show better blacks, matte screens have less glare. I think the glossy screens are fine for how/where I use a computer.

      With the Powerbooks you have a choice.
  • loroco, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0How do you keep content from the old hard drive? no need to mock me, i'm a newbie obviously
    • jdog1016, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1When you buy a mac, they give you the OS X discs, and obviously you need to backup your personal files yourself to restore them.
  • digitallysick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My 8 month old 17 inch power book has a 100 gb HD, what more do you need for now? Its the cadillac of laptops, im sure the new Mac book pro is even better! wish i had one!
  • quoigonfishin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Man I could have used this feature earlier today. I just replaced my HD in my aluminum PowerBook. I can attest that it is definitely NOT user friendly.
    • enochlai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I've replaced many a hard drive on both iBooks and Powerbooks, the aluminum Powerbook hard drive is about 10x easier to replace than the iBook. The old iBook you had to pry apart the bottom and top case, unscrew about 30 different screws, take off the keyboard, airport card, and a few other steps just to get to the hard drive. I agree that this is a flaw that they had to fix. I actually don't mind replacing a HD in a powerbook or macbook pro for that matter as they're pretty much the same process.
  • TeleCarlos, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3PC guys are party poopers!!!

    Is it jealousy?

    You guys are weird, hate Apple yet keep posting silly stuff... go back to your XP loaded super duper, WoW game computers and stuff! And at least try to get girlfriends or something!
  • TWiThead, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I purchased my ThinkPad over two years ago, and its hard disk drive slides right out. Apple should be commended for improving their product, but they shouldn't be credited with any sort of innovation because of this.

    I can almost hear it now: "Apple just added a second button below their laptops' touchpads! They're geniuses!" ;)
    • generic109, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Who is crediting them with some kind of innovation?
    • TWiThead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The comment "forgive my ignorance, but I don't hear many PC notebooks having 'user replaceable hard disks.'" certainly seems to imply that this is an Apple innovation. Apple's competitors don't tout their second mouse button either, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. These features are simply too ordinary to warrant prominent advertising.

      For the record, I like Apple's products. I own an iMac. I also like Windows-based PCs, and I own the aforementioned ThinkPad. Ridiculous bias exists among some members of each camp, and lauding Apple for fixing a design flaw that others fixed years ago (and citing it as an example of how "superior" Apple's products are to everyone else's) is a good example of bias in the Apple camp. (And yes, the Windows "fanboys" are every bit as bad.) I don't understand why we can't discuss the merits of the various hardware brands and operating systems without triggering a holy war.
    • matt.rubin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1cough cough umm business week says they are innovative proving here they are not

      http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/04/in_products/index_01.htm?campaign_id=di7
  • kram, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1NO *****! This feature dates back to the G3 powerbooks.
  • joseph93, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0That's good to know, though, I'll be getting a MacBook Pro next year, but they would prolly update it by then. I was thinking about replacing my iBook's HD with a bigger one...
  • startrek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1WOW, now Mac people wil begin to enjoy a SMALL part of the good upgrading feeling, of making their notebooks better. I could get a better laptop in my sleep. Go AMD, nVidia, and MSI and your good to go. What is up with the digg thing up there? I was being sarcastic! Stupid thing, turn negative!
  • shadowmoses, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is really cool, allows for a much more customisable system, and allows for anyone to upgrade in the future....
  • Tommstein, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Only on a piece of ***** from Apple is replaceable hard drives newsworthy.
  • DooDah, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1youse guys, come on just live with the fact some of us use pc's and some use macs. neither are inferior or superior, they have there plus's and minus's.

    i think this story is a waste of digg's and our time lets get on with our self-orientated life's.

    no digg as this is just another pc vs mac war ***** story.
  • ewik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i admit i read through these comments pretty fast, so forgive me if this was already stated, but why on earth hasn't anyone mentioned that this doesn't void the warranty? that is the important part. oh, and it's not a stupidly thick thinkpad either (sorry).
  • dave750, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sorry, but i bought a macbook for use in the music industry, put windows on it and found that ALL my music software works better in windows, way better. This Mac OS hype is not what it is made out to be. Sure its easy to use, but the tradeoff is less capability. to top it off, Apple always sreamed out that its motorola processors were so superior and then changed to intel and now say that they perform 4-5 times faster than the motorola processors, gimme a break. In other words, I took a bite of my Apple and it was rotten. Its a nice computer on the outside, but i'll never buy another one.
  • crlake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I can’t speak for MacBook, I have last years iBook and a PC Desktop. There is defiantly a trade off between the two. Some good, some BAD!! I don’t use my iBook for anything serious. A few flash/web designs, blogging and email -- nothing that it can’t handle. The PC does the dirty work.

    I could have used that easy-ass way of getting the hard drive out of that iBook. “Replace your iBook’s hard drive in 90 minutes”, MY ASS! It took 10 hours and that laptop was in pieces, with a 1,000 tiny little screws – each having to be labeled in Tupperware in order to get that crap back together again. The entire weekend shot to hell.
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