There are a few different issues at play here!
First the 2009 and 2010 are both SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) based systems. The Early 2011 was originally sold with firmware which set the SATA port to SATA II, Apple then updated the firmware so SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) drives could be used. But! The drive cable needed to be upgraded to the newer version. The Late 2011 models started off with the same SATA II cables, but later was upgraded to a SATA III cable when Apple switched the HDD from a SATA II drive to a SATA III drive. The 2012 model had the biggest change as Apple was encountering cable failures and they did a major redesign with the cable and its mounting.
OK, now that we got a framework on what changed from a config perspective, let’s dive into the HD cables a bit more.
The 2009 thru 2011 cables are all based on the same design. At the time Apple’s needs outstripped its primary supplier so a second supplier was used. The quality of the insulation layer and its thickness was found to be a major issue as to the root cause of drive failure (cable failure) Apple rev’d the cable a few times but they still encountered issues!
From my experience there is two issues that Apple never fixed the first is the rough machining of the uppercases internal surfaces (both 13” & 15” had this issue the 13” was worse). To resolve this a strip of electricians tape needs to be placed on the uppercase when the cable crosses over (just the SATA part).
The next issue was mishandling of the bends of the cable! Both Apple and anyone else dealing with this cable often mishandled it.
People tended to crease the cable folding it and then on a flat surface rubbing their finger or tweezer handle down creating a hard crease. In doing this it fatigues the copper traces inside and in some cases breaking the lines (micro fractures). So while the cable would often work with a SATA II drive a SATA III drive would fail to work reliably. SSHD & SSD drives being the most likely to encounter issues as the data throughput would be so much higher than a HDD most of the time.
OK, to correctly bend the cables you need to create a smooth radius arc no creases! I use a BIC pen ink straw (empty) as my bending brake to bend the cable around so I don’t have any sharp creases at all.
But there’s more!
Now this is where things get a bit different between the 13” & 15” models. Both models have a metal mid-plane tab welded to the bottom cover which intersect to the uppercases mid-plane rail, The 13” models have a metal to metal mating unlike the 15” models which have two black plastic receivers mounted on the uppercase to accept the tabs. These plastic receivers often break and when they do there is a risk of the bottom cover can crush the cable crossing over the optical drive as the mid-point area would flex the most downwards. The optical drive’s cable would not be at the same risk.
So its important to transfer the good plastic receiver to the point nearest the optical drive. Even still I use some foam tape to create a channel to protect the cable from the crushing risk. Applying three strips as outlined here (this is really only needed in the 15” models). If you see large dents a long the mid point of the bottom cover it’s likely the cable is damaged.
So thats all of the issues surrounding the HD SATA cables.
So now what cable would you use with which system?
For both the 2009 & 2010 13” I use the same older cable MacBook Pro 13" Unibody (Mid 2009-Mid 2010) Hard Drive Cable and for the 2011 & 2012 I use the newer MacBook Pro 13" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable. While the 2012 cable can be used across all of the systems you do end up having to alter it as the mounting point has an obstacle so you end up having to cut the mounting screw anchor away.
And for the 15” models I use MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Mid 2009-Late 2011) Hard Drive Cable for the 2009 & 2010 and likewise I use MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Mid 2012) Hard Drive Cable for both the 2011 & 2012 models.
As a point of habit when ever I put in a SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) HDD or SSD drive into a 2011 or 2012 model I always replace the cable.
The 2009 and 2010 models do have a problem! As unlike the 2011 & 2012 models these systems need a SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) drive to work properly! So I either use a fixed SATA II speed drive reviewing the given drives spec sheet to be sure its SATA II (3.0Gb/s) only or I use an auto sense drive like a Samsung 860 EVO which will dial back the I/O data flow. For years I had used the Seagate SSHD drives as they were auto sense. But when Seagate rolled out the newer FireCuda series they dropped the auto sense technology so now its a fixed SATA III speed drive which won’t work correctly in the older 2009 & 2010 models. Many of the drive makers are dropping auto sense technology as the need for compatibility for older system is waning so to be cost competitive they are removing it so finding the correct drive for these older systems is becoming harder!
An Auto sense drive will clearly state on the interface line (from Samsung SSD's):
SATA 6Gb/s (compatible with SATA 3Gb/s and SATA 1.5Gb/s)
If it only states SATA III 6 Gb/s its a fixed speed drive and will not work properly in a SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) system!
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