MacBook Air 13" (Mid 2011) Trackpad

My Problem

battery was dying and had "service battery" alert in notifications panel

My Fix

Went well except that the cord for the new battery was incrementally too short. It was able to plug in barely and on a slight angle, Hopefully this will be okay long-term; my concern is having to periodically open the assembly and reattach the battery cord

My Advice

nope

My Problem

My MBP trackpad was broken. Needed the pentalobe screwdriver to open my laptop to replace the trackpad.

My Fix

Huge pain in the ass. On my model of macbook pro, you have to remove the batteries which are glued-in to get access to the track pad. I saw a guy on youtube use a metal scraper to do it, so I did the same thing.

My Advice

Use a clean, uncluttered workbench. Then condemn Apple with all your heart and soul for needlessly making this process so difficult.

My Problem

My laptop stopped being able to hold a charge. Left more than a minute unplugged the system would shutdown.

My Fix

Easier than I expected. Strangely only 4 screws were holding the case, either the others fell out or were left out by apple repair in the past.

Now the laptop can remain operational while unplugged for long periods again.

My Advice

No

My Problem

My fan was making a weird noise. I didn't know if the fan motor was dying, or if some debris was the culprit. In either case, I needed to open up and have a look. Unfortunately, I didn't have the special pentalobe screwdrivers to open up my MacBook.

My Fix

My biggest problem was that I didn't even know which tools to use, and my old set of electronics screwdrivers weren't compatible. The tutorial clarified which specific tools I needed and made it super easy to order them. I paid a boatload to have them shipped express to where I live internationally, but it was worth it because I was able to solve my fan problem very quickly. Still cheaper than going to the local Apple Store (my warranty is expired). For a less urgent problem, I would have taken slower shipping to save some $$$. But I really didn't want my hard drive to melt. :)

My Advice

I had a bit of a scare when I reassembled my MacBook after cleaning the fan. The computer only worked when attached to the charger, and the battery symbol on the display had a big "X" on it--meaning the battery was disconnected. And I was sure I'd reattached EVERYTHING! For a while there, I was worried I'd damaged something on the logic board during the repair. Turns out, I had simply forgotten the bit about re-plugging the battery during reassembly, since it's in a different location than the fan components. But everything was ok.

My Problem

My sister accidentally dropped her Macbook Pro Retina after owning for more than 4 years. The warranty had expired a long time ago and the people at the Mac store gave an estimate of at least $700. When my family told me about this, I told them that was ridiculous and to order a new display from ifixit.com so that I could fix it myself.

My Fix

The disassembly was a smooth process overall. The little rubber wedges covering the screws that keep the display attached had their adhesiveness stripped in the process of removal so there was no way to put those back on during reassembly.

During reassembly, the most challenging part by far was getting the three antennae cables reconnected. This part alone took me about thirty minutes of constantly trying. My hands slightly shake and when you are dealing with connectors that small it is very frustrating.

My Advice

The way I was able to get the three antennae cables connected was to bend the wires just enough so that the wire remained flat with both connectors matching up exactly. This makes it much easier to connect as all you have to do is repeatedly press with the spudger until it "clicks".