Note, the photo shows the new ssd drive installed in place of the old 5400rpm traditional hard. See these steps under the section does your macbook shut down when you plug in your external hard drive. How to wipe your macbook before selling or giving it away. The cli way above works no matter what no reboot needed. You can then follow the steps in this article to start up. By then, try inserting a disk in while that window is open. The next owner can use some free or professional data recovery software to retrieve your already deleted or formatted data that may still be on your hard drive. Providing you already have disk drill pro version, which you can get automatically by downloading from setapp. Apple claims that its usb superdrive has everything you need in an optical drive. May 01, 2020 how to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. In most cases, mounting is an automatic process that happens as soon as the hard drive is connected to a mac or macbook pro. Apples branded playableburnable cddvd drive is the perfect complement to your imac or macbook pro unless you have a late 2016 or newer. Apr 04, 2018 sometimes your macbook pro requires to be booted from an external hard drive instead of a primary start up drive. How to run diagnostics on your macbook pro for a full.
For example, if you install macos on an internal or external drive, your mac can recognize that drive as a startup disk. The late 2011 macbook pro models are so similar to the early 2011 models that apple didnt bother to release an updated instruction manual. The next step is to take the old hard drive out and prepare your macbook pro for replacement. Get the best external hard drives for macs in 2020, and expand your macs storage without paying a. Here is a tutorial on how to find macbook hard disk size. The inch notebook had not been updated since june 2012, but it remained available for. Remove the optical drive cable by pulling it straight away from the optical drive. How to replace and upgrade a macbook pro hard disk. Mar 25, 2016 the hard drive s location within the mid2012 macbook pro is circled in red within the next photo. How to show the storage drive icon on your mac desktop. If you have a cd or any other object jammed in your optical drive, we have an optical drive repair guide. How to upgrade macbook pro hard drive unibody, 20092012.
Click disk utility in the utilities window, then click continue. Disk utility wasnt showing my drive at all, until i reboot. The most common scenario for this to be the case is when you have a bootcamp partition and have windows installed on it. How to erase a disk for mac use disk utility to erase format a hard disk, ssd, flash drive, or other storage device. Since you are using disk drive i assume you are talking about the older macbook pro that originally came with a sata hard disk drive as standard equipment. For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a.
The hard drive of your macbook pro is constantly at its minimum. Owc solid state drives for macbook pro with retina display late 20 2015 up to 3282mbs read speeds. Aug 02, 2018 hold, before getting started the tutorial, keep in mind that apple mac computer and apple notebook including macbook pro, macbook air, macbook, etc. Today, we are going to let you know how to find or check your current hard disk size and available space. Select your startup disk in the sidebar of disk utility click the top item like apple ssd, as in the image shown below, not the. How to determine if your macs hard drive is failing cnet. I tried some on a pc desktop last year and they seemed fine. A few reasons might include update, troubleshooting, repairing of disks.
If you want to play dvd movies on a macbook pro, you will need an external dvdcd drive for mac, an usb cable, and the disc. Boot from an external drive on macbook pro toms guide forum. Ive had my mid2015 macbook pro for about 6 months and an imac for about 3 years which didnt have a cddvd readwrite drive. Choose view show all devices from the menu bar in disk utility. Then select disk utility from the utilities window and click continue. Mac secret trick how to clone mac hard drive with disk. Macbook, macbook air, and macbook pro models with usbc ports require a usbc to usb adapter sold separately to use apple usb superdrive. The most common scenario for this to be the case is when you have a bootcamp partition and have windows. For the mid2012 macbook pro line, apples quickstart guide. External disc drive for mac is convenient as it provides direct access to discs. An easier way to play dvd discs on macbook pro air without optical drive. An easier way to play dvd discs on macbook proair without optical drive. Tips to fix mac doesnt recognize external hard drive on. For most reasons to erase, including when reformatting a disk or selling, giving away, or trading in your mac, you should erase your entire disk.
This will check for bad blocks and replace them with spare blocks, if necessary. One more representative of the best cd and dvd drives is apple usb superdrive. Sep 03, 2019 since you are using disk drive i assume you are talking about the older macbook pro that originally came with a sata hard disk drive as standard equipment. Best external hard drives for macs in 2020 techradar. It checks all the internal hardware in your macbook pro, testing for issues with the logic board, memory, wifi card and other components.
Nov 18, 2016 we say disks because its entirely possible you will have more than one. Nov 15, 2019 click disk utility in the utilities window, then click continue. This will check for bad blocks and replace them with spare blocks, if. Go into spotlight from the top of your macbook on the menue bar. How to increase storage in your macbook pro toms guide forum. Macbook pro unibody late 2011 optical drive replacement. The inch notebook had not been updated since june 2012, but it remained. With simplicity, this external drive has stateoftheart technology. If youve recently upgraded to a new imac or macbook pro, youre probably going to need an optical drive if you want to continue importing your. Unless its an old g4 processor macbook, then the answer is yes you can run without an internal hard drive and boot and run externally from either a usb drive or an external hard drive. If you do, you will also see another disk underneath macintosh hd called bootcamp.
Its not deadits showing up in the screen youd get if youd have pressed the option key while booting. An easy way to recover lost files on an external hard drive. Since you need a thirdparty tool to defragment a macbook pro, we decided to highlight drive genius, a wellreputed computer cleaning tool with an efficient defragging feature. To do that, you want to start with your computer upside down on a solid, staticfree. Go to the applications folder and choose disk utility. The 8 best external hard drives and ssds for mac and pc users in. Apr 06, 2020 by default, your mac starts up from its builtin hard disk, but a startup disk can be any storage device that contains an operating system compatible with your mac. Since you need a thirdparty tool to defragment a macbook pro, we decided to highlight drive genius, a wellreputed computer cleaning tool with an. The last one to offer that was the mac pro which had notool, user swappable hard drive bays. Finally, use a thirdparty utility like drive genius or disk tools pro to check the drives media with a surface scan. How to connect external hard drive to macbook pro wikihow. You can connect this superdrive with your macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac, or mac mini with a single usb type a cable, which is built into this superdrive. Your 2nd option will tie your laptop to the network providing the nas for full operation.
You can either choose the macintosh hd and try to boot normally or, as an extra safety. Amazons choice for macbook pro external disk drive. If youve recently upgraded to a new imac or macbook pro, youre probably going to need an optical drive if you want to continue importing your movies and music to itunes, or just access the content on your discs. Usb c typec ultra slim external dvd driveburneroptical drive cd rw dvd rw superdrive disc duplicator compatible with mac macbook pro air imac and laptop 3.
Apple superdrive and if you use a modern macbook pro equipped with thunderbolt. Apple no longer sells a mac with a cd drive macrumors. Remove the ten screws using the phillips screwdriver make sure that. A few reasons might include update, troubleshooting, repairing of disks, partition, etc. Apples branded playableburnable cddvd drive is the perfect complement to your imac or macbook pro unless you have a late 2016 or newer macbook pro, in which case youll need the usbc to usb adapter. Its not much larger than the size of a cd case, so it fits snug in your computer bag without taking up a lot of room. The hard drives location within the mid2012 macbook pro is circled in red within the next photo. The best external dvd and cd drives are compact and lightweight. Macbook pro unibody model a1278 early 2011 late 2011 mid 2012 sata superdrive cable step 1 lower case remove the following ten screws. Mac how to find hard drive size on macbook pro, macbook air. May 10, 2019 the next step is to take the old hard drive out and prepare your macbook pro for replacement. Then again, drive mounting can be performed manually using the disk utility of your machine.
My macbook is newer and does not have an eject key anymore. You may want to do this at night or when you dont need your computer it can take a while to back everything up. In any case i have the info stored on my antediluvian macs mac powerpc 5200 and a small macbook duo so the info can be. The apple usb superdrive is compatible with mac models from 2008 and later that dont have a builtin optical drive. This connector is particularly deep, so be sure to pull away from the drive at the center of the connector. You would want an iscsi initiator for the fastest storage, but nas would be just fine for large files and folders you access infrequently. Before running the defragmentation, you should make sure to create a backup of your files. My hard drive in my macbook completely broke a few weeks ago didnt have much on it thankfully, so i bought a new hard drive and replaced the old one. How to select a different startup disk apple support. We say disks because its entirely possible you will have more than one. It connects to your macbook pro with retina display, macbook air, imac or mac mini with a single usb cable thats builtinto the superdrive. Sometimes your macbook pro requires to be booted from an external hard drive instead of a primary start up drive. Macbook pro wont start goes to startup disk hard drive.
You want to connect your ssd to your macbook pro using the cable. Quit all other applications on the mac, especially those that may be trying to access the external drive e. Tips to fix mac doesn t recognize external hard drive on. Hold, before getting started the tutorial, keep in mind that apple mac computer and apple notebook including macbook pro, macbook air, macbook, etc. Browse the topranked list of macbook pro disk drive below along with. When free space on your macbook pro is always on the.
By default, your mac starts up from its builtin hard disk, but a startup disk can be any storage device that contains an operating system compatible with your mac. How to fix a macbook pro that cant mount its startup disk. If you are not sure that your macbook pro needs a clean up, here are a few symptoms that often mean your hard drive is a mess and is due for an easy tuneup. Today, we are going to let you know how to find or check your current hard disk. Apple eliminated optical drives from its macbook pro line of laptops in 2012. Apple has discontinued its nonretina legacy macbook pro, the last mac it sold with a builtin cddvd drive. Apr 08, 2014 finally, use a thirdparty utility like drive genius or disk tools pro to check the drive s media with a surface scan. Usb c typec ultra slim external dvd drive burneroptical drive cd rw dvd rw superdrive disc duplicator compatible with mac macbook pro air imac and laptop 3. Sep 20, 2019 run apple diagnostics on your macbook pro apple diagnostics is built into every mac from 20 or later. Erase everything on macbook pro with data wiper recommend the problem with the method 1 we discussed above is that once the data has been erased it can still be recovered. If you have an old macbook pro with one foot in the grave, the single best thing you can do to breathe new life into it is replace its traditional spinning hard drive with a solidstate drive.
Run apple diagnostics on your macbook pro apple diagnostics is built into every mac from 20 or later. Create customized dvds with this apple superdrive 8x external dvdrwcd rw drive that features support for doublelayer media, so you can easily back up. Jan 03, 2011 i tried some on a pc desktop last year and they seemed fine. Not all macbook disc drives are the same, and some dont have disc drives at all. You may want to have little cups or a place with sides on it for the next few steps. The 8 best external hard drives and ssds for mac and pc users. The sidebar now shows your disks devices and any containers. In any case i have the info stored on my antediluvian macs mac powerpc 5200 and a small macbook duo so the info can be copied from there onto new floppies and from there to my new macbook pro 15 matt screen. I was happy to find this superdrive with the new usbc cord to fit my new macbook pro plus an adapter for my older computer. If i dont send it back for all its frustrating features. Oct 27, 2016 apple has discontinued its nonretina legacy macbook pro, the last mac it sold with a builtin cddvd drive. Open disk utility and see if your external drive appears here. To do that, you want to start with your computer upside down on a solid, staticfree surface.
Now im not too sure how to set this new hard drive. How to clean up macbook pro hard drive 5 easy steps. Note, the photo shows the new ssd drive installed in place of the old 5400rpm traditional hard disk. But its less handy when users need to play a disc on. One is the easy one to find how much free space is available in the hard disk in your macbook. This means all macbook pro computers manufactured before mid 2012. Macbook pro unibody mid 2010 optical drive replacement. How to erase everything on macbook pro hard drive befre selling. For conducting the booting procedure, it would require an external hard drive that would be connected to your mackbook pro. But its less handy when users need to play a disc on the road.