Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

9

Time Required

                          30 - 45 minutes

Sections

4

  • Lower Case
  • 2 steps
  • Battery Connection
  • 2 steps
  • Hard Drive
  • 4 steps
  • Hard Drive
  • 1 step

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  • BackMacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012

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Introduction

If your new hard drive seems slow or doesn’t work correctly, try replacing the hard drive cable. The cable is a common point of failure that can slow down or prevent data transfer to and from a hard drive. This is commonly found to be an issue with SSDs due to their high read/write speeds.

What you need

Video Overview

Step 1

              Lower Case
  • Remove the following ten screws:
  • Three 14.4 mm Phillips #00 screws
  • Three 3.5 mm Phillips #00 screws
  • Four 3.5 mm shouldered Phillips #00 screws
  • When replacing the small screws, align them perpendicular to the slight curvature of the case (they don’t go straight down).

Remove the following ten screws:

Three 14.4 mm Phillips #00 screws

Three 3.5 mm Phillips #00 screws

Four 3.5 mm shouldered Phillips #00 screws

When replacing the small screws, align them perpendicular to the slight curvature of the case (they don’t go straight down).

1024

Step 2

  • Use your fingers to pry the lower case away from the body of the MacBook near the vent.
  • Remove the lower case.

Use your fingers to pry the lower case away from the body of the MacBook near the vent.

Remove the lower case.

Step 3

              Battery Connection
  • Use the edge of a spudger to pry the battery connector upwards from its socket on the logic board.
  • It is useful to pry upward on both short sides of the connector to “walk” it out of its socket. Be careful with the corners of the connectors, they can be easily broken off.

Use the edge of a spudger to pry the battery connector upwards from its socket on the logic board.

It is useful to pry upward on both short sides of the connector to “walk” it out of its socket. Be careful with the corners of the connectors, they can be easily broken off.

Step 4

  • Bend the battery cable slightly away from its socket on the logic board so it does not accidentally connect itself while you work.

Bend the battery cable slightly away from its socket on the logic board so it does not accidentally connect itself while you work.

Step 5

              Hard Drive
  • Remove the two Phillips screws securing the hard drive bracket to the upper case.
  • These screws will remain attached to the hard drive bracket.

Remove the two Phillips screws securing the hard drive bracket to the upper case.

These screws will remain attached to the hard drive bracket.

Step 6

  • Remove the hard drive bracket.
  • The hard drive bracket may be firmly seated against the upper case.

Remove the hard drive bracket.

The hard drive bracket may be firmly seated against the upper case.

Step 7

  • Use the attached pull tab to lift the hard drive out of the upper case.
  • Don’t try to completely remove the hard drive just yet. It is still attached to the hard drive cable.

Use the attached pull tab to lift the hard drive out of the upper case.

Don’t try to completely remove the hard drive just yet. It is still attached to the hard drive cable.

Step 8

  • Pull the hard drive cable away from the body of the hard drive.
  • Remove the hard drive.

Pull the hard drive cable away from the body of the hard drive.

Remove the hard drive.

Step 9

              Hard Drive
  • Remove the four 6.0 mm T6 Torx hard drive retaining posts from the sides of the hard drive.
  • Transfer the hard drive retaining posts to your new hard drive.
  • If desired, transfer the pull tab over to your new drive.
  • If you are installing a new hard drive, we have an OS X install guide to get you up and running.
  • If you upgraded your EFI Firmware ROM you can also perform an internet recovery.

Remove the four 6.0 mm T6 Torx hard drive retaining posts from the sides of the hard drive.

Transfer the hard drive retaining posts to your new hard drive.

If desired, transfer the pull tab over to your new drive.

If you are installing a new hard drive, we have an OS X install guide to get you up and running.

If you upgraded your EFI Firmware ROM you can also perform an internet recovery.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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                    Andrew Optimus Goldheart

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Jennie - Jul 8, 2013

Reply

You saved me $150 by helping me replace my hard drive on my own! Thank you!!! I know where to turn when my mac acts up now!!

Lynzi - Jul 17, 2013

Reply

In case you need to install/reinstall your OS, the new MBPs no longer come with an install disc. To install your OS you will need to hold down CMD + R while booting up until it chimes. It will then walk you through the process.

Martin Kluger - Aug 1, 2017

After holding command + R during start up I ran into a problem using Time Machine trying to restore all the files in my system. Apparently the Samsung solid state SSD 859 EVO drive I put in first needs to be formatted before Time Machine can even recognize it! No error message appeared, but no destination disk could be located. Apparently that’s what happens with an unformatted hard drive. The solution is to select Disk Utilities in the first window seen after pressing command +R. Then In the left sidebar I could see all the drives including the external hard drive with my Time Machine back up and also the Samsung solid state hard drive I installed. With the newly installed hard drive selected, use the default erase and re-formating options and click on ERASE (this will also format the erased drive). This operation was very quick. I then returned to Time Machine and voila, the hard drive was locatable as a destination disk.

Felipe Mail-no-principal - May 26, 2018

To the people that this still doesn’t work, try pressing cmd+alt+R, after connecting to WiFi go to Disk Utilities, format the new hard drive, and then you can proceed to restore or clean install iOS.

Agustin Jimenez Fernandez - Jan 11, 2014

Reply

I needed to install the OS X in the new HD using a USB (manual in applesfera), then I was surprised when after do all this guide I see a message “Can’t verified the copy….” I fixed reinstalling my old HD, and run the old OS, changed the date and time, I change again the HD, but (this is the important) don’t pull off the battery connector. If you disconnect the battery, the system lost the date and time and yo can’t install the OS X with and USB. I don’t test the cmd + R option.