We get this one a lot. Like, a lot a lot, and there’s no easy answer. Sure, Apple, Hewlett Packard, and Dell, to name a few, all make computers. They have processors, RAM, non-volatile storage (hard drives), a case, a keyboard… you know. Computer stuff. But the similarities end the moment we stop drawing broad comparisons about the underlying machine stuff. Windows PCs vary significantly by manufacturer; Apple computers vary less, but offer less choice.
If you’re like me, the DVD drive in your unibody Macbook Pro (mid-2012 model or earlier) is just going to waste. With most software hosting going to the web and file sizes swelling, there’s reduced need for disc based media and increased need for fast, local storage.
In my own Macbook Pro, I replaced the original hard drive with a Samsung 850 Pro SSD (solid state drive) resulting in drastically improved performance, as well as a left over 500 GB Hitachi laptop drive. Although the drive’s performance wasn’t quite to my standards, especially for running OSX Yosemite, it would be great for slower access storage.
We need a way to get this extra hard drive into that unused SuperDrive slot.
Amazon and other online vendors sell a low-cost sleeve or tray that fits around the hard drive and adapts it to the SuperDrive slot. With the right tools and a steady hand, removing the old disc drive and replacing it with a new hard drive should only take about thirty minutes. For this demonstration, I’ll be using a Macbook Pro mid-2012 model – this was the last series released with a disc drive and without a Retina display.