Introduction
Use this guide to help you replace a scratched, scuffed, bent or broken bottom panel on your MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Late 2013.
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Remove the following P5 pentalobe screws securing the lower case to the MacBook Pro:
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Eight 3.0 mm
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Two 2.3 mm
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Lifting from the edge nearest the clutch cover, lift the lower case off the MacBook Pro.
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Set the lower case aside.
Does anyone noticed that the bottom cover and the bottom case is actually linked with the black plastic near the battery?! After the first time you open the cover, it will be impossible to put it back to the original place. Does the critical?! Thanks a lot for informing
I was able to simply push and click those clips back into place before I did the screwing.
Tim Peat -
I truly believe this is placebo and the 10*C difference is because in the process the dust was removed from the fan/heat sink rather then the thermal "magic" paste.
This is a "PC" habit.
On the other hand, all the cases and protections out there have a bad effect on cooling (not sleeves or pouches) because the whole aluminum body helps dissipate heat.
I've never had any problems with any mac regarding heat (they do get hot, but it is OK).
Whenever you feel heat from electronic device means the heat radiates away from it.. which means the cooling is doing a good job :).
Hey,
Writing about dust and dirt, do you know any cleaning products for the interior of the mac. i mean how do you clean your laptop, pc, etc..
Regards
This is untrue. Over time thermal paste will dry up and crack and not provide good coverage between the device and the cooler. The paste massively improves the thermal transfer between the chip and the heatsink. If you do not believe in the magic paste then you should wipe it all off and apply just a little bit or none at all and then compare temperatures. You will see the paste is responsible for a big reduction in temperature.
If you are following this how-to because liquid/coffee splashed in through the back vents, WAIT UNTIL THE END to clean any liquid spills on the bottom panel. Use them as your map for cleaning and QA guide for checking until you are finished with your cleanup of logic board and other items.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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13 other people completed this guide.
To remove the back panel there are two different pentalobe screws 2.3mm and 3mm however on the tools list there is only one screwdriver. Will I be able to remove both screws with the same screwdriver?
lantzero - Reply
In my case it worked. Don't know if it was a 2,3 or 3 mm screwdriver
Christian Mohr -
The 2.0 and 2.3 mm measurements are screw lengths, the screw heads are the same sized P5 pentalobe heads. We include the screw lengths so you don't put the wrong screws in the wrong places and end up with screw heads poking out of your device. Hope that clears up some confusion =)
Sam Lionheart -
Yes the same screwdriver will remove both screws, the difference in screws I believe is the length and width but the head is the same.
Mike -
will this unit work with the Mid 2012 Macbook Pro Retina's as well?
drscottgreenwell - Reply
Same question...anyone know? Damaged my 2012 board and if possible would like to upgrade to this unit
cloughenough -
This works for rMBP 2012 late
iyeori -
Woohoo, much easier than I thought... Just got confused with the bottom case screw driver but after figure out it was P5 then everything went smooth.... One thing I wanted to upgrade was the wifi to ac and got one on ebay!
didierma - Reply
If you have 54 Bit Driver kit, please use Star 5 driver to remove screw for rMBP 2012 Late
iyeori - Reply
Where can I find the driver for the MacBook Pro Retina Display 15'4 i7 on your website iFixit please.
Epifanio - Reply
It took about 40 minutes due to an extreme measure of caution but I did it! The only real difficulty was reattaching the screen to the base (yes you have to pry the hinges open) and re-connecting the camera wires. After a few tries the camera wires finally came together. I'm hating Apple for all it's frailty and magical screws but I love ifixit!
floyd - Reply
Simple guide, but it solved my problem. Was wondering why the top two screws weren't going all the way down. Hadn't realized they were 0.7mm shorter.
Emilio Mejia - Reply
I have BootCamp running Win7 on my MBPwRetina15" 2013'Late. I run Visual Studio to build and run my Company's Application which is very CPU & NVidia (specific) intensive. So much so that during a build & run of app I was averaging about 85~95+Celcius!!! And every so often would reach 100Celcius!!! I could not take it anymore so I decided to delve into and re-apply Thermal Paste on the CPU/GPU. I ended up going with CooLaboratory Liquid Pro instead of the traditonal AS5. The original Thermal Paste was pure garbage,,, part of the CPU seemed like it was missing TP. I was scared to do this but it turned out easier than I had imagined. I am currently building the same application and can already observe that the temps average about 75~85 and once in a while will reach 90Celcius. So I am seeing about a 10~15 degree drop in Temps and that makes me very happy!
Alvaro Suarez - Reply
Nice to hear that, i was looking for that kind of information. I have a MBPwRetina 15 Mid 2012 and looking to obtain the best performance!
Jose David Valle -
Woa! Thanks dude! And you follow some guides here for the thermal paste? My mac 15’’ early 2013 heats up a lot but I’m a bit worried about touching anything
Bert0ld0 -
Good to list the bit needed to open the case: P6
brian2burnett - Reply
Much easier than expected. Sounds like several people had trouble with the backlight. It is possible that they damaged something by not first making sure to power down the computer completely with the “Shut Down” command. This should be step 1 before removing the back cover screws. Also as noted all the back cover screws are Apple Pentelope #5 bit, but 2 of the screws are shorter than the others. This bit is is hard to find in most stores. Buy it on line along with the Tork #5 and #8. 11/21/2017
Walt Goede - Reply
Replaced my Magsafe 2 yesterday and it works perfectly on my MBP 15” ea13. However, when I plugged in the charger I heard the startup sound twice and then I got to the login page where I realized the keyboard didn’t respond.
So I thought I should restart the computer so I clicked ”shut down”. But the keyboard is dead. I can’t start it. I haven’t tried to use a USB-keyboard yet..
Any ideas what may have caused this to happen and what component ”handles” the keyboard? Thanks
/JD
Jakob Dahlin - Reply
Not sure if this has been listed.
PRO TIPS from a non-pro:
1 - Keep screws separated and labeled by step # and size.
2 - Be very careful to get screws in properly threaded, its VERY easy to strip the ccrew holes and screws. Especially the case. Not that it happened to me…
3 - It was impossible for me to get all the adhesive off the case from under battery, it left a lot on w/o issue (yet).
4 - Make sure you have Aluminium Foil before starting!
5 - Upgrade the SSD or HDD while your in there!
erin - Reply
Do we remove the logic board purely to get the speaker enclosures out and away from the acetone? Or does it physically block getting the batteries out? Ie. if I wanted to risk the damage to the speakers, could I jump straight to step 34?
Obviously I don’t want to melt the speakers, but I’m kinda weighing that risk against losing a screw or breaking a connector…
Michael Ferenduros - Reply
So I did take the risk and swapped out the battery without doing the logic-board + speaker removal.
Before applying the acetone I put tape on the exposed sides of the speaker-enclosures as best I could - I wrapped the tape, sticky side out, around a card, slid it into the gap, and pressed it onto the speakers. And when applying the acetone, I squirted it as gently as possible onto the side of the battery and let it run down the side, which seemed to help avoid getting too much on the speakers.
The speaker’s plastic turned white in the spots where the acetone touched it, but it looked like surface damage only. Otherwise it was a nice and smooth procedure.
Your milage may vary, obviously.
Michael Ferenduros -