Tell me more ×
Ask Different is a question and answer site for power users of Apple hardware and software. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 4 down vote favorite
1

It's pretty popular to replace ones optical drive* on the MacBook Pro with a HDD, but how serious are the risks?

*In most cases, you'd do this when installing a third-party SSD, but I'd like to leave any of those benefits out of this and isolate matters of the HDD and Superdrive.

I mean things like:

  • Overheating
  • Performance issues
  • Battery life
  • Warranty status
  • Weight increase
  • Upsetting Steve


Update: The above questions have been addressed in this question, but there is a more serious issue — potentially, a missing sudden motion shock sensor in the optical drive.

share|improve this question

5 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted
  • Overheating shouldn't be an issue. The SuperDrive probably runs hotter (when it's in use) since it has moving parts
  • An SSD would most likely improve performance (especially if you use it as your boot drive and place for applications)
  • Don't know about battery life, but I imagine if you you use this as your boot drive, and the stock hard disk as your "slave", you might actually see an improvement (again, fewer 'moving parts')
  • This will void your warranty, but if you're careful you might be able to get in and out without leaving evidence of tampering. Consult iFixit's guides for tips
  • I can't imagine there would be a noticeable weight difference.
  • Steve is dead, unless you're talking about Steve Zahn. Steve Zahn doesn't care what you do with your computer.
share|improve this answer
I agree with all of these except battery life. I get much worse battery life since I added an SSD and moved the hard drive to the optical bay. The performance increase more than makes up for it though (for me) – anthonyg Dec 1 '12 at 2:07
Thank you Charles. In my case, for example, I already have an SSD running (I've modified my question), so I wonder how the HDD-replacing-SuperDrive action affects performance and battery-life alone. (I was joking when I mentioned Steve, RIP) – Baumr Dec 1 '12 at 2:48
Either way, using the SSD at the boot and main storage for apps will keep the hdd used at a minimum. Not as minimum as the Superdrive, which few of us use anyway. Of course, you could always run two ssds but that is probably still cost prohibitive compared to the $ p/gb you get with an hdd. Your main issue will be the warranty I suppose, but like I said if you're careful and somewhat surgical you should be able to get around that. – Charles Patterson Dec 1 '12 at 3:28
up vote 1 down vote

I've done this to my own MacBook Unibody Late '08 earlier this year. In answering each query, this is what I've noticed...

  • Overheating: My machine has recently started over heating but it's hard to attribute this to the SSD/HDD combo. Most heat is coming not from where the SATA bays are located, but rather where the USB ports etc. sit.
  • Performance: has massively improved, but without a shadow of doubt, as the months have gone by, it has deteriorated. I still get lightning boot ups but apps are not as quick as they were. Please not that most 3rd party SSDs under Snow Leopard and above have no TRIM support. I've only just enabled mine through back door command line methods, which as with anything command line, may not be 'ideal' for the light-hearted user.
  • Battery life: has definitely decreased. In place of my optical bay is a 7200RPM hard drive, which takes more power than a standard 5400RPM. Also, given that you would be using your HDD a lot, unlike your superdrive which you use more occasionally than constantly (I'm assuming), you can expect some decrease.
  • Warranty: Will be severed!
  • Weight: the SSD is lighter than the original HDD. However, my new HDD and superdrive weight similar, the HDD 'feeling' heavier.

I've just posted a query about my machine as I think the SSD is causing some issues. The response to that may shed some further light on the topic.

share|improve this answer
Sorry I missed that quote. Yes, this is a problem but I was told to put the HDD in the Optical Bay. This was based on advices I was given to do with speeds. Recently I noticed when holding the laptop from under the optical bay, I could feel the HDD spins the more pressure I applied. It is a potential problem indeed. I guess if their are no link speed issues, it would make sense to keep the SSD in the optical bay, but I'm not entirely sure. – infmz Dec 1 '12 at 15:56
It depends on your computer, see this: SATA speeds in SuperDrive and HDD bay – Baumr Dec 1 '12 at 16:10
Thanks. Then I should've kept mine in the Optibay as its' an older, slower mac with SATA II. Mind you, after some tests just now, I'm starting to think that my HDD could be struggling, possible/partly due to it spinning while moved etc – infmz Dec 1 '12 at 16:40
up vote 1 down vote

RE: voiding the warranty. When I recently bought my non-retina 13" MBP, I told several of the Apple Store people that I planned to swap out the HDD for the SSD I took from my now-dead (logic board) 15" MBP A1211, and that I realized I would void the warranty. They all told me that Apple considers the two drive bays "user replaceable" and that doing what I planned would NOT void the warranty. Specifically, I could put any SATA device in either bay. Anyone test this info?

share|improve this answer
Interesting stuff, I can't verify, but I'll ask around – Baumr Feb 1 at 11:08
2  
The warranty says it doesn't cover damage due to unauthorized / untrained work. In the case where normal tools are needed (where pentalobe, tri lobe, sealed / locked would be not normal), your warranty should cover anything where you or someone else didn't cause damage. Think of it like this, if they could imagine the screen failing even if you didn't put a second hard drive in, why would they deny warranty coverage? Now, if you blew the optical bay cable and there happened to be some power hungry HDD - your warranty claims might be set aside, but that's not what I see being asked here. – bmike♦ Feb 1 at 18:35
up vote 1 down vote

I can confirm that for the MBP Apple does not have a problem with users changing the drives. It does NOT void the warrantee.

My experience: I have replaced the disk drive with a 512G SSD and replaced the optical drive with a 1TB disk drive. I suspect that airflow is impacted as I feel that I run a bit hotter than before but I'm not really sure.

Battery life is better if I'm not churning the fixed disk (ie only using the SSD or cache).

share|improve this answer
Thanks, and welcome to StackExchange! Just one point, did you read the other answer saying the same thing? – Baumr May 16 at 13:03
up vote 1 down vote

I have a 2011 MBP 13" with SSD and HDD attached into SuperDrive with LMP Disk Doubler (http://www.mzone.sk/disk-doubler-3653)

  1. Overheating - Didn't notice any overheating.

  2. Performance issues - Works great. Made symbolic links to SSD home dir

  3. Battery life - Maybe an overall 5-10min decrease.

  4. Warranty status - I was in an App Store

  5. Weight increase - No

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.