Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Walker · Nov 14, 2009, 04:18 PM

I just purchased a nice used Macbook Pro and would like to use it to replace my work Macbook. Both are 2006-2007 models. My work macbook has a 250GB hard drive and has all my work apps & data. Can I simply swap the drives between these 2 macs?

seanc · Nov 14, 2009, 04:25 PM

You could A) swap them over, B) clone the MacBook to the MacBook Pro, C) use migration assistant to migrate your data and apps over.

Not a direct answer to your question, but some extra options in case you hadn't considered them.

CharlesS · Nov 14, 2009, 04:29 PM

Yes, they’re just 2.5” SATA drives. There is no reason why you can’t swap the drive from one into another. Make sure you have a TORX T6 screwdriver.

Walker · Nov 14, 2009, 05:00 PM

So just so I'm clear, you both are saying that I can swap the drives and use the Macbook Pro just like I used the Macbook. All my work apps and documents will function just fine. Additionally all the drivers from Macbook's Hard drive will work just fine with the Macbook Pro's hardware.

Thanks for the help!

CharlesS · Nov 14, 2009, 05:04 PM

Your apps and documents will be fine. Your drivers should be okay, but if you really want to be sure about that, you might want to get a FireWire cable and use Migration Assistant to transfer the data. That way, you’ll have all your apps and data from the old machine, but a brand new OS installation that’s sure to be appropriate to the new machine.

chabig · Nov 14, 2009, 05:43 PM

It'll work. I put a MBP hard drive into a MacBook and it worked flawlessly.

Spheric Harlot · Nov 14, 2009, 06:20 PM

A friend did the opposite - white MacBook to unibody MBP - and the new machine refused to boot.

CharlesS · 06:51 PM

What OS was the white MacBook running? Was it Tiger? If the MacBook was running Leopard (if the MBP is the original unibody — Snow Leopard if it’s the latest model), then I’d expect it to work if it has the latest software updates. Migration Assistant *is* probably the safest way to go, though.

seanc · Nov 14, 2009, 06:47 PM

I think the Unibody MBPs were quite a significant hardware change compared to the previous gen MBPs and plastic MacBooks; DDR3, different SATA controllers or settings which wreaked havoc with SATA drives are the ones I can recall at the moment.

amazing · Nov 14, 2009, 07:31 PM

Even if it doesn't boot up right away, you could do an archive and install or even just an upgrade with the OS disks from the new laptop.

Simon · Nov 15, 2009, 02:29 AM

Originally Posted by amazing

Even if it doesn't boot up right away, you could do an archive and install or even just an upgrade with the OS disks from the new laptop.

This is good advice. Go ahead and swap the disks. If it doesn't work, you can upgrade install by booting from the OS X DVD. At this point, if you don't feel comfortable with this you can still go CharlesS' route: install a vanilla OS from the DVD and use MA to restore from your old disk. Either from a TM backup or a clone of the old disk or directly with TDM to the Mac containing your old disk.

Spheric Harlot · Nov 15, 2009, 04:26 AM

Originally Posted by seanc

I think the Unibody MBPs were quite a significant hardware change compared to the previous gen MBPs and plastic MacBooks; DDR3, different SATA controllers or settings which wreaked havoc with SATA drives are the ones I can recall at the moment.

yep. Changes in the controller are my guess, as well. I wasn't there, but I do know that the os versions were the same.

Doc HM · Nov 15, 2009, 03:34 PM

It does make a big difference which machine is older than which (but only if your drive has an older version of OS X than was available on the new Mac.

For example, if the MacBook Pro is newer than the MacBook and the MacBook is running an older version of OS X than the MacBook Pro shipped with then you could have issues. The key issue is does your version of OS X understand all about the Mac that is it's new home.

When I switched from my old MBP 15in to my new MBP 17 unibody, my old Mac was already running 10.6.2 so the drive has been perfectly happy in its new home. If my old MBP had still been on 10.5 then it probably would not have booted.

Simon · Nov 15, 2009, 03:45 PM

It really doesn't matter if it doesn't boot. In such a case you just boot from the OS X DVD and update install. Done. You'll still end up with all your stuff (apps, documents, settings) the way it was before the disk swap.

Spheric Harlot · Nov 15, 2009, 04:06 PM

Originally Posted by Doc HM

It does make a big difference which machine is older than which (but only if your drive has an older version of OS X than was available on the new Mac.

For example, if the MacBook Pro is newer than the MacBook and the MacBook is running an older version of OS X than the MacBook Pro shipped with then you could have issues. The key issue is does your version of OS X understand all about the Mac that is it's new home.

When I switched from my old MBP 15in to my new MBP 17 unibody, my old Mac was already running 10.6.2 so the drive has been perfectly happy in its new home. If my old MBP had still been on 10.5 then it probably would not have booted.

As I said, I am well aware of all that, but it appears that this wasn't the issue.

However, I wasn't there, so I have no further diagnostic info.

danbrew · Nov 29, 2009, 05:04 PM

As I'm sure most of you know, the Migration Assistant works very well. I just migrated a user from a Black Macbook to a MBP and it was shockingly easy. I was very surprised as this sort of stuff never seems to work well...!

Simon · Nov 30, 2009, 03:01 AM

Originally Posted by danbrew

As I'm sure most of you know, the Migration Assistant works very well.

Umm, MA was already suggested above.