Putting a SSD into a 2012 Macbook Pro

[Cpfoxhunt]

Hello,

I recently purchased (well January anyway) a 15" Macbook Pro. I've decided that I'd probably quite like to take my warranty into my hands and run the OS from an SSD in the optical bay department. This lead to a few questions that people on here might be able to answer:

1) Is Optibay the best caddy to do this with?
2) What is the best 128 or 256gb SSD to do this with? (The Crucial ones look cheap, but that's making me suspicious.) Ideally I'd like to keep the total budget including the caddy under £150.
3) I realise that this voids my warranty, but do I actually mess with any tamper tape? Or would it be possible to just pop the Superdrive back in before sending it in if necessary?

Alternatively, are there any 'Hybrid drives' that are worth buying and replacing the entire 750gb HDD with?

Any help with this is definitely appreciated as I am very out of date with fiddling around with computer guts (Haven't built a desktop in nearly a decade).

Cheers!

 

[ninja2000]

Firstly adding an SSD will not void your warranty provided you do not damage the machine in the process.

1. you can use an optibay or just pick up a cheap equivalent off the bay
2. I have used both crucial m4 and samsung 830 and both perform great.
3. There is no tamper tape and if you read the macbook pro booklet it states hdd and ram are user replacable.

It is incredibly easy to do, check out ifixit they have a step by step guide

 

[magicroundabout]

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing+MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Unibody+Mid+2012+Hard+Drive/10378/1

 

[Cpfoxhunt]

Thanks very much for the replies! I'm pretty sure the superdrive is not user replaceable hence the voiding of the warranty, and as I want to keep my existing 750gb Hard Drive in the HDD slot I think this voids the warranty but not in a way that anyone can actually detect if I swap the superdrive back in before sending it off?

EDIT: What SSD would people recommend for under £100? I heard that there used to be issues with SATA II and SATA III and 3G and 6G write speeds, but I think they are mainly historical now?

Also is it better to put the HD in the optibay slot or leave it where it is? I keep reading about potential speed penalties for whatever is connected there.

 

[uniQ]

Thanks very much for the replies! I'm pretty sure the superdrive is not user replaceable hence the voiding of the warranty, and as I want to keep my existing 750gb Hard Drive in the HDD slot I think this voids the warranty but not in a way that anyone can actually detect if I swap the superdrive back in before sending it off?

Yep.

EDIT: What SSD would people recommend for under £100? I heard that there used to be issues with SATA II and SATA III and 3G and 6G write speeds, but I think they are mainly historical now?

Crucial M4 or a Samsung 830/840

Also is it better to put the HD in the optibay slot or leave it where it is? I keep reading about potential speed penalties for whatever is connected there.

The Optibay is SATA II and the HDD bay is SATA III.

 

[Cpfoxhunt]

Fantastic, that couldn't have been a better answer to my questions. Crucial M4 in the HDD bay it is. Cheers for the help!

 

[ninja2000]

exactly what I did. 256gb m4 in HDD bay and 750gb in optibay.

If you want a bootcamp install make sure you do it whilst you have the superbay installed as you cannot install via USB stick

 

[Cpfoxhunt]

Out of these three, what would people recommend?

Crucial M4
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-010-CR

Samsung 840 non pro (pro is out of budget)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-162-SA

Samsung 830 356gb (can't find ok OCuK)

I've read that the 830 is potentially more reliable than the 840 but I'm not sure if that's true? Also will I need any additional SATA cables, or should I just be able to plunder the ones from the existing superdrive and HDD?

Cheers for any help!

EDIT: Fixed - sorry for being rude, forgot where I was.

 

[steveo]

jeez Cpfoxhunt at least link to them on the ocuk website and not there

 

[Cpfoxhunt]

I went for an 840 in the end (non pro) on grounds of battery life and price. The (alleged) reduced lifespan of TLC NAND doesn't really worry me because in three or so years I'll probably want to replace it anyway. I'm sure it will knock the socks off a 7200 RPM hard drive anyway! Thanks very much for the advice!