Upgrading a MacBook Pro

INTRO

So after a little over 2 years since I switched back to Mac after 20 years, I found myself really maxxing out my 2007 Santa Rosa-based MacBook Pro in terms of both memory and disk space. Chalk it up to my vigorous use of my digital camera, a growing MP3 collection, or my insatiable appetite for virtual machines (i.e. how I get my Windows work done!), but I finally found myself out of hard drive space. I tried all the usual Mac tricks of stripping out unused languages and binaries, clearing out all the caches and old PLISTS, but alas, I was finally time to upgrade. Although the newer unibody Macs were really enticing, I just couldn't see myself parting with $2000 when I could just upgrade my existing system that's served me well for the last two years for about $200. Even if I could get $1000-$1200 for my current model, it would still be $800 out of pocket that I really didn't feel like spending. At first, I thought it might be a bit of a daunting task, but as it turns out, memory and disk upgrades aren't as difficult as one might think. Memory upgrades consist of removing the battery, three screws that hold the memory cover in place, and presto! I now have 4GB of memory as opposed to the 2GB that it came with. The second task of replacing the hard drive was the one that was a bit more daunting, but thanks to a great tutorial by iFixIt and about 3 hours, I was in business with a new 320GB/7200RPM/16MB Cache Hitachi drive, almost 3x the capacity and certainly a much better performer than my factory installed 120GB/5400RPM/8MB Cache Fujitsu drive.

TOOLS NEEDED

The basic tools needed for this "operation" are a small phillips screwdriver (I happen to use this one), a T6 Torx screwdriver (this one), and a "spudger", a small flat piece of plastic used to "pry" cases apart, something I happened to have lying around when I ordered a replacement digitzer for my old Dell Axim X51v off of eBay. You could probably use a flat blade screwdriver if you're VERY careful, but I chose not to since I actually had the right tool and didn't want to chew up the MacBook Pro's aluminum case.

REFERENCES

You can download the "how to" guide from iFixIt.com located here. They also have guides for other Macs, so check 'em out.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In all, the actual hard disk replacement only took about 20 minutes, the bulk of the 3 hours was due to copying all the data, which I used Carbon Copy Cloner for, the remaining 40 minutes was reading the guide and testing the new config before I put all the screws back in. In all, not bad for an afternoon's worth of work.