If your Mac is still under warranty, and you open it up for any reason on your own, you will void the warranty! Once a single screw has been removed, Apple will not touch the device. A Disclaimer Before You Tear Open Your Mac And if you do decide to upgrade on your own, watching a YouTube walkthrough is highly recommended. If you are still not sure, try a YouTube search for “ RAM/hard drive upgrade.” If you do not find a result, it simply is not a likely endeavor. Unfortunately, it also looks like hard drive upgrades are becoming impossible with newer devices like the Touch Bar Macbook Pro, as they have their SSDs soldered into the logic board.
There are three main reasons to replace a drive: If Finder seems to take a while to load, file transfer is slow, or programs take a while to respond – you may be interested in upgrading your Mac’s hard drive. On the other hand but similarly related, hard drives also are a major player in a computer’s performance. If you find that launching programs is horrendously slow or that you experience crashes and freezes, a RAM upgrade may need to be in the works. When using this term “upgrading,” mainly the computer’s RAM and hard drives come to mind. Also not to be overlooked is what parts specifically should be upgraded to boost performance.
When it comes to making upgrades to your Mac, or any PC for that matter, you first need to consider which devices are truly worthwhile for the money. This article will detail how you can save a few bucks by buying a used, slightly older Mac, and upgrade some parts to get it up to speed with the current generations. Smaller systems like those found in the Macbook and Macbook Air include smaller (and sometimes custom) parts that are harder to work with. Generally Mac Pros and Mac Minis will be easiest to work with.