Swapping out Hard Drive in 12" iBook

[CombatChuk]

I've decided that I want to upgrade the 30GB 4200RPM drive that came with my iBook, with a hitachi 60GB 7200RPM drive. Looking around the iBook, it kind of looks like a PITA. Has anyone had any luck with this?

 

[kami333]

Yes, it's a multiple hour operation and you'll likely end up with a couple extra screws. link

I've only done it to the clamshell ones, not on one of the newer white ones.

 

[halfadder]

Google is your friend. There are several websites with instructions to do this. If you have some money to spend, I would actually recommend that you have a local, *experienced*, Apple shop do the swap for you. They can probably do it in less than 30 minutes of labor... and they won't break anything and won't lose screws.

 

[jdiddy]

I had the crazy idea once to do this. I got as far as removing the battery before I thought better.

 

[halfadder]

I did it once with my old PowerBook Duo 270c. It took ages, but I was careful and successful. When it came time to install a larger drive in my current PowerBook G4, I had a very experienced friend with access to the service manuals do the work for me. It still took an hour, but he estimates that an Apple tech could do it in half the time. Another point: apparently the very newest iBooks and PowerBooks are now easier to totally take apart... but still challenging.

 

[preslove]

Originally posted by: halfadder
I did it once with my old PowerBook Duo 270c. It took ages, but I was careful and successful. When it came time to install a larger drive in my current PowerBook G4, I had a very experienced friend with access to the service manuals do the work for me. It still took an hour, but he estimates that an Apple tech could do it in half the time. Another point: apparently the very newest iBooks and PowerBooks are now easier to totally take apart... but still challenging.

This is why I bought a cheap dell 600m instead of going in on the $850 amazon iBook. I would love to try apple out, but there really is no excuse for making it so hard to replace the HD.

 

[hopejr]

lol, I just stick with the hard drive I bought with it, or order it with a bigger one in the first place! The 30GB in my iBook is fine, but I'm planning to get an iPod for extra space.

 

[CombatChuk]

Originally posted by: kami333
Yes, it's a multiple hour operation and you'll likely end up with a couple extra screws. link

I've only done it to the clamshell ones, not on one of the newer white ones.

It's seems difficult, but I'm probably gonna get it a shot. The reason I didn't order it with 60GB drive is I didn't want a 4200RPM drive I wanted the 7200RPM for speed.

 

[cheesehead]

I have recently done this myself to my (now dead) ibook, so I might be able to give you a hand. .
What you want to do is remove the screws from the bottom (you need a Torx screwdriver to do this) and the screws from the sides, and gradually start removing the parts. I believe that the upper plastic bezel comes off first, and then a bit of aluminum foil which acts as a heatsink. Under this, you should see the HDD in its mounting brackets; remove the HDD (in brackets, and put in the new one. Apples are a bit of a pain to open (and they're so fragile that you're guaranteed to have your warranty voided when they see what you've done), but it is possible to replace most of the parts. I've just scrapped my ibook; I now have a whole bunch of parts in case you need them.
-Cheesehead.

EDIT:
Check out Applefritter.com; if you're going to void your warranty, you might as well do it in style.

 

[hopejr]

Shouldn't you take the keyboard out first before the upper bezel? Easy to unplug keyboard too.

 

[kami333]

Originally posted by: preslove

Originally posted by: halfadder
I did it once with my old PowerBook Duo 270c. It took ages, but I was careful and successful. When it came time to install a larger drive in my current PowerBook G4, I had a very experienced friend with access to the service manuals do the work for me. It still took an hour, but he estimates that an Apple tech could do it in half the time. Another point: apparently the very newest iBooks and PowerBooks are now easier to totally take apart... but still challenging.

This is why I bought a cheap dell 600m instead of going in on the $850 amazon iBook. I would love to try apple out, but there really is no excuse for making it so hard to replace the HD.

How often do you change a hard drive though, personally it would be close to the last thing on my list when looking at a laptop.

 

[vexingv]

if you;'re gonna be opening up your ibook, youre gonna need a look at the service manual, which can be found here or here

 

[dwdty9]

Other than size, is the 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM that much of an upgrade ove 4200RPM to warrant trying to replace the hard drive. I want to do this, but only to improve performance a lot. It's easy to add a 60gig through Apple, though it's only 4200RPM. So my question is if 5400 or 7200RPM will increase performance drastically