Use a coin to rotate the battery-locking screw 90 degrees clockwise.

Lift the battery out of the computer.

Remove the three evenly-spaced Phillips screws from along the rear wall of the battery compartment.

The screws are captive to the metal memory cover.

Lift up on L-shaped memory cover, slide it to the right, and lift it out of the computer.

Remove the following 3 screws:

• One 11 mm Phillips #00 in the middle of the case.
• Two 14.5 mm Phillips #00.

If the screws stick in the case, you can use a magnetized screwdriver to draw them out.

The shorter of the three screws goes in the middle.

Remove the following 3 screws from the rear wall of the battery compartment:

• Two 3 mm Phillips #00.
• One 4 mm Phillips #00 on the right side.

When reinstalling these screws, press gently on the lower case to line up the screw holes.

Remove the two 6 mm Phillips #00 screws from either side of the right wall of the battery compartment (not the ones closest to the battery connector).

Remove the four 3 mm indicated Phillips #00 screws from the front wall of the battery compartment. When working from the left, remove the 2nd, 4th, 7th and 9th screw.

Remove the following 4 screws from the back of the computer:

• Two 7 mm Philips on the far sides.
• Two 10.5 mm Phillips toward the center.
• Do not over-tighten these; you can cause the case to distort.

Remove the two 5.2 mm shouldered Phillips #00 screws from the optical side of the computer.

It is not necessary to remove the similar screws on the other side of the computer.

Starting near the display and working around to the front of the computer, pry up on the upper case. It is held with clips on the right above the optical drive. These will release with some firm lifting pressure.

Be careful when prying up the upper case. It's very easy to slice open a fingertip and thus provide the blood sacrifice the Mac gods sometimes require of those who insist on doing their own repairs.

There's a trackpad and keyboard ribbon connecting the upper case to the logic board, so don't pull the upper case off entirely just yet.

If you have trouble getting the clips to release, be careful that you are not prying the plastic top of the upper case away from its metal frame.

While holding up the upper case, use a spudger to pry up the orange trackpad and keyboard cable from its connector.

If you happen to break your upper case cable when removing the upper case, we stock the cable individually and we have a guide that makes replacing it easy.

Grasp the white plastic tab attached to the hard drive and pull it to the left, removing the hard drive from the computer.

Remove the two Phillips screws from the front edge of the optical drive.

The shorter screw (3 mm) is recessed nearest the RAM modules. The other is 3.5 mm.

Disconnect the orange optical drive ribbon cable from the logic board.

Disconnect the newly-revealed display data cable. If there is no pull-tab on the top of the connector, it may be helpful to use a spudger to disconnect this connector.

Disconnect the (once again) newly-revealed hard drive cable.

Peel up the foil tape between the fan and the optical drive.

Remove the 8.5 mm Phillips screw securing the display data cable to the metal framework.

Pull up the display data cable from along the edge of the optical drive to reveal a silver Phillips screw.

Remove the 2.8 mm Phillips screw securing the optical drive.

The Bluetooth cable may be covering the screw; carefully push it aside before removing the screw.

Do not over-tighten this screw when re-mounting. You could break the plastic enclosure.

After removing the screw, push the metal tab backwards, towards the fan, to release the front of the optical drive.

Lift the Bluetooth antenna board from the right side of the optical drive.

Deroute the hard drive cable from along the front of the optical drive.

Lift the front edge of the optical drive and slide it up and out of the computer.

There are four plastic upper case clips installed in the aluminum framework above the optical drive opening. It is recommended to remove these clips before attempting to remove the optical drive bezel.

To remove the clips, simply slide them out of the aluminum framework away from the side of the lower case.

Remove the following three #00 screws:

• One 5.7 mm Phillips screw
• Two 3.1 mm Phillips screws

Remove the single 3.1 mm Phillips screw below the inside of the optical drive opening.

Insert the flat end of a spudger between the optical drive bezel and the plastic lower case.

Gently pry the optical drive bezel away from the adhesive securing it to the lower case enough to lift the mounting ear near the hard drive connector above the metal framework.

Lift the optical drive bezel enough to clear the metal framework and continue separating it from the lower case with your spudger.

Remove the optical drive bezel from the lower case.