Upgrading my Macbook Pro from Optical Drive to SSD

My Macbook Pro

I've been longing to upgrade the optical drive of my Macbook Pro to SSD. Been researching it for the longest time but haven't had the time to perform the upgrade. It was only this month that I decided to do it after seeing a post in Facebook. I am not updated with the latest in SSD and that post in Facebook was a start. I shortlisted my choices to Samsung 840 EVO (Anandtech review here) and Crucial MX100 (Anandtech review here). Now I am not a technical person to understand everything made in that review so I asked questions if anyone has used it already in PhilMUG. Here's the specific thread in PhilMUG for the SSD Upgrade Database. One of the users replied that I go with Crucial MX100 because the Samsung 840 EVO is buggy. I finally decided to get that SSD.

After deciding on what to get, I searched the same forum for good sellers. I came across this page in TipidPC which has 4283 positive feedback and zero negative feedback, now that is good reputation! I contacted the seller and good thing he has stocks of Crucial MX100. I reserved the 256 GB capacity since the 512 GB capacity is very pricey. The 256 GB costs 5,300 pesos and the 512 GB is around 10,000+ pesos. I won't be filling up my drive with applications and files and I could be upgrading my Mac soon so the lower capacity is just enough for me. For the instructions, I turned to iFixit's site and looked for the model of my Macbook. My Mac by the way is a mid-2010 13-in Macbook Pro.

Here are some screenshots while performing the upgrade on my Mac.

Screwdriver set I bought for this project

The bottom

Internal parts after removing the cover. Lower left contains the HD to be replaced.

The SSD and the optical drive

2.5-in SATA USB 2.0 enclosure for my old drive

After swapping the drives, I did a fresh install of OS X Yosemite. You can search for tutorials again online on how to create a bootable USB out of this OS. In my case, the bootable USB I created was corrupted so I connected the 2.5-in SATA drive where my old HD is now placed to my Mac. I copied the Yosemite installer there from another external drive that I have since I still cannot boot from the SSD yet. This was the same Yosemite installer I downloaded from the Mac App Store when it was released this year. After making a fresh install of the OS, I restored the backup I created in Time Machine. The SSD upgrade up to the restoration took around 4 hours to complete. The time to complete will vary depending on the size of your files.

All in all, it's a worthy upgrade as my Macbook feels snappier now. Boot time and loading of apps feel similar when I initially bought it in 2010. RAM upgrade is optional for now as I don't perform heavy activities on my Macbook like video editing. If you have an old Mac, SSD upgrade is the way to go.

All shots were taken with my iPhone 6 and edited on Camera+. You can download the app below.