Remove hard drive

How do I remove hard drive from 13” MacBook Pro 2015 that no longer works?

Posted on Aug 18, 2022 3:02 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 19, 2022 12:58 PM

You can easily remove the SSD from the 2015 MBPro, but you will need a special Pentalobe screw driver in order to remove the Bottom Case. You also need a T5 Torx to remove the screw for the SSD. Unfortunately we cannot post links to any specific instructions as they will be removed by the moderators for being too dangerous. OWC and iFixIt do have instructions. The Apple SSD in this laptop uses a proprietary SSD connector so in order to use this SSD or even just to erase it will require an OWC Envoy Pro Enclosure (a bit expensive, but just about the only option).


Depending on the failure this may be another option: Since your laptop uses an SSD, all you need to do is boot into Internet Recovery Mode (Command + Option + R) and use Disk Utility to erase the whole physical SSD. When an SSD with TRIM support is erased, all of the contents in all of the NAND cells are reset. Within Disk Utility you may need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" so that the physical drive appears on the left pane of Disk Utility.


FYI, here is an Apple article on how to prepare your Mac for sale or recycling or disposal:

What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support




5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 19, 2022 12:58 PM in response to SBC3

You can easily remove the SSD from the 2015 MBPro, but you will need a special Pentalobe screw driver in order to remove the Bottom Case. You also need a T5 Torx to remove the screw for the SSD. Unfortunately we cannot post links to any specific instructions as they will be removed by the moderators for being too dangerous. OWC and iFixIt do have instructions. The Apple SSD in this laptop uses a proprietary SSD connector so in order to use this SSD or even just to erase it will require an OWC Envoy Pro Enclosure (a bit expensive, but just about the only option).


Depending on the failure this may be another option: Since your laptop uses an SSD, all you need to do is boot into Internet Recovery Mode (Command + Option + R) and use Disk Utility to erase the whole physical SSD. When an SSD with TRIM support is erased, all of the contents in all of the NAND cells are reset. Within Disk Utility you may need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" so that the physical drive appears on the left pane of Disk Utility.


FYI, here is an Apple article on how to prepare your Mac for sale or recycling or disposal:

What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support




Aug 18, 2022 7:14 PM in response to SBC3

If you used FileVault then there is no need to remove the disk. It is quite literally useless without the FileVault password. It won't even mount. It's a brick.


Use FileVault to encrypt the startup disk on your Mac - Apple Support


On the other hand if you did not encrypt it with FileVault then yes, it should be removed and physically destroyed. All Apple Retail stores and most Apple Authorized Service Providers will accept the Mac for recycling and will do that for you — but I understand your desire to be certain.

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Remove hard drive

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