Skip to main content

MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement

What you need

  1. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement, Lower Case: step 1, image 1 of 1
    Tool used on this step:
    Magnetic Project Mat
    $19.95
    Buy
    • Remove the following ten screws securing the lower case to the upper case:

    • Two 2.3 mm P5 Pentalobe screws

    • Eight 3.0 mm P5 Pentalobe screws

    • Throughout this repair, keep track of each screw and make sure it goes back exactly where it came from to avoid damaging your device.

    If don’t have one of those neat project mats, then you can use small pieces of flattened blu-tack to hold the screws. If you arrange them in the shape of your mac book cover, and put the screws down methodically, you can get a one-to-one mapping of the screws to the correct screw holes.

    Toby Thurston - Reply

    Or you can use an ice tray where you put the screws and the parts in separate bays in the same order as they come in the instructions.

    timofej.se -

    This is great! I used a small magnetic white board, and wrote on it to identify the parts as I went. This whole process, from the fast shipment to the great instructions to the complete, high quality, tool kit has been great. I’m typing this comment on my resurrected laptop. Thank you! Sue

    Susan Greer - Reply

    It would be a good idea if people recorded in the comments which screws go where so that, if someone lost their screw positions, they could recover them from the comments.

    Raymond Shpeley - Reply

  2. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 2, image 1 of 1
    • Wedge your fingers between the upper case and the lower case.

    • Gently pull the lower case away from the upper case.

    • Remove the lower case and set it aside.

  3. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 3, image 1 of 3 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 3, image 2 of 3 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 3, image 3 of 3
    • During reassembly, gently push down the center of the lower case to reattach the two plastic clips.

    • The lower case is connected to the upper case at the center, with two plastic clips.

  4. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement, Battery Connector: step 4, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the plastic cover adhered to the battery contact board.

    The replacement cover doesn't seem to have the formed pads attached. I re-installed the original.

    Adrien - Reply

  5. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 5, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the following screws securing the battery connector board to the logic board:

    • Two 2.8 mm T6 Torx screws

    • One 7.0 mm T6 Torx shouldered screw

  6. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 6, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 6, image 2 of 2
    • Use tweezers to remove the small plastic cover located near the bottom right of the battery connector board.

    Is adhered to screw beneath, so lift firmly and slowly.

    Andrew - Reply

    when doing this with metal tweezers as instructed in the video, it was difficult to get off and apparently while i was trying to do it, the tweezers went too far under and i believe made contact with the screw underneath? there was a zzz noise, an orange flicker and a little stream of smoke that came out. i freaked out and put everything back together to see if the laptop even still worked, it turned on and everything but died right away (i drained it before doing the repair anyway, so i was surprised it turned on at all).

    i finished the battery repair and did several other things while in there. i have charged it all the way as recommended and will use it later on to see how everything is, im hoping that it’s a okay, but could someone explain to me what happened and the possible consequences?

    Kait D - Reply

  7. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 7, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the wide head 6.4 mm T6 Torx screw securing the battery connector to the logic board assembly.

    When reinstalling, be careful that the board lines up correctly and is completely seated in order for this screw to thread properly.

    Adrien - Reply

  8. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 8, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 8, image 2 of 2
    • Carefully lift the battery connector board up off the logic board.

    • It is recommended to bend the battery cables just slightly, to keep the board suspended up above the logic board and out of the way.

    • Do not fold the board completely over, or crease the cables, as this may damage the battery.

  9. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement, Battery Contact Board: step 9, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement, Battery Contact Board: step 9, image 2 of 2
    • Grasp the Interposer with tweezers.

    • An interposer is the name for an interface that links one electrical connection to another. In this repair, it is the board connecting the battery to logic board.

    • Lift the Interposer off the logic board and remove it.

    • Removing this board will ensure that the battery remains disconnected throughout your repair, preventing your computer from accidentally powering on. It's also a good idea to take it out so it doesn't fall out unexpectedly.

    How can I remove interposer I m not able to remove it

    Raunak - Reply

    you must lift it absolutely vertically, or it fouls against the locator pin in the corner- you can easily get the impression that it won’t come over the end of this pin- almost like it’s rivetted in. it isn’t. get a good grip on it with the tweezers in the centre hole & one of the sides, & lift it STRAIGHT up.

    duncan rmi -

    I would recommend to use plastic tweezers in order to reduce risk of damage.

    Martin Sippel - Reply

    Second that. If you have thin heat shrink tubing, form some over the tweezer tips. If the tubing is thin and small enough in diameter you’ll see the serrations of the tweezer tips.

    Raymond Shpeley -

    wat is the model this SSD

    thierry.wilow - Reply

  10. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement, SSD Assembly: step 10, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement, SSD Assembly: step 10, image 2 of 2
    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the SSD cable connector up from its socket on the logic board.

  11. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 11, image 1 of 3 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 11, image 2 of 3 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 11, image 3 of 3
    • Use your thumb or finger to bend the plastic spring bar on the SSD tray, freeing the two clips at the front side of the device.

    • While holding the spring bar depressed, tilt the SSD assembly up out of its cavity.

  12. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 12, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the SSD assembly from the upper case.

  13. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 13, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the single 2.9 mm T5 Torx screw securing the SSD to the SSD tray.

  14. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 14, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 14, image 2 of 2
    • Insert the edge of plastic opening tool between the SSD and the SSD tray, opposite to the socket side of SSD tray.

    • Pry the side of the SSD opposite the SSD tray socket out of the SSD tray.

    • Only lift the SSD up far enough to grab the sides of it with your fingers. Lifting it any more may damage the card or socket.

  15. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 15, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement: step 15, image 2 of 2
    • Carefully pull the SSD straight out of its socket on the SSD tray.

  16. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Early 2013 SSD Replacement, SSD: step 16, image 1 of 1
    • SSD remains.

    I want to buy external usb casing for this SSD card, could you please tell us if this is mini PCIe mSATA or something else.

    Sulman - Reply

    A most excellent step by step. I now need to figure out how to grant permission for my backup Air to read my removed Pro SSD files. Perhaps a link from here to that would be helpful.

    Richard Lacher - Reply

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

54 other people completed this guide.

Sam Goldheart

Member since: 10/18/12

465,252 Reputation

538 Guides authored

Team

iFixit Member of iFixit

Staff

136 Members

16,573 Guides authored

5 Comments

Excelente, muchas gracias

Ruben Morales - Reply

Ok, now that I replaced my SSD - how do I recover my OS?

Andy Stevko - Reply

You can boot your mac to the recovery pressing command + R while you turn on your mac, configure your wifi and then create the partition in the ssd using disk utility, then you can clos disk utility and proceed to the instalation of the OS, the installation will be downloaded from the apple servers so it will depend of your internet speed how long will it take.

Ivan Roque -

Sieht so aus, als würde da eine ganz normale 2,5”-SSD reinpassen, wenn man den Einschub weglässt. Kann man das Kabel am MBP entfernen und ohne den Einschub benutzen?

Familienfreundlicher_Nutzer - Reply

Geht leider nicht. Die neue NVMe m.2 SSD muss eine Übergangslösung haben. Leicht zu finden beim Internett. Das Übergang ist ein kleines Zeug das Mann braucht der Länge und Datei - Brikett zur passen.

Adrian Swift -

Add Comment

View Statistics:

Past 24 Hours: 9

Past 7 Days: 98

Past 30 Days: 477

All Time: 139,609