Introduction
Rock out too hard? Use this guide to replace a blown-out rear speaker.
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Remove the eight 4 mm Phillips screws securing the lower case to the MacBook.
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Slightly lift the lower case near the vent opening.
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Continue running your fingers between the lower and upper cases until the upper case pops off its retaining clips.
Do the retaining clips have to be re-engaged when replacing the lower case?
Answering my own question, the clips re-engage when the lower case is correctly positioned. You can help them by gently pressing the lower case with your thumbs midway along the two short sides. When everything is correctly aligned the eight screw holes line up.
Rather than running your fingernail down the sides to free up the retaining clips, I found that using an old credit card, inserted about 1/4”, to run along the left and right side popped those end retaining clips right off with no problem. You may need to twist the card slightly when in the middle area to help pop those off.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to lift the battery connector up out of its socket on the logic board.
you do not need to remove the battery when replacing the hard drive or ram
Be careful of the corner of the battery cable connector when trying to pry it off with the spudge. I knocked the corner of mine. No operational impact but was not very pleasing!
Not necessary, but a good idea, so as to avoid any spurious charges going through the boards...
@Svenaustx - What could happen if not removing this battery? Worst case? Not a geek on this but did change RAM on my Macbook Pro "15. Can't remember disconneting the battery back then. Shouldn't it be sufficient shutting the Mac off and ensure it has been used for an hour or so before replacing RAM?
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Remove the following screws from the optical drive side of the rear vent:
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Two 10 mm T8 Torx
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Two 5.2 mm Phillips
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I have a problem with the two middle screws
same here...
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Remove the following screws from the port side of rear vent:
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Two 10 mm T8 Torx
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Two 5.2 mm Phillips
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Carefully lift the rear vent out of the upper case.
you can actually stop disassembling now and try to replace it now. after removing two t6 screws it came off pretty easily
Good tip, thanks! I skipped ahead to step 17 and had no problem getting the magsafe board out from under the logic board and the new one installed. Saves a lot of work disconnecting connectors indicated as Fragile!
matt15 -
Thank You! Saved me an hour or so of work and a lot of stress!
I also did Step 6, then skipped to Step 17 & 18. Once I had the display data cable off, I could remove the 2 T6 Torx screws holding the MagSafe board on and remove it. You can reach under the logic board with the point of the spudger to work the cable out of the socket. Note how you maneuver the board out of the tight space so you can maneuver it back in. When you put the new MagSafe board in, plug in the cable first. If you bend the wires so the plug approaches the socket at the appropriate angle, you can nudge it in with the pointed end of the spudger.
Thanks a lot for this hint! You saved my macbook, when I failed to unscrew the fan because of one completely destroyed screw. Thanks to your comment I skipped steps 7-16 and went straight to replacing the magsafe board without problems. The spudger and some 3D imagination and done,
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the AirPort/Bluetooth cable connector up off the logic board.
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Remove the following screws securing the right speaker assembly to the upper case:
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One 12 mm Phillips screw.
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One 3 mm Phillips screw.
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Remove the single 2.2 mm Phillips screw inserted horizontally into the side of the optical drive.
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Pry the AirPort and Bluetooth antenna connectors (3 total) up off the AirPort/Bluetooth card.
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De-route the long antenna from its channel in the rear speaker housing.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the rear speaker cable connector up off the logic board.
This step is NOT necessary!!!
Agreed- this step is not needed. If you do detach it, you will have to reattach it. I used my mom's nail glue. I applied a 1mm dot of it on the logic board using a paperclip. I also applied a small amount to the back of the connector. I let it air dry til it was tacky, then carefully placed it on, and got the contacts aligned. Took me two tries, but after the second, I rebooted and had sound!
I wasn't able to reconnect this cable and feel like I broke it. There's 2 other cables near that too and part of one seems broken as well. Honestly, why did I even have to remove that cable? Now I'm stuck without good sounds for a while.. :(
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Remove the rear speaker assembly from the upper case.
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Carefully peel the AirPort/Bluetooth cable from its channel within the rear speaker assembly.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the AirPort/Bluetooth cable up off the rear speaker.
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Remove three 3 mm Phillips screws securing the AirPort/Bluetooth board to the rear speaker assembly.
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Lift the AirPort/Bluetooth board up off the rear speaker assembly.
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Rear speaker remains.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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According to this page http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1651?viewl..., the 8 screws are not identical.
Can anybody tell me where each kind of screw is supposed to go?
Gregoire - Reply
They are all 100% Identical. You were probably looking at a different model, or Apple has entered the wrong information... Hey, It happens...
weeowey weeowey -
The screws on the Late 2009 are identical. The blue lock compound might make tightening some require a little more effort.
svenaustx - Reply
Can I replace it with a SATA 3 cable?
nm - Reply
A1342 macbook does not have the right controller to support sata III
weeowey weeowey -
hi, i just got back from the apple store and they are really keen for me to upgrade to a new laptop since my battery is old and the screen is cracked, so glad i found ifixit i would love to upgrade this puppy! gonna make it a real sleeper! styler hall wrote about sticking 16 gb of ram in his a 1342 ? is this a simply mather of ordering 3 4gb sticks ?aslo i currently have 4 gb and would like to upgrade to 8 ( or indeed 16) does that mean i need to buy all new sticks or can i continue to use the old one and stick a new one next to it ?
thanks again mick van aar, perth western aus.
michelvanaar - Reply
The A1342 will take up to 16 GB of RAM, however, there are only two RAM slots, so use two 8-GB RAM modules. Other World Computing (OWC) is a great reference source for info on exactly which RAM to use with which model; prices are usually much better on EBay though. Add an SSD from OWC and your machine will really scream!
I hope that helps!
gdesbrisay -