Introduction
Use this guide to replace a damaged heat sink or its thermal paste.
What you need
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Tool used on this step:P5 Pentalobe Screwdriver Retina MacBook Pro and Air$5.99
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Remove the following ten screws:
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Two 8 mm 5-point Pentalobe screws
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Eight 2.5 mm 5-point Pentalobe screws
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Wedge your fingers between the display and the lower case and pull upward to pop the lower case off the Air.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry both short sides of the battery connector upward to disconnect it from its socket on the logic board.
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Bend the battery cable slightly away from the logic board so the connector will not accidentally bend back and make contact with its socket.
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Use the tip of a spudger to carefully push on each side of the iSight camera cable connector to loosen it out of its socket on the logic board.
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Use the tip of a spudger to carefully flip up the retaining flap on the fan cable ZIF socket.
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Remove the following three screws securing the fan to the upper case:
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Two 5.5 mm T5 Torx screws
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One 4.6 mm T5 Torx screw
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Lift, but do not remove the fan out of its recess in the upper case.
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Carefully pull the fan ribbon cable out of its socket as you remove the fan from the Air.
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