My Problem

Battery on my 3 yr old MacBook Pro no longer could take a charge reliably. Didn't want to take my laptop in and leave it at the store, so decided to replace it myself after reading ifixit.

My Fix

Easy repair. Took 15 minutes and five of those minutes was dealing with my cat who kept jumping on the table.

My Advice

Make sure to have the right tools. Now I wish I'd also upgraded my hard drive while I had the laptop open. Oh well, will do another time. Great site.

My Problem

I had bad battery time

My Fix

Very easy to change the battery

My Advice

No just follow the guide

My Problem

My MacBook was showing the 'Service Battery' alert. I asked for a quote from an Apple repair store who were going to charge almost $300 for a 10 minute job.

My Fix

Repair was simple. No worries at all and all of the tools worked perfectly.

My Advice

Replacing the battery is incredibly easy. If you're able to, never settle for the heavily overpriced repair stores. There are plenty of sources online to buy replacement batteries including on ifixit but ifixit also have all the necessary tools to carry out the repair.

My Problem

Someone came to me with that laptop and I opened it up to take a look.

My Fix

It is drying. I'll try to brush off the coffee with distilled water later. Let's hope it works!

My Advice

Get the right tools from iFixit before you start. I broke a tiny part in the process. I just hope it works.

My Problem

I needed to change my battery

My Fix

Everything ok in ten minutes

My Advice

Buy the right screwdriver by ifixit and good luck

My Problem

My macdrive was out.

My Fix

I change it.

My Advice

It is perfect.

My Problem

There was no obvious reason why it broke. I thought my choices were 1) fix or replace it, 2) take it to the Apple Store and have them do it, 3) buy an external track pad or mouse or 4) buy a new MacBook to replace one barely 2 years old.

1) seemed reasonable, since I like to fix things and am fairly competent at it and the warranty had expired. I found a video on the Internet that described various trackpad problems and how to fix them. It could be broken, out of adjustment, or just full of dirt and dust. It also listed the tools needed to repair or replace the trackpad: a 00 Philips screwdriver and a tiny Torx wrench and a hex (Allen) wrench. I had all the tools, so I gave it a go. I removed the bottom and it was filthy inside! I blew out all the dust with compressed air, which helped a lot, but click and drag (essential for Lion) still didn't work, and simple clicking was intermittent. (This didn't match the symptoms described in the video, though.) So I attempted step 2, removing the battery. That's where I discovered (not mentioned in the video) that they used the weird 5-point Torx screws instead of normal 6-point Torx or Allen screws. I blew out as much dust as I could (it then worked very slightly better), and put it back together to regroup.

I considered taking it to the Apple store, but was informed it would be at least $150, more if the trackpad needed to be replaced. I borrowed an external USB mouse, which worked but it was another thing to cart around, required a flat surface to set it down, and it didn't do multifinger gestures at all. A bluetooth external trackpad would have solved that, but again it is an additional item to carry, and greatly reduces the MacBook's portability, since you need a place to set down the trackpad.

Buying a new MacBook seemed ridiculous after only 2 years.

My Fix

I made one last search for trackpad repair hints and discovered ifixit had the secret pentalobe screwdriver. I decided to buy the slightly more expensive one based on the theory that you should always get the best tool you can afford, because cheap tools will cost more in the long run. It arrived in 3 days, even with the cheapest shipping option.

I took the bottom of the MacBook again, not too dusty inside this time, removed the battery (which was a snap with my new screwdriver), cleaned the trackpad underside with compressed air and a lint-free cloth, and reassembled. No joy :-(.

So I disassembled it again, and tried turning the trackpad adjustment screw 1/8 turn clockwise (be very cautious about this screw). Now the trackpad worked a little better, but still not right. Turned an additional 1/8 turn, and it was as bad as before. Turned it back 1/2 turn counterclockwise (so it was a 1/4 turn from where it started), and it worked perfectly! Hooray!

My Advice

The longest part of the whole process was the 5 minutes I spent searching the floor for one of the tiny philips screws that holds the bottom cover on the case. I gave up, removed the rest of the screws, and when I was prying the bottom cover off, I realized there was something under the MacBook. Lifted it up and there was the missing screw! I then had an idea, went and got a magnet off the fridge and sure enough, the screws are magnetic.

I recommend getting a small magnet (a fridge magnet will do) and using it to hang on to all the screws so you don't lose them. The magnet will also make it much easier to find and retrieve a screw if you drop it, especially on the multicolored rug under my dinning room table.

I also use a cheap (50 cent) plastic icecube tray for holding parts while it's disassembled.

My Problem

The original battery was dead so i had to change it.

My Fix

Everything went fine, without any problem

My Advice

No nothing really, the guide is very detailed!

My Problem

My MacBook pro 2009 model battery had only the capacity to keep the macbook up and running for ~45 minutes. A new battery was required (as my daily train travels from and to work takes 50 minutes :).

My Fix

It couldn't be easier. Ordered a battery.. opened my macbook.. and discovered pentalobe screws. A short search on ifixit delivered the solution as they are (as far as I can see) the only ones that can supply this screwdriver. I'm from the Netherlans, ordered it via ifixit, opted for the longest (and cheapest) delivery method (2-3 weeks) and was suppressed to see it to arrive within 1 week !!!

My Advice

The advice? Well, visit ifixit.com, get the manual and the gear and your all set to go.

My Problem

My MacBook Pro 18 months old and the battery died completely. It's supposed to last for ~1000 charge cycles (for several years) and it died at 128 cycles. I had to make an appointment a week out at a Genius Bar at an Apple Store nowhere near where I live and they told me that there was nothing they could do and that they didn't even have the battery in stock, that they'd hold onto my laptop for a week just to replace the battery– and charge me upwards of $200 to do it (when the battery itself is less than $120). So I went through this whole ordeal of trying to find the right battery only to find out that they don't even sell the battery through retail outlets– Apple will only replace the battery themselves, and charge a ridiculous $60 fee to replace it and keep the computer for days just to do something that takes 5 minutes and zero skill whatsoever.

My Fix

I ordered the battery and the proprietary screwdriver <gives Apple the middle finger> through iFixit. The order shipped an hour after I placed it. Impressive. It took less than 4 minutes to replace my battery, and most of that was spent just unscrewing the bottom. It was ridiculously simple. To put that into perspective, it took 20 minutes after my appointment time at an Apple Store just to get someone to tell me my battery crapped out and they couldn't do anything about it.

My Advice

I don't usually like to gripe and publicly complain about things. There's a lot that I love about Apple and their products, but this whole experience, albeit unfortunate, was completely unnecessary for something that should be so simple to fix. I already referred to iFixit for guides on how to repair my computers, but I will be relying on them for my future repairs and upgrades as well and saving myself time and money.