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Mid 2012 model, A1278 / 2.5 GHz i5 or 2.9 GHz i7 processor.

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Problem fitting Unibody Laptop DualDrive Enclosure 2012 13" MacBookPro

I have run into a problem when fitting the iFixit Unibody Laptop Dual Drive Enclosure into my Mid 2012 13" Mackbook Pro.

The left two mounting tabs that the screws go through, are a lot wider than those found on the factory DVD drive. The problem here is that this is making the gap between the two mounting tabs narrower than that of the DVD drive.

When trying to install the Drive Enclosure, instead of these tabs sitting directly onto the screw holes on the chassis, they are both resting on top of the speaker that sits between the screw holes (which is higher than them), leaving a 1mm-1.5mm gap between the tabs and screw holes.

This also makes the whole Drive Enclosure sit a lot higher than the DVD drive, to the point where the Drive Enclosure is sitting above the mounting point for the rear chassis/cover panel.

Has anyone else used this particular Drive Enclosure in a 2012 13" Macbook Pro and had this same problem. I realise I may need to modify the Enclosure, but given I have purchased this product because it has been made specifically for this laptop, that seems ridiculous.

iFixit needs to address this issue if they are going to market this product for this laptop model.

The part number is IF107-080-1

You can see below on the DVD drive that the screw holes are on the very inside edge of the tabs, and there are cutouts specifically for the speaker to sit in, so there is no obstruction.

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Below you can see the tabs on the Dual Drive Enclosure, has wider tabs that are closer together than the original DVD drive, which makes this sit on top of the speaker that is supposed to sit between them. If these tabs were only enough to mount just the screw, this shouldn't be a problem, unless then the bottom of the enclosure bottoms out on the speaker because there is no cut out for it.

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Does anyone have any ideas?

Answer this question I have this problem too

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Most Helpful Answer

Take the mounting brackets off your original optical drive and mount them on the adapter.

Give us a link to what you ordered and then see if what you got match.

Installing MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Dual Hard Drive

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I've talked with the supplier about the product I ordered and received, and it was the correct model for the laptop (both noted above). I'm not currently looking at the DVD drive or the adapter, but I'm pretty sure they are not going to fit together, as that was never the intention. When I open this up next I will look though to be sure.

It seems that others may have all had the same issue that I have, but have screwed it down anyway and the rear cover was able to fit (although it must be very snug). The part just doesn't look like it was designed for the mid 2012 13" Macbook Pro specifically, but probably previous models.

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Ask @evan about this.

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@g_rad correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you didn't order this part from iFixit? I've done this upgrade a fair number of times with no problem, but I can clearly see the issue you're describing from the photos. I'll kick this over to someone in customer service who deals with this a bit more frequently to see if they can help you out.

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Well, that’s kinda strange. Model changes don’t matter much. The SuperDrive doesn’t change from 2009 to 2012. Also, there’s really only one way to make it fit. There’s no wiggle room, and if you can line up the screw holes, you did it right. It’s more likely that either the supplemental drive you bought is crappy, or at least thicker than it should be. Also, if you're using a standard or hybrid HD, they are thicker than SSDs and might be pushing the mount up a touch. I would recommend trying to seat it empty, and see if it fits properly then, and if it does, just put an SSD in there instead of a spinning disk. If it still doesn't fit nicely, it's a problem with the mount, not your laptop.

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@evan No I didn't buy this directly from iFixit. As I'm in Australia, I bought this from the local supplier of these products, RamCity. As far as I can tell, it is an iFixit product. It may be that you just line up the screw holes (which they do) and just screw this thing down. To me though, the chassis holes and enclosure holes have a 1-2mm gap between them due to the screw tab resting on the speaker housing.

@soria, this has nothing to do with the drive installed in the enclosure itself, that is irrelevant to the problem as I see it. As I just mentioned, and in the original post, that it is all about the screw hole tabs being too wide. They then encroach on the speaker housing so that it doesn't sit down as far as I believe it should, which in turn then the whole enclosure housing sits too proud.

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