My Problem

starting to fix some old favorite MacBooks around the house

My Fix

first iFixit project: replaced a fan in a 2006 MacBook 1,1 and a dead battery in the same 2006 MacBook. now i feel like i'm ready to learn how to replace the display. and upgrade the 350GB HD to 5400rpm or 7200rpm or 10000rpm 2TB HD or SSHD or SSD. still not electronically sure about what an 85W power cord charger will do that a 60W power cord charger will not do to a 2006 MacBook 1,1

My Advice

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My Problem

Battery would not hold a charge, required charging cord near by at all times. It was the original battery.

Charging cord was replaced. Kitten "Indykitty" (my ex GF kept kitty) had bitten up my charging cord, and although just another day in the life of Indykitty, the cord was attacked fully, and had since been making intermittent connections. So keeping a kitty-killed charging cord at hand was pretty much as useless as the original battery.

Computer has been acting strange also, taking forever to respond to search commands, keyboard freezing up, etc. Track pad has to be nearly slammed to respond, and I thought the battery was swelled and creating this problem.

My Fix

Repair went smoothly, straightforward. Keep things clean during repair, use a vacuum and small soft brush like paint brush. A1 stock Battery charges great, holds charge. New, as-yet-unattacked-by-pets charging cord is a huge plus. Track pad operation is unimproved, old battery was not swelled up so I guess I need a track pad replacement. Computer still gives me the "rainbow swirly" far more often than it used to when it was newer. Don't know why that is.

My Advice

My advice? Use iFixit whenever you can. Years back, I had the Apple store replace my track pad since it was unresponsive to light taps like it used to be. Well, the technicians didn't "center" the then new track pad and I had them go back in, and center it properly. When I did my battery replacement, with iFixit, I was the next person to "go into" my computer. I realized that the technicians had nearly stripped screw heads, and cracked the mounting tabs on the original battery. I honestly wasn't surprised. I paid for a service by the Apple technicians, and I could have and should have taken the time and initiative to do the job right, myself. Thank you, iFixit.

My Problem

My laptop SuperDrive stopped burning DVDs, which is kind of important to me. The Apple store would have taken 2-3 business days to repair. I use the laptop for business so taking 2-3 days off just because of a laptop repair was a nonstarter.

My Fix

It went surprisingly quick -- the only uh-oh moment was when I tried to disconnect the audio connector by pulling on the wires and ended up pulling the wires out of the connector. I was able to reinsert them using a really fine pair of tweezers and an eye loupe.

The entire upgrade took about an hour, which is about the amount of time it would take me to drive to and from the Apple store. And I was able to repair it on the weekend when it was convenient.

My Advice

Buy the packet of screws before beginning -- it's super easy to lose one. Be sure you have some decent quality tools, an eye loupe, industrial quality tweezers (I'm not kidding), good screwdrivers. Consider them an investment.

I have pretty good dexterity and eyesight -- even so I found this to be a bit of a challenge. The instructions at iFixit were perfect.