Tools
Introduction
Use this guide to replace your bare logic board. This requires removal of every component attached to the logic board.
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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?
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Remove the two 7.4 mm Y1 Tri-Wing screws securing the battery to the upper case.
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Note: For certain repairs (e.g. hard drive), removing the battery is not necessary but it prevents any accidental shorting of electronics on the motherboard. If you do not remove the battery, please be careful as parts of the motherboard might be electrified.
A 1/16th flathead screwdriver easily removes the tri-wing screws in this step. I could not find a Y0 Tri-wing driver at any local stores.
I'd like to add that for me, a 1/16th flathead screwdriver did NOT allow me to remove the tri-wing screws holding the battery in place. After several careful attempts, it became obvious I was perilously close to stripping the screw(s), so I abandoned the attempt to unscrew the tri-wing screws with a flathead screwdriver altogether. As it turned out, I didn't need to remove the battery to do what I needed to do (keyboard replacement), but it would have been a whole lot easier had the battery been easily removable.
The Tri-wing screw driver is impossible to find in retail, amazon and ebay are great bets but they vary wildly in quality... I ordered two, and both were so cheap, and barely got the job done. It could be worth getting it here. When you do get it, make sure you push, the Y0 screws were very tight in my macbook, pressing hard prevents you from stripping the Y screw.
I believe they are Y1 screws, no?
Mark -
Short of taking out the battery is there something else I can do to protect the motherboard?
What worked for me was actually a set of needlenose pliers - the heads on those screws aren't flush, they actually stick out enough that it's possible to turn them from the outside. Caused some scuff marks on the finish of the screws but it's not like anyone's going to see them anyway!
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Use the tip of your finger to carefully peel back the corner of the warning label to reveal a hidden Tri-Wing screw.
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Remove the last 7.4 mm Y1 Tri-Wing screw securing the battery to the upper case.
It is not strictly necessary. As mentioned above, removing the battery is the only way to be sure that no parts of the logic board are electrified. It is very easy to replace the hard drive without removing the battery, but it is safer to remove the battery first.
Note: removing the battery can cause a hitch with OS X 10.9 Mavericks installation to a blank drive, or at least it did for me.
Disconnecting the battery makes the hardware clock reset to something like Jan 1, 2000. This causes the Mavericks installer to fail its self-check with the error message: "This copy of the Install OS X Mavericks application can't be verified. It may have been corrupted or tampered with during downloading."
To fix this, you need to open up Terminal from the Utilities menu in the bootable OS X installer environment and use the `date` command to set your Mac's clock back to the correct time before proceeding with the "Install OS X" menu selection, as described here: http://blog.mconserv.net/2013/10/install...
Thanks for that warning, Andrew.
Happened here too, thanks for the tip!
As a note, my Mid-2010 Unibody Macbook did not have this third screw, just two to remove the battery.
Can anyone answer this question. I cannot afford the entire 80 dollar repair kit listed here and the tools needed only list a spunger t6 and a phillips...it appears from some of these comments there are more drivers needed. I am afraid to do this anyway but not having the right tools off the bat will just make things more difficult while waiting for an order to come in...can someone list the exact tools I would need ? Any help would be appreciated...I am ready to order this but want to put in one order....ifixit, can you clear this up perhaps ?
One of the most important tool you should get is the head strap magnifier with lighting, it will make your viewing and capable ability much more confident.
James -
Taking the battery out is the easiest part once you have the Tri-Wing screwdriver
Ne trouvant pas de tournevis Y1, j'ai utilisé avec succès une pince électrique à bouts fins pour déserrer la vis puis j'ai terminé avec un tournevis plat très fin (1.5x35)
I stripped the Y screw! Arghhhh. Any help ideas?
new battery drains at the rate of about 10% a minute. i may have received a faulty one but i wouldn't have bought it if i knew what i know now.
Is this a battery from iFixit?
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Lift the battery by its plastic pull tab and slide it away from the long edge of the upper case.
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Tilt the battery away from the logic board enough to access the battery cable connector.
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Pull the battery cable connector away from its socket on the logic board and remove the battery from the upper case.
I'm having the same problem as previous commenters: the battery now drains much faster. It's the original factory unit—I only replaced the HD, which is working great.
Is there something I am missing with the battery reconnection? Maybe it's loose?
I just want to make sure before I crack open my laptop again.
Fast battery drain problems might be due to a corrupted power manager circuit on the logic board. To reset it, remove the battery, press the power button for about 5-10 seconds, then reinstall the battery. I know the problem might have been partly due to removing the battery in the first place, but this is the procedure for resetting what might have gone wrong. It might also help to do a PRAM reset, by holding down Command-Option-P-R at power (not just from a restart), and let the Macbook chime twice after its initial powerup chime.
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Remove the three 3.4 mm (3.1 mm) T6 Torx screws securing the left fan to the logic board.
Je vais juste vous surprendre car je suis français.
JI'll just surprise you because I am French .
I understood the problem of the left fan. In fact the problem is with the design at Apple. The fan housing is too narrow vertically a few tenths of millimeters. This is why so many problems . The left fans deteriorate very quickly.
The solution is very simple. Buy a new fan in China, it is the cheapest and level it's very fast delivery . Warning it comes fan already used but in good condition.
The thing to do is to over- raise the fan does not rub and deteriorating. To do so just buy a zinc washer 3 mm diameter available from my local hardware store ( € 3 for 70 pieces ) and place it under the black screw fully right and top right . The over- elevation leads to no longer have friction effect.
Thats ALL !!!
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Use the flat end of a spudger to disconnect the left fan connector from the logic board.
I successfully removed my right fan, cleaned it and installed it back. But when it came to the left one I accidentally broke the connector from the logic board. Now I'm left with only one functioning fan. I'm using an external laptop fan. Do I have to replace the whole logic board or can it be fixed somehow? My temp is between 90-95 C when I run a heavy game.
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Lift the left fan out of the upper case.
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Remove the three T6 Torx screws securing the right fan to the upper case.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the right fan connector up out of its socket on the logic board.
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Remove the right fan from the upper case.
Vicki, you tore the connector off the board. They can be re-soldered if you are very careful/skilled with a soldering iron, but that is not something that you should try to do if you haven't soldered SMD components before.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the AirPort / Bluetooth ribbon cable up off its socket on the logic board.
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Disconnect the iSight cable by pulling its connector toward the optical drive opening.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the optical drive cable connector up from the logic board.
hello i just installed a brand new logic board in my mac, in my mac i have replaced the cd drive with an second ssd - but when i turn the mac on, the OS cant find the second ssd, the cable is in (it clicks in) - does anybody know how to fix this or ?
Best regards Mathias
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Carefully pull the subwoofer/right speaker cable up to lift its connector out of its socket on the logic board.
The only problem that I face on substituting the top case was when I tried to connect the subwoofer connector to the socket on the logic board. I did some tentatives but on the last the socket on the logic board I suppose unsoldered. Some suggestions?
Thanks
Paolo Sperati
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the hard drive cable connector up out of its socket on the logic board.
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Remove the two short Phillips screws securing the small EMI shield to the logic board.
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Remove the EMI shield from the logic board.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the trackpad cable connector up out of its socket on the logic board.
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Use your fingernail to carefully flip up the keyboard ribbon cable retaining flap.
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Use the tip of a spudger to pull the keyboard ribbon cable straight out of its socket.
How will I know I have inserted the keyboard ribbon successfully? After installing a new upper case I can't seem to get the keyboard ribbon to stay in its socket. Or does the EMI sheild hold it in place?
Ditto. It seems very tricky to reinsert the keyboard ribbon.
I just did this - it is kinda tricky. The ribbon cable has a flap on top that is designed solely to help you coax the cable back into the socket....don't make the mistake I did and spend an hour trying to feed this flap through the socket. What worked for me was a combination of using the flap with my fingers and tweezers on the actual cable to reinsert it into the socket. Took a few tries, but I got the cable re-inserted, pressed down on the tiny locking thing, and the keyboard cable was in and secured.
Indeed, it is difficult to insert the keyboard ribbon cable. It will stop after about 1mm of insertion. It needs to go in quite a bit further. Angling it slightly, you may be able to get a corner to go in, then straighten the ribbon while applying forward pressure. I reassembled it a few times with that sinking feeling on startup before I realized that it wasn't really making contact!
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the battery indicator cable connector up out of its socket on the logic board.
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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 straight out of its socket.
One of the chips in this image was covered in glue. when I flipped the data cable clip, the glue plus encased chip popped right off the board. Does anyone know what chip this is? Without it, my Mac plays the startup chime, but the screen is black. The backlight is on, but it just displays black.
I did the exact same thing. I still have the tiny chip. Is there a way to glue it back on or will I need a new logic board now?
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Use the tip of a spudger or your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the keyboard backlight ribbon cable socket.
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Pull the keyboard ribbon cable straight out of its socket.
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Remove the following screws:
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Seven 3.3 mm T6 Torx screws securing the logic board to the upper case.
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Two 8 mm T6 Torx screws securing the DC-In board to the upper case.
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Carefully lift the logic board assembly from the left side and work it out of the upper case, minding the port side that may get caught during removal.
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Lift the logic board enough to gain clearance and use a spudger to pry the microphone up off the upper case.
On this step, the microphone was attached to the board so the whole unit lifted off easily.
Mine was too; it was part of the speaker assembly, a much better arrangement.
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Slide the logic board away from the port openings and lift the assembly out of the upper case.
After prying off the mic from the top case and carefully lifting the logic board, I realized there was still a wire connected near the display connector, under the board. I was able to disconnect it but I'm wondering if I missed something or if this cable is missing from the instructions. The wire was connected under the board so it could not be disconnected before removing the board.
This is the magsafe cable. Step 23 details removing the torx screws holding the magsafe board in place. If you remove the screws, you don't need to remove the cable.
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Remove the six T6 Torx screws securing the heat sink to the logic board.
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Remove the heat sink from the logic board.
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Remove the two 5 mm Phillips screws securing the left speaker to the logic board.
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Carefully pull the left speaker wires upward to lift the left speaker connector out of its socket on the logic board.
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Carefully pull the microphone cables upward to lift the microphone connector out of its socket on the logic board.
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Pull the DC-In board cables toward the heat sink to disconnect the DC-In board from its socket on the logic board.
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Release the tabs on each side of the RAM chip by simultaneously pushing each tab away from the RAM.
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After the RAM chip has popped up, pull it straight out of its socket.
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Logic board remains.
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If you need to mount the heat sink back onto the logic board, we have a thermal paste guide that makes replacing the thermal compound easy.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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47 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 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