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Replace Upper case of Mid 2012 MacBookPro with Mid 2010 Upper case?

Sorry for the crap title.

A row of keys on my Mid 2012 Macbook Pro stopped working and I was informed that to repair it, I would have to replace the upper case. A shop told me that they would charge 450$ to replace it, which is crazy because thats around the price I bought the laptop for.

However I do have an old Mid 2010 Macbook Pro, that I can use for parts. Are these two parts interchangable? It would save me a lot of money if they are.

Thanks- NC.

Update (10/15/2017)

UPDATE:

I listened to Mayer, bought myself a keyboard off ebay, not sure if the link above is still in stock. I also bought a phillips #00 screwdriver and a t6 screwdriver and that's it. Absolutely nothing else.

The repair took 3-4 hours, I used this video only : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAHtxNVO...

Most of the repair is just being careful with the connectors and keeping track off/screwing a 100 or so screws. Make sure you have an organizer/compartments for all the screws, or some way of keeping track of em.

But other than that, the Macbook is repaired for 50$ or so dollars, when the original estimate was around 400$!

Thanks IFIXIT and Mayer for all the help!!!

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Well they are both A1286 machines. But neither iFixit nor PowerBook Medic list them as compatible. I have no idea of why they would be incompatible. Except for the keyboard to logic board connector.

So if you don't want to chance it , just replace the keyboard. Hey let's see if those are different.

Nope same keyboard:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-US-Keybo...

US Keyboard For Apple Macbook Pro 15" A1286 2009 2010 2011 Mid-2012

Here's how to do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k0yDeOR...

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4 Comments:

Thanks a lot Mayer. I'm not sure why everyone I've spoken to is adamant that the whole upper case needs to be replaced, including online references. It'll take some studying and some learning but hopefully soon I will attempt this repair myself. Thanks again!

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Well there are Apple Geniuses and then there are actual Master Technicians. I do this for free to help people. Replacing that keyboard is not an easy task. It takes me 2.25 hrs with an electric screwdriver. It will take a novice about 4 hours. Even at that, with a cost of about $20, that means you save about $100 per hour. Not bad pay.

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JUST DID IT, THANKS!!! Wasn't as hard as I thought, but required a lot of patience and being careful. Can't believe the amount of money I saved on this.

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That's really great. You have a new found confidence in yourself and old men who have actually done it ;-) Now you can go tell the Apple Geniuses where to get off.

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Nasim Chowdhury will be eternally grateful.
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