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MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 SSD Replacement

What you need

  1. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 SSD Replacement, Lower Case: step 1, image 1 of 1
    Tool used on this step:
    Magnetic Project Mat
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    • 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.

  2. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 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 Late 2012 SSD Replacement: step 3, image 1 of 3 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 SSD Replacement: step 3, image 2 of 3 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 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 Late 2012 SSD Replacement, Battery Connector: step 4, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the plastic cover adhered to the battery contact board.

  5. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 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 Late 2012 SSD Replacement: step 6, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 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.

  7. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 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.

  8. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 SSD Replacement: step 8, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 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 Late 2012 SSD Replacement, Battery Contact Board: step 9, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 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.

  10. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 SSD Replacement, SSD Assembly: step 10, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 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 Late 2012 SSD Replacement: step 11, image 1 of 3 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 SSD Replacement: step 11, image 2 of 3 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 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 Late 2012 SSD Replacement: step 12, image 1 of 1
    • Remove the SSD assembly from the upper case.

  13. MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 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 Late 2012 SSD Replacement: step 14, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 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 Late 2012 SSD Replacement: step 15, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2012 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 Late 2012 SSD Replacement, SSD: step 16, image 1 of 1
    • SSD remains.

Conclusion

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

104 other people completed this guide.

9 Comments

I followed the guide and was able to upgrade my wife's MacBook from 128GB to 240 GB!

One thing I noticed was that when I removed the plastic clip in step 6, it left behind a glue dot on the screw head I had to remove in step 7. I wasn't sure why my screwdriver kept rotating until I realized the clear dot was covering the screwed! Then I tweeze the dot off, and put it in the recess on the underside of the clip and all was good.

Everything went to the letter after, until it came time to restart and initialize the new disk. It turns out the old disk had some directory damage, so when it was copied to the new internal SSD, then the Mac wouldn't boot from it until I did a couple FSCK and Repair Disk fixes.

dazifixit - Reply

Vignesh,

Here is an option to recover your data and get a tiny speedy external SSD drive for 28.85

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MAU3...

david - Reply

Sam,

The 2012 MacBook Pro uses an PCI Express Mini Card connection between the logic board and the SSD.

"Some notebooks (notably the Asus Eee PC, the MacBook Air, and the Dell mini9 and mini10) use a variant of the PCI Express Mini Card as an SSD. This variant uses the reserved and several non-reserved pins to implement SATA and IDE interface passthrough, keeping only USB, ground lines, and sometimes the core PCIe 1x bus intact.[11] This makes the 'miniPCIe' flash and solid state drives sold for netbooks largely incompatible with true PCI Express Mini implementations."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express...

david - Reply

I fully agree, Especially as it turned out to be a little tricky to get the connector back in his position properly. Don't think there is a higher risk of damage through electric shock or so. Next time I will for sure skip it ;-)

Timpetou -

Aren’t steps 4-10 completely unnecessary?

Wade Murdock - Reply

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