I just completed the swap. The trackpad CAN be removed from the top case. And, what makes it even nicer, is it can be done without removing the motherboard. I got so excited when I realized that it was a very easy thing to do that I forgot to take pictures. However, I'll try to describe how to do it here. All references to left and right are in regard to the computer laying screen down and battery compartment facing you. First, remove the battery, bottom case, and the cross-bar (not sure of the terminology). The bar in question is held in place by 3 black screws on the left and two shorter silver screws on the right. Now you must remove the memory (RAM boards). Not difficult, just grab the gray arms on either side and gently pull them apart. The RAM should pop up. Then just pull it out. The trackpad is held in place by 6 screws (3 on the left and 3 on the right) up top. You can access the set of 3 on the right easily (they were under the memory). The set of 3 on the left are a bit harder....

David Jonas, Sep 10 2010

They reside under the ribbon cable. It's best to have a small magnetic Phillips head precision screwdriver for this; otherwise you may lose the screw and never get it back. That's never happened to me before.....*ahem* Moving along. Once you get those 6 short screws out, remove the ribbon cable from the connector and slowly pull it out. It is held in place with a small amount of adhesive, so I just worked a pair of tweezers under it. No big deal. Once that's done, work the cable out through the holes it goes through. The top of the trackpad must be tilted out first, then the bottom, as the pad has two tabs at the bottom. Once out, just repeat the process in reverse to get the whole thing back together. I think it took me about 20 minutes total to get the whole thing apart and back together. Very simple. Hopefully this will help someone, as I've heard that a cracked trackpad is a common lament. David

David Jonas, Sep 10 2010

This is the first time I've heard of this working successfully. Would you give a link to the part?

mayer, Sep 20 2010

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie... I know it's not all that great a link, but if you click on it soon, it should help you. I think the part number MAY be applicable to the top case part number, but I can't be precisely sure. Honestly, though, it was really easy to do. In fact, my wife is hate-texting me right now about "Dancing With The Stars" right now with it. : -)

David Jonas, Sep 20 2010

Thanks so much. That's a genuine Apple part 661-4948. It is also the part number for the entire upper case. Very strange.

mayer, Sep 20 2010