With the case closed, place the Unibody top-side down on a flat surface.

Depress the grooved side of the access door release latch enough to grab the free end. Lift the release latch until it is vertical.

The access door should now be raised enough to lift it up and out of the Unibody.

Be sure the access door release latch is vertical before proceeding.

Grab the white plastic tab and pull the battery up and out of the Unibody.

Remove the following eight screws securing the lower case to the chassis:

• One 3 mm Phillips screw.
• Three 13.5 mm Phillips screws.
• Four 3.5 mm Phillips screws.

Using both hands, lift and remove the lower case off the upper case.

Remove the four 10.3 mm Phillips screws securing the mid wall to the upper case.

Lift the mid wall out of the upper case.

Use a spudger to pry the fan connector straight up off the logic board.

It is useful to twist the spudger axially from beneath the fan cable wires to release the connector.

The fan socket and the fan connector can be seen in the second and third pictures. Be careful not to break the plastic fan socket off the logic board as you use your spudger to lift the fan connector straight up and out of its socket. The layout of the logic board shown in the second picture may look slightly different than your machine but the fan socket is the same.

Remove the following three screws securing the fan to the upper case:

• Two 5 mm Phillips screws.
• One 7 mm Phillips screw.

Lift the fan out of the upper case.

In the next few steps, you will disconnect the highlighted cables which connect the logic board to the upper case.

Each connector is different, so the following steps will show you how disconnect each in detail.

Remove the single Phillips screw securing the battery cable cover to the upper case.

Remove the battery cable cover from the upper case.

Use a spudger to pry the battery level indicator cable connector straight up off the logic board.

Disconnect the battery cable connector by pulling it straight away from the logic board.

If you cannot grasp the cable with your fingers, a spudger and tweezers may be helpful for removal.

Using the tip of a spudger, flip up the keyboard ribbon cable retaining flap.

Pull the keyboard ribbon cable straight out of its socket.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the trackpad connector straight up off the logic board.

Use the tip of a spudger to flip up the locking lever to release the IR sensor ribbon cable from its socket.

Use the tip of a spudger to pull the IR sensor ribbon cable straight away from the logic board.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the hard drive cable connector straight up off the logic board.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the optical drive cable connector straight up off the logic board.

Disconnect the display data cable by pulling the male end straight away from its socket.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the subwoofer cable connector straight up off the logic board.

Grab the plastic pull tab secured to the display data cable lock and rotate it toward the DC-in side of the computer.

Pull the display data cable connector straight away from its socket.

Remove the following two screws securing the display data cable bracket to the upper case:

• One 7mm Phillips screw.
• One 5mm Phillips screw.

Remove the two 7 mm Phillips screws from the DC-in board.

Lift the display data cable bracket out of the upper case.

If present, remove the two 4mm Phillips screws securing the bottom case clip to the upper case.

Lift the bottom case clip out of the upper case.

Remove the two 5mm Phillips screws securing the keyboard flex bracket to the upper case.

Lift the keyboard flex bracket out of the upper case.

Use the tip of a spudger to release the microphone from the upper case.