Introduction
Use this guide to replace the AIrPort/Bluetooth cable.
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Remove the following ten screws securing the lower case to the upper case:
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Three 13.5 mm (14.1 mm) Phillips screws.
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Seven 3 mm Phillips screws.
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Using both hands, lift the lower case near the vent to pop it off two clips securing it to the upper case.
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Remove the lower case and set it aside.
After pulling out the lower case and put it back on, the lower case doesn't stick well with the left clip. What should i do now?
16 GB is the max
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Use the edge of a spudger to pry the battery connector upwards from its socket on the logic board.
nails work pretty well as well...
At first sight I was confused when I read the description at this step, 'cause it seemed that disconnecting the battery connector was optional, in order to eliminate static discharge. While it's a helpful advice in other circumstances (as mentioned as an example changing hard drives), when changing the battery it is not an option - you have to disconnect the battery connector.
It would have been better to mention the optional disconnecting recommendation in a side-note.
Other than that, an excellent guide!
the fact that this step is optional can not be stressed enough. i tried disconnecting the battery and in the process it short circuited which now leaves me with an even more expensive problem than i had before when i just wanted to change hard drives (at least the new hard drive works fine..)
the hard drive changing worked though.
Excellent guide, it was as easy as a breeze to replace my battery. I can't believe I nearly followed Apple in their saying that this part was not user replaceable. Great job for this description, and many thanks. iFixIt is THE reference for Mac owners.
Patrick.
So - I have a weird comment about this. I wanted to make sure that I was getting the right model - so I opened up my laptop and then thought "well, why not just remove the battery while i'm in here, it's shot anyway". Though, I forgot about the stupid screws (Apple really did us over on that one!). Though I disconnected the battery connector and didn't bother to re-connect it when I was finished and just put the cover back on.
Here's the weird part - when I went to turn my laptop back on...MY BATTERY WAS RECOGNIZED...AND WORKING! I was under the impression that the connector "connects" the battery's charge to the laptop, but this just doesn't make sense! Plus, now my very dead battery is in "normal" condition according to the system report. I haven't worked for apple, but have about 5 years of IT experience and am baffled by this! I'm starting to think i've experience a miracle! Has this happened to anyone else?
Possibly disconnecting the battery caused the System Management Controller to reset. That might have been your problem rather than the battery itself. See http://osxdaily.com/2010/03/24/when-and-...
I'd just like an advise of where to dispose the old battery. Thanks
Any Best Buy or Batteries + Bulbs accepts batteries for recycling in their stores. Many other stores such as Home Depot do as well.
xtophr -
I tried spudging the corner closer to the wires which was probably a bad idea. The corner broke off! I can't believe it was that brittle. So be careful. If it did it again, I'd aim for the corners AWAY from the wires or the sides themselves, though I seem to recall there not being much of a lip.
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Bend the battery cable slightly away from its socket on the logic board so it does not accidentally connect itself while you work.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to lift the AirPort/Bluetooth connector out of its socket on the logic board.
I have a little problem there, my cable broke off the connector, so now the connector to the logic board is still clipped in. You can't really use a tweezer, because the connector fits without a gap. I had the idea to use, very careful of course, some plastic glue, to glue something like a cable or a paperclip on the connector, but the area is just too small for the glue to get enough "grip". Does anybody have an idea, how to get this connector out of the socket? Thanks for your help.
I just got the same problem. Did you find a way to get the connector out, Tim? And did you need to buy a new Bluetooth/Airport cable or had another solution for how to proceed? Thanks!
I too broke the old cable. I guess the heat wore down the plastic connector. But I got it out: i bent the pins on the top (that are bent horozontally) upwards. The I took my small pliers and took it out piece by piece. Be attentive and look for the connectors, two or three of the small metal connectors landed on the motherboard. I picked them up easily with my magnetized skrewdriver. Make sure, if the connector breaks in pieces that you pick all the pieces away. And dont blow the first thing you do, they are small and can easily end up where you dont want them and shortcircuit somethin in there.
I also had a connector break off the cable and stay in the socket. Not realizing this at first, I tried inserting the new cable and shorted something. There was a small arc. Now my Bluetooth shows as missing, though Wi-Fi works fine. Does this mean there’s something dead on the logic board causing this? I’ve tried swapping out the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card as well.
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Peel back the piece of EMI tape covering the AirPort/Bluetooth cable on the AirPort/Bluetooth housing.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to gently lift the AirPort/Bluetooth connector out of its socket on the AirPort/Bluetooth board.
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Remove the cable from your MacBook.
well after replacing the airport card before this, i still was having wifi problems, but this seemed to fix the issue. THANK YOU!
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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10 other people completed this guide.
Step 1 (technically step 9 - replacing the base plate) Apparently one of my screws was a micron or two smaller than the others. This screw belongs to the hole above the optical drive, which is also apparently a couple of microns smaller than the others. It took seven attempts to figure which screw had originally been in that hole; all the other screws were too large, but fitted perfectly everywhere else.
Bizarre much?
Will - Reply
It might be a matter of how the screws are driven in, and not that they're slightly different sizes. When I reassembled my MacBook, a couple of the screws, including the one over the optical drive you mention, were hard to drive in and jutted up a little bit instead of sitting entirely flush. Swapping screws didn't help. The solution was to unscrew them and drive them in at a bit of an angle - perpendicular to the slightly curved surface of the back plate where the screw holes were, instead of fully vertical with respect to the ground the Macbook is sitting on. Doing it that way, the screws were easier to drive in and they all ended up flush in their holes. Didn't matter which screws they were. (I swapped a few around just to check after reading this.)
Andrew Janke -
I had no such screw issues. Either there are differences in manufacturing lots or I just got incredibly lucky during reassembly!
xtophr -
I discovered a great way of organizing the screws. I used an ice cube tray and added the screws in order, keeping the different kinds together. So when it came to reversing the steps, the screw order was an added control step to returning everything in its place.
leonie - Reply
Great advise! Love it! :)
Ririds -
I used to do that and that worked really great until I bumped it by accident and the entire tray went on the rug! I spent the next day sorting things out.
Now I use these:
http://www.sciplus.com/p/50-114-CLEAR-PL...
The lower ones 50 to a package. I mark them w/ blue tape. Often if it's part like the fans, or the optical drive I'll tape the screws into/near the holes where they belong. I did this a lot especially w/ the bottom screws from MBPs until I'd done so many I knew exactly where the longer ones went.
Richard Sato -
I wrapped the screws in a piece of blue masking tape and wrote the number on the little pouch I made. Then I stuck the blue tape pouches on the underside of the case bottom in order.
Roscoe -
I take double-sided tape, put that on a piece of paper, stick the crews to that, and label them.
jelimoore -
Best I've found is a bead sorting tray. They're like $5 at Wal-Mart and they have a lid that seals up and won't let them jump between containers.
maccentric -
I take a sheet of paper, pierce the screws through the paper, take a pen and box the screws and write out what step they belong to.
Nils -
@Will, in my case I had the same result as you did. As a reminder to myself the next time I need to open the computer, I put a dot of white paint on those two screw's head and a very, very thin ring of white on the very edge of each hole, that way I'll know they go into those two holes.
Roger - Reply
Actually the four screws on the bottom were not threaded all the way up. I didn't check to see if the thread gauge was the same on them, but it wasn't until I had about four screws out (I didn't take them out in the order that the bottom all came out first) that I noticed a difference. I then took out the rest of the bottom ones to see if they matched the two that were already out that weren't threaded to the top. They did. So I went under the assumption that those were all bottom screws and when I put it back together everything went fine with no resistance.
So there are three types of screws: Four for the bottom, three long ones as indicated and three others that might be slightly smaller than the bottom ones.
wresnick - Reply
Hi,
Although its more than a year since your contribution, I thought you might be amused to know that it is not just that the screws go in more easily when at an angle, Apple actually drilled and tapped the holes at a 15% angle. I too had tried to drive them in straight. An Apple "genius" - I was in for something else - clarified the design for me. It was done so that the screws lay flush on the angled part of the lower case. Nice design, but since Apple encourages DIY memory and drive changes, they could have mentioned this little ... trap.
H Stahl -
MacBookPro8,2
Intel Core i7, 2,2 GHz, RAM 16 GB
Mountain Lion
May someone help me?
I have installed the second drive with ssd 840 evo, but when I try to copy the file from the new drive to the main hd this in not allowed (errore -36)
Piero - Reply
To my knowledge you can't transfer a single file more than 4gb. I advise compressing to a bunch of rars to split the file size and moving them individually
1982sketcher -
Hey everyone, here's the very best way to PERFECTLY organize your screws AND keep track of the order of the procedure: Get a piece of plain corrugated cardboard and a pen (I like using a Sharpie). For EACH step of the disassembly, draw a simple diagram of the layout of the computer on the piece of cardboard, with dots or Xs where the screws are located. Right after you remove each screw from the computer, poke a hole in the cardboard in its corresponding diagram position with your screwdriver and place the screw in that hole. If there are other non-screw related parts to be removed, you can add notes below each step diagram to remind you of where they go or how they should be placed. This cardboard method is great not only because your screws will not go flying or get mixed up by accident if bumped, but each screw goes EXACTLY back where it came from and you can keep the cardboard as a template for future use if necessary!
- zerø K
zeroK - Reply
for all the mac 2011 owner. we should pressure apple to accept their fault. they gave as a piece of junk while they took our $2000. -betrayed apple fanboy
mindful - Reply
a video of these steps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS9is40C...
julie56 - Reply
These instructions worked great for me. I ordered a replacement battery from Key Power (on Amazon) for my 15" Macbook Pro (mid-2010). Cost was $74 shipped.
Battery came with 3 different screwdrivers to help with installation. I just needed the one size though, since my 2010 seemed to use all the same size screws.
Thanks!
Marcos - Reply
During re-assembling (put the screws back in), it is important to note that the 3mm threaded holes are not completely vertical, but bent a little bit such that the hole direction is rectangular to the tapered surface. The force of the screwdriver must point towards the direction of the hole. Otherwise the screw gets jammed
kusi - Reply
There is a FOOLPROOF WAY TO ORGANIZE ALL SCREWS and other parts removed.
Print the repair guide.
Yes, the actual photo of the bottom of the laptop with the circles around the screws.
When you remove the screw, tape it to the photograph.
You will tape the screw to the exact location that you just removed it from.
Same thing with any part you remove.
splashzoneent - Reply
Thanks Splash!!! I used your suggested method, and it was perfect: kept all my screws, and i was able to, very easily, put them back in their correct place. I greatly appreciated your feedback. Thank you for sharing!!
Tommy Kedar -
Thank you!!! This worked fabulously - even the I.T. people at my workplace were excited as they never thought to do that before. Replacing the battery took about 10 minutes!
nclarke36 -
Worked like a charm! Took less than 20 minutes.
It's Oct. 2015, and the fan cost me about $10. it was the same brand/model...
SUNON MG62090V1-Q020-S99 .
SOME TRICKS -
1- no T6 screwdriver- was careful using needle nose players to loosen 2 screws protruding up, then use a small phillips to push real hard into the T6 slots, SLOWLY turn , also used a small flat head screwdriver (for eye glass repair) was able to grab thread on T6's, made a small mark with screw driver across the top so I could see when it started to turn.
2- no spudger -made one; cut a little strip 1/2" x 1 1/2" of plastic. couldn't get it to slide under plug, there's an edge where plug fits. so lifted old fan out, pulled upward on the plug it popped right out with very little effort. I used my home made spudger to push the new plug into place.
3- download free "Macs Fan Control" This is how I was alerted to the fan not working in the first place. Program shows temperature of all key components in the computer.
cheers- Durango CO!
Dgodrummer - Reply
Watch the video first, read the entire tutorial and all the comments before you start, and spread a white towel on the floor so you can find screws when you drop them. Watch this first -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiBxhA29e...
kevicoll409 - Reply
Please be aware that you CAN do this replacement with MUCH LESS work. I successfully replaced a trackpad (TP) in this model WITHOUT removing a lot of what is described here. I think i mainly removed the logic board (LB) anchor screws along the TP side and was then able to lever up the LB just enough to get the cable unplugged and snaked out. Followed the reverse and done. Maybe not for all, but it worked for me. // Re screws: i print out the images here of the multi-screws locations and then tape the screws in place on the print-out.
Danno - Reply
Is it necessary to ground oneself to prevent static damage to logic board, etc. when replacing the speakers?
If so, what is the best way to do this?
Do you wear wrist strap designed for this purpose? To what metal object do you attach the clip and wire? I’m assuming the aluminum case isn’t going to work.
Sibyl Smith - Reply
I will be buying a battery from you and using your instructions. I just installed a new CD/DVD using your instructions and 1) I feel like I owe you something and 2) Although more expensive, I have the confidence your battery will work. My current battery is the original with 1399 cycles in 7.2 yrs. A tech buddy had bought me a replacement and I installed it. I had just installed a new OS and the kernel_task went going nuts, using 90% of the CPU. Hours on the phone with Apple did not resolve the issue. On a whim, I put the old battery back in and Voila! But I cannot risk my battery swelling and going south on me. I am also going to buy your installation tools. Yeah, I already have them. But you can never have enough tools…or beer. And you don’t sell beer.
Pete Banks - Reply