Use your fingers to push both battery release tabs away from the battery and lift the battery out of the computer.

Remove the four identical Phillips screws from the memory door.

Lift the memory door up enough to get a grip on it, and slide it toward you, pulling it away from the casing.

Remove the three Phillips screws in the battery compartment near the latch. Apple was nice enough to tilt these screws at a slight angle to make them easier to remove.

Remove the following six screws:

• Two T6 Torx screws on either side of the RAM slot.
• Four Phillips screws along the hinge.

Remove the four Phillips screws on the port side of the computer.

Rotate the computer 90 degrees and remove the two Phillips screws from the rear of the computer.

Rotate the computer 90 degrees again and remove the four Phillips screws from the side of the computer.

Do not yank the upper case off quickly. The case is attached to the logic board via a ribbon cable.

Lift up the back of the case and work your fingers along the sides, freeing the case as you go. Once you have freed the sides, you may need to rock the case up and down to free the front of the upper case.

Disconnect the trackpad and keyboard ribbon cable from the logic board.

Remove the upper case.

Disconnect the hard drive ribbon cable and the left I/O board ribbon cable from the logic board.

Disconnect the right speaker connector from the left I/O board.

Remove the two silver T6 Torx screws securing the gray metal retaining bracket to the right side of the hard drive.

Lift the gray metal retaining bracket out of the computer.

Remove the five black T6 Torx screws securing the left I/O board to the lower case.

Disconnect the large power connector from the left I/O board.

Move the orange hard drive ribbon out of the way with one hand. Use your other hand to lift up the right side of the left I/O board and slide it out of the computer.