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

Lift the battery out of the computer.

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

The screws are captive to the metal memory cover so you cannot lose them.

Rotate the L-shaped memory cover so it clears the battery compartment opening and lift it up and out of the computer.

Remove the following 3 screws:

• One 11 mm Phillips#00 in the middle of the case. (Head: 5mm dia. x .75mm thick)
• Two 14.5 mm Phillips #00 (Head: 5mm dia. x .75mm thick)

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:

• One 3 mm Phillips #0. (Head: 2.75 mm. dia.)
• Two 4 mm Phillips #0 on the either side. (Head: 2.75mm dia.)

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

• Two 6.25 mm Phillips #000. (Head: 4 mm. dia. x .5mm thick)

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

• Four 3.25 mm Phillips #000. (Head: 4 mm. dia. x 4mm thick)

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

The longer screws go on the inside, shorter screws on the outside.

• Two 11 mm Phillips #00, with Shank (2.2mm dia. x 2 mm len.) (Head: 3.2 mm. dia. x .5mm thick)
• Two 7.25 mm Phillips #00, with Shank (2mm dia. x 3.75 mm len.) (Head: 3.2 mm. dia. x .5mm thick)

Remove the two Phillips screws from the optical drive side of the computer.

• Two 5.2 mm Phillips #00, with Shank (2.3mm dia. x 3.5 mm len.) (Head: 3.2 mm. dia. x .5mm thick)

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

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.

Starting near the display and working around to the front of the computer, pry up on the upper case. A plastic opening tool or a medium hard guitar pick may help you to do this.

The upper case is likely to stick at the connection above the optical drive. If this is the case, first free all other sides, then proceed to pull upward on the upper case from either side of the optical drive opening.

While holding up the upper case, pull up the black tab of the silver cable away from its connector.

If there is no black tab, you can also use a spudger to gently pry the connector from its housing. This connector is tall, so be sure to pry straight up.

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.

• Two 3.25 mm Phillips #000, (Head: 4 mm. dia. x .3 mm thick)

Disconnect the orange optical drive ribbon cable from the logic board. This cable can also be disconnected by prying straight up using a spudger.

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.

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

Remove the 2 mm Phillips screw securing the optical drive.

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

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.

Remove the following 3 screws:

• Two 3 mm Phillips near the right speaker.
• One 6 mm Phillips threaded through a hole in a plastic finger above the subwoofer.

Be careful not to over-tighten the screw above the subwoofer too tight or the plastic could crack.

Santa Rosa and Penryn MacBooks do not have a c-channel. If you are disassembling either of these models, remove only the 3 mm Phillips screw from the right speaker and skip step 26.

Lift the right speaker out of its housing and set it to the side.

If you have a Santa Rosa/Penryn model, skip this step.

Using a spudger, gently pry up the white plastic slot and slide the metal c-channel to the right and away from the display.

Use a spudger to carefully disconnect the microphone cable from the logic board. You'll want to work from side to side, and slowly wiggle the connector out of its socket.

Pulling on this connector vertically will break the socket off the logic board. This connector should be removed horizontally by gently pulling the microphone cable toward the screen while working a spudger between the connector and the socket.

Lift up on the black right speaker cable with one hand, and deroute the microphone cable from the silver metal clip just above the right RAM slot.

This metal clip may not be present in all models. Be sure that the cable is free from any hold downs around this area before proceeding.

Remove the single 4.2 mm Phillips screw securing the ground loop in the right speaker cable and microphone cable to the metal framework.

Deroute the microphone cable and the black display data cable from the tabs at the bottom of the subwoofer.

Remove the single 3 mm Phillips screw securing the ground loop in the display data cable located just above the Bluetooth board.

Disconnect the three antenna cables from the Airport card. There may be a square foam piece over the logic board connector.

Disconnect the inverter cable from the socket by inserting the spudger between the right or left edge of the plug and the socket, and prying gently upward. (Do NOT pry the entire socket off the board... you must pull the plug from within the socket.) The inverter plug lifts vertically out of the socket. Do not pull it in the direction of the connecting wires or you will tear the socket off.

If you have a MacBook Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa/Penryn, there are only two antenna cables and the black inverter cable is in a different location.

Remove the following 2 screws from the right hinge mount:

• One 6 mm Phillips on the left side of the hinge mount.
• One 10 mm Phillips on the right side of the hinge mount.

For Santa Rosa/Penryn models, see second picture and remove:

• One 3 mm smalller diameter Phillips on the far left.
• One 5.2 mm larger diameter 4.2 mm head Phillips in the middle.
• One 10 mm Phillips from the far right.

Lift the right hinge mount with the small plastic piece out of the computer.

Hold the display with one hand while removing the screws from the left hinge mount.

Remove the following 3 screws from the left hinge mount:

• One 7.2 mm smaller diameter Phillips from the right side.
• One 5.2 mm larger diameter Phillips from the middle.
• One 10 mm Phillips from the left side.

Lift the left hinge mount with plastic piece out of the computer.

Check that the cables on the right are not trapped under other cables.