MacBook Neo Keyboard Replacement

Fully shut down the MacBook and close the lid. Keep the lid closed until you've physically disconnected the battery.

Disconnect any cables and accessories.

Flip the computer upside‑down on a clean work surface.

Use a P5 pentalobe driver to remove the eight screws securing the bottom cover:

Six 4.1 mm‑long screws

Two 4.5 mm‑long screws

Use your fingers to lift the top right corner of the bottom cover, near the USB‑C ports, until the clip along the right edge releases.

Repeat this process on the left side to release its clip.

Remove the bottom cover.

Use a Torx Plus 3IP driver to remove the two 1.7 mm‑long screws securing the battery connector cover.

Use tweezers or your fingers to remove the battery connector cover.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry up and disconnect the battery press connector.

Use a Torx Plus 3IP driver to remove the 1.7 mm‑long screw securing the antenna connector cover.

Use tweezers or your fingers to remove the antenna connector cover.

Insert one arm of angled tweezers under the metal neck of one of the antenna coaxial connectors and lift straight up to disconnect it.

Repeat the process to disconnect the second antenna cable.

Use a Torx Plus 5IP driver to remove the four 2.9 mm‑long screws securing the antenna.

Pick up the antenna by its edges and remove it.

Use the flat end of a spudger to gently push under the metal buckle of the display cable connector, located on the top‑right corner of the logic board, to unclip it.

Grab the buckle and cable together and gently pull the connector straight out of its socket.

Repeat this procedure to disconnect the camera cable, located on the left edge of the logic board.

Grip the buckle and insert the connector fully into its socket. Realign it as necessary and don't try to force it in.

Flip the buckle over the socket and press it down until it clicks into place.

Pick up the buckle and cable together and gently pull the camera cable out of its channel securing it to the frame.

Free the cable so it's not wrapped around the corner of the laptop frame.

Hold the display cable's buckle and cable together and free it from the laptop frame.

Use a Torx Plus 8IP screwdriver to loosen (not remove) all four hinge screws.

Loosen the hinge screws at least one full turn.

Adjust the screen until it's correctly centered and aligned on each side. The screen should sit flush with the rest of the laptop.

Fully tighten the four hinge screws.

Open the laptop all the way and gently place it keyboard side down on a table, so the screen hangs over the edge.

Support the screen with one hand.

With your free hand, use a Torx Plus 8IP screwdriver to remove the four 6.2 mm–long screws securing the hinges.

Hold the screen with both hands and lift the hinges out of their recesses to remove it.

Remove the bottom adhesive liner off the keyboard shield foam stickers.

Align the foam with the bottom and left edges of the battery and set it into place.

Press the keyboard shield foam onto the frame to secure it, then remove the top liner.

Use a Torx Plus 3IP driver to remove the two 1.7 mm‑long screws securing the USB ports connector cover.

Use tweezers or your fingers to remove the USB ports connector cover.

Use the flat end of a spudger to disconnect the USB ports press connector.

Use a Torx Plus 5IP driver to remove the four 2.8 mm‑long screws securing the USB ports.

Lift the USB ports by their cable and remove them.

Set the USB ports into the frame, then use a Torx Plus 5IP driver to partially install the four 2.8 mm‑long screws securing them.

Plug both ends of a USB‑C to USB‑C cable into the ports. If either port feels stiff, shift the port and reconnect the cable until it feels smooth.

Fully tighten the screws securing the USB ports, and disconnect the cable from both.

Insert the point of a spudger beneath the right speaker connector, located on the left side of the logic board directly above the battery, and pry it straight up to disconnect it.

Repeat to disconnect the headphone jack and left speaker connectors, located on the opposite end of the logic board.

Gently lift the speaker cables out of their channels around the battery.

Gently peel up the headphone jack cable and lift it out of its channel around the battery.

Use tweezers to peel up the black sticker over the keyboard cable, just until it comes off the socket on the board. Make sure it stays attached to the cable.

Use the flat end of a spudger to flip up the hinged locking flap on the keyboard cable ZIF connector.

Use tweezers or your fingers to gently grip the keyboard cable by its cover and slide the cable out of its socket.

Flip up the hinged locking flap and disconnect the microphone cable ZIF connector, adjacent to the keyboard cable.

Repeat to disconnect the trackpad cable ZIF connector, adjacent to the microphone cable.

Repeat to disconnect the Touch ID cable ZIF connector, located on the left edge of the logic board.

Use a Torx Plus 3IP driver to remove the five 1.7 mm‑long screws securing the logic board.

Carefully lift the logic board around the cables and out of the MacBook.

Keyboard, microphone, and trackpad cables

Audio board cable

USB ports cable

Touch ID board cable (if present)

Use a Torx Plus 5IP driver to remove the eighteen 2.8 mm‑long screws securing the battery.

Don't remove the four tall screws marked in yellow.

Insert the flat end of a spudger beneath the battery's left edge and lift it until you can grab it with your fingers.

Tilt the top edge of the battery upwards to a roughly 45‑degree angle and remove it.

Use the flat end of a spudger to lift the hinged locking flap on the trackpad cable ZIF connector.

Use tweezers or your fingers to gently pull the trackpad cable out of its socket.

Slowly peel up the trackpad cable to separate the light adhesive securing it to the keyboard shield.

Remove the trackpad cable.

Peel up the keyboard cable on the top edge of the keyboard shield.

Peel up and remove the three foam strips on the Touch ID cable and keyboard shield.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry up the hinged locking flap on the Touch ID interconnect cable.

Use tweezers or your fingers to pull the Touch ID cable out of its socket.

Peel up the Touch ID interconnect cable off the keyboard shield.

Use the flat end of a spudger to gently lift the Touch ID cable off the keyboard shield.

Position the cable over the edge of the frame so it's out of the way.

Use the point of a spudger to pry up the keyboard shield until you can grab it with tweezers.

Use tweezers to slowly peel up an entire edge of the keyboard shield so you can grab it with your fingers.

Peel up the keyboard shield at a low angle. Try to lift it in one large piece.

Peel off the entire keyboard shield. Try to keep it in one piece.

If the shield tears, peel up any remnants off the laptop.

Set the new keyboard shield in place so the holes in the shield are aligned with the posts on the keyboard.

Use the flat end of a spudger to press the entire perimeter of the keyboard shield into place.

Remove any remaining liners off the keyboard shield.

To install a new keyboard shield:

Clean up any residual adhesive off the frame of the laptop.

Remove the adhesive liner off the bottom (shiny side) of the new keyboard shield.

Use a Torx Plus 3IP driver to remove the four 1.9 mm‑long screws securing the Touch ID sensor.

Use a Torx Plus 1IP driver to remove the four 2.2 mm‑long screws securing the Touch ID backplate.

Pick up the Touch ID backplate and remove it.

Lift the laptop frame to let the Touch ID sensor fall out.

Remove the Touch ID sensor and set the laptop back down.

Use tweezers to lift any residual adhesive covering any of the screws securing the keyboard.

Use a Torx Plus 1IP driver to remove the forty‑one 1.7 mm‑long screws securing the keyboard.

If the laptop doesn't have Touch ID, use a Torx Plus 1IP driver to remove the remaining four screws securing the keyboard.

Lift the keyboard out of the frame and remove it.