Ben, I'd normally agree with you. I'm no newbie to laptop maintenance. I've been upgrading drives and memory for years. I've replaced screens and swapped out motherboards. I've modded netbooks with cellular data adaptors, and regularly remove the screens for the headless netbook approach.
Give the MacBook Pro a try for yourself, but, in my experience, those are some of the absolute smallest screws that I've seen on any equipment. You need an eyeglasses driver kit to turn them. The official size is 000, but 000s don't quite fit. The heads are less than an 8th of an inch across, and the shafts are, unbelievably, shorter than the heads are wide. Beyond that, on most of the MBPs, you still need a Torx T6 driver to remove the hard drive bracket. Why on earth would Apple still use a security screw? You're supposed to be able to replace the drive. Why not use a standard screw? Cara, I have a mid 2009 MBP. Unless I'm mistaken, your 2007 model doesn't use the aluminum unibody design. The older models, being plastic, require long screws to help hold everything together. The screws in the lower plate of the unibody MBP don't have anything to do with stability. They simply hold the access plate in place. Since the screws won't be subject to structural stress from the case flexing, and since the aluminum holes are harder to strip, Apple probably doesn't see the point in using long screws any longer. I'll have to tell you, when taking the screws out, the heads are so small, that, even with the correctly sized driver, it was extremely hard to turn the screw without the driver jumping out of the head. I worked very slowly, but I was really scared that some of the screws would strip. On screws that small, it is extremely easy to do. I had horrible visions of having to drill a screw out of the aluminum case. They're so small, I don't even think that would work. Even if I were to drill with an extremely skinny bit, I doubt I could get enough tork to remove the screw's remains. I'm certain that damage like that wouldn't be covered under warranty. Apple acts as if the memory and drive are user serviceable, but the design of the panel's screws is just begging for something bad to happen. Even if they made them just a tad longer (like another 8th of an inch), they'd be manageable. Being so short, they will flip over in the hole, when you try to put them back in. I haven't opened a 2010 MBP. Maybe Apple improved the screws and access panel. Maybe this is just how things must be in order to have a thin MBP. Bryan -----Original Message----- From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com [mailto:macvisionar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Ben Mustill-Rose Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 7:58 PM To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: hard drives in macbook pro. I think it depends on what your comparing it to. Obviously, taking a desktop apart is probably going to be easier than a laptop, but I find that in situations like this, practice really does make perfect. 3 years ago, i was limited to upgrading memory on laptops, but now I can do complete tairdowns and motherboard replacements. What I'm trying to say is if you find laptops hard, just keep at it and you'll get better lol. On 04/06/2010, Cara Quinn <modelc...@gmail.com> wrote: > Wow, I've had the opposite experience! lol! go figure! > > I've had one of mine (a 2007 white) apart several times and have had > no issues with stripping screws or such. > > Which model is yours, by chance?. > > Smiles, > > Cara :) > --- > View my Online Portfolio at: > > http://www.onemodelplace.com/CaraQuinn > > Follow me on Twitter! > > https://twitter.com/ModelCara > > On Jun 3, 2010, at 8:47 AM, Bryan Smart wrote: > > However, taking the MacBook apart to put in the drive will be a > frustrating experience. You've never seen screws that tiny, or that > strip that easily. I upgraded my memory to 8GB, and will never again > open my MacBook if I can help it. > > Bryan > > -----Original Message----- > From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com > [mailto:macvisionar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Ben Mustill-Rose > Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 8:18 PM > To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com > Subject: Re: hard drives in macbook pro. > > It will be a normal sata ii 5400 rpm drive. There not designed > exclusively for the mbp's, so you can go onto a pc components website > and buy a normal & cheep 7200 drive. > > On 03/06/2010, Ricardo Walker <rwalker...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Hi kimberly, >> >> look under apple in the menu bar. Go into about this Mac. >> >> hth >> On Jun 2, 2010, at 7:28 PM, Kimberly thurman wrote: >> >>> I do know the ram is DDR3, but I would be interested in knowing what >>> type hard drive is in the MBP as well. Also, where do I go to find >>> out my system information, i.e. hard drive capacity, amount of ram, >>> etc. TIA Kim On Jun 2, 2010, at 6:13 PM, Dónal Fitzpatrick wrote: >>> >>>> Evening all, >>>> >>>> I'm thinking of upgrading both the memory and the HD in my MBP. >>>> Anyone know what type of drive is inside these things? I want to >>>> get a bigger 7200 RPM disk and replace the one it came with. >>>> >>>> Cheers >>>> >>>> Dónal >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>>> >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >> >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionar...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
