Swapping Macbook Pro SSD

Yes. You can upgrade to a newer MacBook Pro by just swapping the SSD. I looked around the webs and couldn’t find whether it was feasible, so I just did it.

I had a Late-2013 MBP and a Mid-2015 MBP. Both are same in every aspect, except (1) GPU, (2) TrackPad, (3) Keyboard, (4) Battery.

  1. New AMD Radeon R9 M370X vs. older Nvidia GeForce GT 750M. Both discreet GPU performs well. Nvidia has a faster clock but AMD has slightly better benchmarks.
  2. New TrackPad had Force Touch. This means I didn’t need to keep two fingers to press; one to aim, one to click the bottom.
  3. New Keyboard feels more responsive, more rubbery, less force needed to push. This slight difference can only be felt when gotten used to the older one.
  4. New Battery is a big issue for me. I had close to 500 cycles on the old laptop, and this new one has like 20.

I opened both and swapped their SSDs. To open Apple’s proprietary screws require a Pentalobe P5 (1.2mm), and a Torx T5 (or was it T4?).

Both booted as normal. Not much difference in hardware. I did it for science and curiosity. Plus I could air blast the dust out of the vents.

I was signed out of iCloud and other email accounts. Safari and Chrome extensions were lost. Safari extension LastPass was already logged in when I reinstalled, and Chrome too.