Will Apple change my clicking hard drive

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Level 1

25 points

Will Apple change my clicking hard drive

My MacBook Pro hard drive has recently started "clicking" I know from past experience that this means it will probably soon give up on me.

I want to know if Apple will swap it now (before if breaks completely)

I would like it swapped for 2 reasons:

- I don't want it to get to the point where it dies and I'm without a computer - as I need it on a daily basis.

- My AppleCare runs out in a few months time and I don't want to have to pay to replace a hard drive which was faulty before my AppleCare expired.

So I just want to know if Apple will change the hard drive before it stops functioning?
Thanks in advance for your replies.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Nov 15, 2012 3:27 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 15, 2012 3:32 AM in response to joewalls123

There's no way of telling - just us users here - whether or not Apple will replace the HD before it fails (and it 'sounds' as if that's what it's doing).

The best thing you can do is take your machine into your local Apple Store or an AASP and have them 'listen' to the drive. Clicking sounds almost always mean that failure is just around the corner. Before taking your machine in, make certain that you have a recent, up-to-date, backup of some sort (Time Machine or clone) as I would think that if you're still under AppleCare they will, more likely than not, replace the drive.

Clinton

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Answer 2

Nov 15, 2012 3:42 AM in response to joewalls123

Im guessing if its clicking then it maybe unbeknowingly causing you other problems. Like spinng beach balls, machine hanging. If this is the case and you are also noticing this more, I would believe you would have a better chance of getting it replaced.

Do you experiance these issues also?

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Answer 3

Nov 15, 2012 3:43 AM in response to joewalls123

You're going to be without you MBP for a period regardless. If they did in fact take your system to replace the drive they're going to nothing other than replace the drive. Restoring your OS and user account data is for you to do.

If you system is that important to you I'd buy another drive yourself and put your current drive into an external case until it does in fact die. You're going to have to jump through some hoops whichever way you go so you might as well take the route which gives you the best solution even if it costs you a little more. You can buy replacement kits for not a lot of money.

By the way, how full is your drive? The clicking might well be from excessive head tracking from your drive being full.

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Answer 4

joewalls123 Author

Level 1

25 points

Nov 15, 2012 3:46 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

I was hoping someone would have had previous experience with this and could update me with what Apple did for them.
Thanks for the advice. I use time machine to back up regularly.

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Answer 5

joewalls123 Author

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25 points

Nov 15, 2012 3:48 AM in response to ifixexpress

Thanks for the reply ifixexpress, but i don't think i'm experiencing any other issues.

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Answer 6

joewalls123 Author

Level 1

25 points

Nov 15, 2012 3:52 AM in response to infinite vortex

Thanks infinite vortex, I wasn't very clear in my opening message, I can afford to be without the Mac for a few days now, however in the next couple of weeks/months I'm going to be very busy so can't afford to be without it then, this is why I want to know if Apple will replace it now (even though it stil functions). Rather than waiting unti it dies and I'm very busy.

It's a 500GB drive with about 60GB free.

P.S. my local Apple store is about an hour away and I don't realy have time to go there.

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Answer 7

Nov 15, 2012 3:57 AM in response to joewalls123

Having been a service tech a long long time ago the yardstick I would use for a replacement was whether it were working or not and whether expected drive performance was substantially affected. Given your drive is both working and you didn't say performance was way down then I really doubt you'd get a replacement.

With around 10% drive space free I'd be telling you to free some space before considering anything.

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Answer 8

joewalls123 Author

Level 1

25 points

Nov 15, 2012 4:34 AM in response to infinite vortex

I suspected this would be the case, I think that because the drive is still functioning normally they won't swap it until it actually breaks. (Even though well all know that a clicking hard drive is bad news)

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