Can I replace my Macbook Pro 2011 Hard Drive and don't clone what was on my previous hard drive?

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Level 1

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Can I replace my Macbook Pro 2011 Hard Drive and don't clone what was on my previous hard drive?

As the title states, I'm trying to replace my old failing hard drive with a new hard drive (or SSD).

The laptop is the MacBook Pro 15-inch Early 2011 system, it is currently running MacOS Sierra.

I was wondering if I could just place in a new empty drive, and reinstall the MacOS, or do I need to backup my old drive (which doesn't really have anything I need to save) and copy it into the new drive?

I was also wondering what is the maximum height and width for the the drive I can put into the MBP.

And if I were to replace the hard drive, how would I go about reinstalling MacOS?

thanks

MacBook (Starting Late 2009)

Posted on Feb 15, 2019 6:57 PM

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Answer 1

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John Galt

Level 10

141,234 points

Feb 15, 2019 9:31 PM in response to imdanub

Your Mac incorporates firmware that conveys the ability to download macOS from Apple and install it on a brand new or empty hard disk drive or SSD.

Read How to reinstall macOS from macOS Recovery - Apple Support.
To learn how to use Time Machine please read Back up your files with Time Machine on Mac.

Any standard laptop 2.5 inch hard disk or SSD will fit. Whereas hard disk drives are generic though, SSDs vary by manufacturer. Some work and some don't. Apple does not consider replacing a HDD with a SSD an approved user-installed hardware modification, so I recommend purchasing one from a vendor known to support Macs exclusively such as OWC / MacSales. PC-centric vendors know nothing about Macs and won't be able to help if their product doesn't work.

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Can I replace my Macbook Pro 2011 Hard Drive and don't clone what was on my previous hard drive?

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