2015 MacBook Pro: hard drive, backups, and passwords

Where is the hard drive located on a 2015 MPBr? Today I heard (and felt) a noise from the right front corner as it sat on my lap.

How difficult is this to replace?

I don’t think I posted this here, but a few weeks ago I was having issues with my trackpad and keyboard on the same machine. It was suggested it could be a battery issue and the Genius Bar was booked a week out. It’s been fine since and I just haven’t been able to get there in the morning to wait in line. I just made an appointment for late Monday. I don’t know if this noise could be related to the same thing.

I’m a little peeved as a year ago I had nearly the entire machine replaced under AppleCare due to - of all things - a missing foot and 3 worn keys. The battery was replaced at that time. My laptop serial number doesn’t fall into the service range but I have no idea if the battery number does.

Backups: I use Chronsync and never have I been able to get a bootable backup. It’s never been a huge issue as I’ve started fresh with new machines and just move my data over when ready. But it’s been in the back of my head that I should either get it working correctly or find another program.

Passwords: I’ve got 2 machines on Sierra, and my phone is the most current for an SE. When I go to a site on the phone it gives me the option to pull up the password using my fingerprint, if it’s something I haven’t been to on the phone. It’s pulling the password from my laptop or the cloud? The iMac doesn’t do this. Would this work in a newer OS? (relevant as I needed to get the phone to figure out my Tidbits password so I could log in on the second machine!)

Thanks if you made it this far!
Diane

There is no “hard drive” as in spinning disk on the 2015 MBP. It has an SSD that is soldered onto the logic board. AFAIK the only moving parts on a 2015 MBP would be the fans. A failing battery can indeed impact the trackpad and KB. I’ve experienced that myself when I had a MBP with a battery that had started to bloat to the point where it was pushing up against circuitry. Not pretty. Do you observe any bulging of the bottom case? I’d try to get a tech to look into it ASAP.

Bootable backup: these days I’d just say go with SuperDuper and an inexpensive external hard drive. That disk can be stored off site if necessary. I’ve never been convinced (convenience, reliability, price) by any of the commercial network backup solutions I’ve seen.

Passwords: they’re in iCloud if you have selected iCloud Keychain. If not, they’re on the device itself. Safari on Mac will store password locally just like it does on your iPhone. It will get them from iCloud if you select to use iCloud Keychain.

Check on MacSales for a video to see how to replace things inside and how difficult it is.

https://eshop.macsales.com/

It’s an SSD so no moving parts…whatever you heard isn’t the drive. It is located under the keyboard right of center…and is actually pretty to replace if needed…

Th e batteries in the recall were all 2015 era…if your machine serial isn’t affected and your battery was replaced last year…no problem.

Get either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper and bootable backups are easy. For a full disk clone either is fine… it if you want to do folder backups as well CCC is far easier to use. I own both but CCC gets about 99.99% of my copy jobs.

Are you using a password manager beyond just the built in keychain? If not…and all devices are logged into the same iCloud account then the password is coming from the SE… it the iCloud Keychain syncs to all 3 devices assuming you’ve got it setup correctly on each device iCloud preferences.

If using another password manager…it depends.

Thanks all! So yes, I remember when I ordered the machine that neither the hard drive or the RAM were supposed to be user upgradeable. I didn’t realize it was soldered onto the logic board.

The fans wouldn’t be in that right front corner, right?

I am not seeing any evidence of bloating, but I have an appointment for tomorrow night at the Apple Store.

I’m going to check my Keychain settings. It only seems to pull stuff out of the cloud from my phone, not on the other machines.

Thanks again!

Diane

The fans are located more towards the rear. They’re under the keyboard.

If your iPhone is already syncing your passwords with iCloud, I would think the easiest way to get your Mac to do the same is to switch Sys Prefs > iCloud > Keychain to on.

Good luck with your appointment. If you see no bulging you shouldn’t have to worry about your battery spontaneously erupting in flames at any moment.

OK! The keychain issue was simply that I’d never logged into my iCloud account on the iMac. Since I have my music on it, I assumed I had. I think I had wanted to keep it as its own entity, but it actually benchmarks as faster than my MBP despite the 4 year age difference, so some days I think I should use it as my main machine. Anyway, that’s a whole other issue.

I’ll let you know how my appointment goes!

Thanks
Diane

I got a new space bar. They found nothing wrong under the case except for a years worth of dust. Diagnostics showed nothing either.

Flummoxed!

Diane

Nearly 3 months later, and I can hear crunching if I press next to the trackpad, and the past few days I’ve had keys not working, namely the Apple and arrow keys. So this is taking a drive with me tomorrow too.

I really wish my devices wouldn’t act up around the holidays :frowning: