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Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive

What you need

  1. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive, Lower Case: step 1, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the following ten screws:

    • Three 14.4 mm Phillips #00 screws

    • Three 3.5 mm Phillips #00 screws

    • Four 3.5 mm shouldered Phillips #00 screws

    • When replacing the small screws, align them perpendicular to the slight curvature of the case (they don't go straight down).

  2. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 2, image 1 of 2 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 2, image 2 of 2
    • Use your fingers to pry the lower case away from the body of the MacBook near the vent.

    • Remove the lower case.

  3. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive, Battery Connection: step 3, image 1 of 2 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive, Battery Connection: step 3, image 2 of 2
    • Use the edge of a spudger to pry the battery connector upwards from its socket on the logic board.

    • It is useful to pry upward on both short sides of the connector to "walk" it out of its socket. Be careful with the corners of the connectors, they can be easily broken off.

  4. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 4, image 1 of 1
    • Bend the battery cable slightly away from its socket on the logic board so it does not accidentally connect itself while you work.

  5. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive, Optical Drive: step 5, image 1 of 1
    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the AirPort/Bluetooth ribbon cable connector up from its socket on the logic board.

  6. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 6, image 1 of 1
    • Carefully pull the camera cable out of its socket on the logic board.

    • Though not recommended by iFixit staff, some users opt to omit this step completely. For information on this, see the step comments.

    • Pull the cable parallel to the face of the logic board. Pulling it upward may damage the logic board or the cable itself.

  7. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 7, image 1 of 2 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 7, image 2 of 2
    • Carefully move the AirPort/Bluetooth ribbon cable out of the way as you peel the camera cable off the adhesive securing it to the subwoofer and the AirPort/Bluetooth bracket.

    • De-route the camera cable out from under the retaining finger molded into the AirPort/Bluetooth bracket.

  8. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 8, image 1 of 2 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 8, image 2 of 2
    • Use the tip of a spudger to pry the antenna connector closest to the logic board up from its socket on the AirPort/Bluetooth board.

    • De-route the antenna cable from under the finger molded into the AirPort/Bluetooth bracket.

  9. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 9, image 1 of 1
    • Use a Phillips #00 screwdriver to remove the following five screws:

    • Two 10.3 mm screws

    • Two 3.1 mm screws

    • One 5 mm screw

  10. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 10, image 1 of 2 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 10, image 2 of 2
    • Pull the AirPort/Bluetooth assembly and the Subwoofer upward near the center of the side of the optical drive until they clear each other.

    • Move the AirPort/Bluetooth assembly and the subwoofer away from the top of the optical drive.

  11. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 11, image 1 of 2 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 11, image 2 of 2
    • Pull the right speaker/subwoofer cable out from under the retaining finger near the side of the optical drive.

    • Pull the right speaker/subwoofer cable upward to disconnect it from the logic board.

  12. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 12, image 1 of 1
    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the hard drive cable connector up from its socket on the logic board.

    • Bend the hard drive cable away from the optical drive.

  13. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 13, image 1 of 1
    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the optical drive connector up from its socket on the logic board.

  14. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 14, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the three 2.7 mm Phillips screws securing the optical drive to the upper case.

  15. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 15, image 1 of 1
    • Pull the optical drive upward from its edge closest to the display and remove it from the upper case.

  16. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive, Optical Drive: step 16, image 1 of 2 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive, Optical Drive: step 16, image 2 of 2
    • Pull the optical drive cable away from the optical drive.

    • Be sure to pull on the connector, not the cable itself.

    • Remove the two black Phillips #0 screws securing the small metal mounting bracket. Transfer this bracket to your new optical drive or hard drive enclosure.

  17. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive, Dual Hard Drive: step 17, image 1 of 2 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive, Dual Hard Drive: step 17, image 2 of 2
    • Remove the plastic spacer from the optical bay hard drive enclosure by pressing in on one of the clips on either side and lifting it up and out of the enclosure.

  18. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 18, image 1 of 3 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 18, image 2 of 3 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 18, image 3 of 3
    • Make sure that the hard drive connectors are facing down before placing it into the enclosure.

    • Gently place the hard drive into the enclosure's hard drive slot.

    • While firmly holding the enclosure in place with one hand, use your other hand to press the hard drive into the enclosure connectors.

  19. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 19, image 1 of 2 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 19, image 2 of 2
    • Once the hard drive is snug, reinsert the plastic spacer while holding the hard drive against the bottom of the enclosure.

  20. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 20, image 1 of 2 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 20, image 2 of 2
    • Use two Phillips #1 screws to secure the drive to its enclosure.

  21. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 21, image 1 of 1
    • Attach the optical drive bracket to the new enclosure with two Phillips #0 screws.

    • Reconnect any cables you have removed from the original optical drive onto the optical bay enclosure.

  22. Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 22, image 1 of 3 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 22, image 2 of 3 Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Dual Hard Drive: step 22, image 3 of 3
    • Don't ditch that drive! You can still use your optical drive externally with the help of our SATA Optical Drive USB Cable.

    • Align the cable's SATA connector with the drive's port and plug in securely.

    • Plug the USB connector into your laptop and your optical drive is ready for use.

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

95 other people completed this guide.

Sam Goldheart

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5 Comments

Thank you very much for this guide. The whole process is easier than expected.

Mfernandez - Reply

That guide just saved my Macbook Pro. The disk, when installed at its regular place, was not working anymore (read-only somehow, or completely invisible) while it was perfectly working when connected through USB. So I'm not using this as a second disk but as my primary disk and it's working nicely. Ok, it may sound as if it is the beginning of the end for my late 2011 Macbook Pro, but this gives me time to be able to afford a replacement. Thanks!

Mathieu Cousin - Reply

Did you try to replace the hard drive cable? MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Hard Drive Cable Replacement

This was likely the problem of the logic board not recognizing your hard drive in its original location.

Mathieu Boudreau -

I followed the above guide and now have an additional 500Gb disk space. Winning!

FYI - you don't have to remove all those camera cables, you can push them aside carefully and still get to the screw underneath.

Sandor Nagy - Reply

Thanks for the guide - it worked flawlessly

I placed old hard drive in “optiBay” enclosure and Samsung 840 EVO 120GB instead of main hard drive.

I had data backup done earlier, so I opted in for complete wipe/format - booted into recovery mode - installed fresh OS, I’m keeping my OS and apps on the SSD and home folder on HDD. It boots up very fast, apps are starting up like crazy

Luka Stosic - Reply

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