Cloning and Exchanging MacBook Hard Disk

Recently I bought a new MacBook (late 2008 edition). Since Apple charges the world for options I got the cheapest one available, and decided to upgrade the hard disk and/or memory when I saw the time fit. Well, that time has come.

Today I got a new Western Digital Scorpio Black 7.200rpm 320GB (WD3200BJKT) for €85.00 to replace the default 160GB 5400 rpm drive.Even though the risk is minimal, there's always the risk of screwing things up. So ...

CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

First thing to do is to clone/image the internal drive to the new drive. This can be done by using a program called SuperDuper!. The free version has sufficient functionality to achieve the cloning (using the 'Backup - all files' setting).

I connected the new drive to an external SATA-to-USB conector from Conceptronic and started cloning the hard drive. The cloning process took about 1 hour and 45 minutes. When the cloning is done, SuperDuper! will make the disk bootable, so all that's left is changing the drives in the MacBook.

Removing the hard drive is relatively simple (when using the correct tools). Just remove the screw holding the hard drive down. Pull the hard drive out using the plastic release flap. Note that the plastic is physically attached to the drive. The new drive doesn't have this so removing the new drive from the MacBook is a bit more challenging (about 0.01%).

Disconnect the SATA connector to completely remove the drive from the MacBook.

The drive is held in pace by some screws. You need a torque screwdriver (TX6) to remove these. After removing them you can screw them on the new drive.

After adding the mounting screws and the SATA cable to the new drive you can place the drive back in the MacBook.

Now for some benchmarks (Xbench) on the old 5400 rpm drive and the new 7.200 rpm drive:

Old Toshiba 160GB 5400 rpm disk:

Results    47.54
    System Info
        Xbench Version        1.3
        System Version        10.5.6 (9G55)
        Physical RAM        2048 MB
        Model        MacBook5,1
        Drive Type        TOSHIBA MK1653GSX
    Disk Test    47.54
        Sequential    83.76
            Uncached Write    95.89    58.87 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Write    80.86    45.75 MB/sec [256K blocks]
            Uncached Read    63.06    18.45 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Read    109.86    55.21 MB/sec [256K blocks]
        Random    33.19
            Uncached Write    11.89    1.26 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Write    85.78    27.46 MB/sec [256K blocks]
            Uncached Read    64.47    0.46 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Read    107.96    20.03 MB/sec [256K blocks]

New 7200 rpm Western Digital Scorpio Black 320GB:

Results    58.94
    System Info
        Xbench Version        1.3
        System Version        10.5.6 (9G55)
        Physical RAM        2048 MB
        Model        MacBook5,1
        Drive Type        WDC WD3200BJKT-00F4T0
    Disk Test    58.94
        Sequential    97.03
            Uncached Write    119.28    73.24 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Write    123.36    69.79 MB/sec [256K blocks]
            Uncached Read    56.66    16.58 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Read    141.15    70.94 MB/sec [256K blocks]
        Random    42.32
            Uncached Write    15.11    1.60 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Write    144.93    46.40 MB/sec [256K blocks]
            Uncached Read    74.67    0.53 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Read    124.25    23.06 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Initial comments on the new drive:

• Faster / 'snappier' OS
• Slightly noisier