MacBook Unibody Model A1278 AirPort Card Replacement
Replace the AirPort card in your MacBook Unibody Model A1278.
- Author: Walter Galan
- Difficulty: Difficult
This guide will help you replace the AirPort card.
Sections
- Access Door 2 steps
- Battery 1 step
- Lower Case 2 steps
- Display Assembly 9 steps
- Clutch Cover 3 steps
- AirPort Connectors 1 step
- AirPort Card 6 steps
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With the case closed, place the Unibody top-side down on a flat surface.
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Depress the grooved side of the access door release latch enough to grab the free end. Lift the release latch until it is vertical.
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Remove the following eight screws securing the lower case to the chassis:
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One 3 mm Phillips screw.
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Three 13.5 mm Phillips screws.
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Four 3.5 mm Phillips screws.
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Disconnect the camera cable by pulling the male end straight away from its socket.
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Remove the following screws securing the camera data cable and right speaker to the upper case:
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One 9.9 mm partially threaded Phillips screw
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One 9.6 mm threaded Phillips screw
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One 4 mm Phillips screw
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Slide the camera cable bracket out from under the subwoofer and remove it from the computer.
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Grab the plastic pull tab secured to the display data cable lock and rotate it toward the DC-in side of the computer.
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Pull the display data cable connector straight away from its socket.
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Remove the following two screws from the display data cable bracket:
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One 7 mm Phillips screw.
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One 5 mm Phillips screw.
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Lift the display data cable bracket out of the upper case.
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Remove the two outer 6 mm Torx screws securing each side of the display to the upper case (4 screws total).
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Open your MacBook so the display is perpendicular to the upper case.
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Place your opened MacBook on a table as pictured.
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While holding the display and upper case together with your left hand, remove the 6 mm Torx screw from the lower display bracket.
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Grab the upper case with your right hand and rotate it slightly toward the top of the display so the upper display bracket clears the edge of the upper case.
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Rotate the display slightly away from the upper case.
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Lift the display away from the upper case, minding any brackets or cables that may get caught.
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Grab the clutch cover as shown and slide it toward the right side of the display.
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Gently rock the clutch cover back and forth on its long axis while pulling it away from the display.
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Do this action along the length of the clutch cover until you can lift it off the framework attaching it to the display.
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Use the tip of a spudger to pry both AirPort antenna connectors out of their sockets on the AirPort board.
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Remove the single 3 mm Phillips screw securing the AirPort card to the display nearest the AirPort antenna.
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Remove the single 3.3 mm Phillips screw securing the camera cable retainer to the display.
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Orient your display as shown and pull the black plastic camera cable retainer toward the right side of the display.
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Remove the camera cable retainer.
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Carefully pull the camera cable connector toward the right side of the display and out of its socket on the AirPort card.
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Remove the remaining 3 mm Phillips screw securing the side of the AirPort card closest to the right clutch hinge.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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22 Comments
Guide
I went through this because after replacing the top case, upon restart the Airport card was not recognized. I was hoping the cable had come loose, as resetting PRAM and SMC didn't fix the issue (and searching the web, a LOT of people have this issue, most without having touched the internals of their Mac). That was not the case, everything appeared correct. So I got a USB wireless dongle and called it good.
maccentric - Reply
I did it! \o/
The guide was really helpful. Be careful with all the delicate connections and DO NOT attempt to use not guide-specified tools. Yeah... You heard me, buy a decent Torx tool. :)
Gabriel Mattos - Reply
Step 3
Great tutorial ! great step !
Leo Etcheverry - Reply
Step 4
On my model, it seemed the top-left was 3.5mm and the bottom 4 were 3 mm.
Jim - Reply
Make sure you have a good quality Phillips screwdriver. Mine had removable tips and had a small play at the connection. As a result I didn't have a good feel and damaged my screws (those securing the fan and the top left in step 23). Game over for me installing new thermal paste...
Be very carefull with your screws! Especially those on the inside.
Nickolas Michelinakis - Reply
Step 6
Be EXTREMELY careful when removing and re-inserting the 'camera' cable. The contacts can be easily bent beyond repair if you try to force it back in. Damaging this cable at this connection or near the display may disable your ability to use your iSight camera, AND both your Bluetooth and WiFi. I had to pay apple $300 to replace the entire display assembly because one prong was faulty, causing my WiFi card to not be recognized.
seanheff17 - Reply
Step 7
Although I ordered the screen for an A1278 MacBook Unibody Aluminum, the screen glass was marked as a MacBook Pro. The iSight/WiFi /BT cable was about an inch longer than the Macbook one and took a bit of creative re-routing, but everything works fine.
tjod - Reply
has it got the airport and bluetooth modules built in separately in the display assembly as in the macbook late 2008 and mbp mid 2009?
fericcio -
Step 8
"orange" is the short one, that goes in the middle ;)
MrGreen - Reply
My model has different bracket, you need to remove the subwoofer first
Andrea Ghensi - Reply
Step 9
i can't understand what I need to do in this step, I'm afraid with this step, i think i can "hurt" my mac and i don't want to do that, anyone knows what i need to do?
Thanks
Lucas Borges - Reply
There is a steel 'latch' that flips over from the left side of the connector, to the right side. After you flip this latch over, the cable will easily slide out.
madmaxmedia - Reply
as I pulled the monitor cable out of the bracket after flipping the lock over one side of the bracket broke loose. Now the monitor will not turn on. Can anyone help?
boldtu - Reply
Step 10
Note for Step 10 during reassembly: Be careful when replacing the screw for the display cable bracket closest to the magnetic power cord receptacle. The interior magnet might attract the screw causing the screw to get pulled under the DC power circuit board which might then require that you disassemble things again to retrieve the screw.
wintermute - Reply
Step 15
i've found this impossible to get back on correctly.
i cant get the plastic to slide back that 1/4" it needs to fit properly
Does anyone know any tricks? :(
Ashley Berthon - Reply
imagine the monitor upside down and the screen facing away from you. You have to put the cover over to the right of where it goes about an inch or 2 and it will go in, then, slide it left to lock it into place
stdonato - Reply
This is a great guide but it's lacking one thing - where can I get a replacement clutch? I don't have a donor machine available, can I order just the plastic piece somewhere?
Wayne Poole - Reply
Step 18
a connector got separated from the wire..what now??
undauntedmg - Reply
Step 21
In the second picture for this step the U notches on the wifi connector are facing out when in the socket, and this is quite misleading. Putting them in like this will not work and could potentially cause some serious damage to wifi card or motherboard. Be wary of this guide, and make sure you take pictures of how things are before you touch them.
acurns1 - Reply
Step 22
I fried both of my Airport cards, couldn't figure out why, and came back here and read about these little U-shaped notches. I had to bring the computer into my office to compare both sides of this cable. I would be nice to make sure that this tid bit of information is very noticeable for those who are following along.
wcking - Reply
Yea, I fried two motherboards before I came back here and re-read that the U notches must face the airport card.
wcking -
Step 23
This photo can be slightly misleading if you're not careful. It appears that unlike my cable, the pictured cable has the gray dot on both sides. In this photo you can see the 2 little sideways U notches that should be on the OTHER side. In photo 22 you can see that there are NO such notches as he is sliding the cable out of the connector.
My gray dot is only on the underside (not visible when the cable is plugged in correctly. When I first took the cable out to replace my Airport board, I thought maybe it had been inserted the wrong way which will damage the motherboard. So the gray dots are not a good indicator, just look for the sideways U notches as indicated in the iFixit directions.
madmaxmedia - Reply