Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

17

Time Required

                          20 - 30 minutes

Sections

4

  • Lower Case
  • 2 steps
  • Battery Connection
  • 2 steps
  • AirPort/Bluetooth Assembly
  • 8 steps
  • AirPort/Bluetooth Board
  • 5 steps

Flags

0

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Lower Case
  • Remove the following ten screws:
  • Three 14.4 mm Phillips #00 screws
  • Three 3.5 mm Phillips #00 screws
  • Four 3.5 mm shouldered Phillips #00 screws
  • When replacing the small screws, align them perpendicular to the slight curvature of the case (they don’t go straight down).

Remove the following ten screws:

Three 14.4 mm Phillips #00 screws

Three 3.5 mm Phillips #00 screws

Four 3.5 mm shouldered Phillips #00 screws

When replacing the small screws, align them perpendicular to the slight curvature of the case (they don’t go straight down).

1024

Step 2

  • Use your fingers to pry the lower case away from the body of the MacBook near the vent.
  • Remove the lower case.

Use your fingers to pry the lower case away from the body of the MacBook near the vent.

Remove the lower case.

Step 3

              Battery Connection
  • Use the edge of a spudger to pry the battery connector upwards from its socket on the logic board.
  • It is useful to pry upward on both short sides of the connector to “walk” it out of its socket. Be careful with the corners of the connectors, they can be easily broken off.

Use the edge of a spudger to pry the battery connector upwards from its socket on the logic board.

It is useful to pry upward on both short sides of the connector to “walk” it out of its socket. Be careful with the corners of the connectors, they can be easily broken off.

Step 4

  • Bend the battery cable slightly away from its socket on the logic board so it does not accidentally connect itself while you work.

Bend the battery cable slightly away from its socket on the logic board so it does not accidentally connect itself while you work.

Step 5

              AirPort/Bluetooth Assembly
  • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the AirPort/Bluetooth ribbon cable connector up from its socket on the logic board.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the AirPort/Bluetooth ribbon cable connector up from its socket on the logic board.

Step 6

  • Carefully pull the camera cable out of its socket on the logic board.
  • Pull the cable parallel to the face of the logic board. Pulling it upward may damage the logic board or the cable itself.

Carefully pull the camera cable out of its socket on the logic board.

Pull the cable parallel to the face of the logic board. Pulling it upward may damage the logic board or the cable itself.

Step 7

  • Carefully move the AirPort/Bluetooth ribbon cable out of the way as you peel the camera cable off the adhesive securing it to the subwoofer and the AirPort/Bluetooth bracket.
  • De-route the camera cable out from under the retaining finger molded into the AirPort/Bluetooth bracket.

Carefully move the AirPort/Bluetooth ribbon cable out of the way as you peel the camera cable off the adhesive securing it to the subwoofer and the AirPort/Bluetooth bracket.

De-route the camera cable out from under the retaining finger molded into the AirPort/Bluetooth bracket.

Step 8

  • Use the tip of a spudger to pry the antenna connector closest to the logic board up from its socket on the AirPort/Bluetooth board.
  • De-route the antenna cable from under the finger molded into the AirPort/Bluetooth bracket.

Use the tip of a spudger to pry the antenna connector closest to the logic board up from its socket on the AirPort/Bluetooth board.

De-route the antenna cable from under the finger molded into the AirPort/Bluetooth bracket.

Step 9

  • Using the method described in the last step, disconnect the remaining three antenna connectors.
  • De-route their cables from the slots cut in the AirPort/Bluetooth bracket.

Using the method described in the last step, disconnect the remaining three antenna connectors.

De-route their cables from the slots cut in the AirPort/Bluetooth bracket.

Step 10

  • Remove the following five screws:
  • Two 10.3 mm Phillips screws
  • Two 3.1 mm Phillips screws
  • One 5 mm Phillips screw

Remove the following five screws:

Two 10.3 mm Phillips screws

Two 3.1 mm Phillips screws

One 5 mm Phillips screw

Step 11

  • Pull the AirPort/Bluetooth assembly and the Subwoofer upward near the center of the side of the optical drive until they clear each other.

Pull the AirPort/Bluetooth assembly and the Subwoofer upward near the center of the side of the optical drive until they clear each other.

Step 12

  • Remove the AirPort/Bluetooth assembly, minding the fragile antenna contact near the corner of the upper case.

Remove the AirPort/Bluetooth assembly, minding the fragile antenna contact near the corner of the upper case.

Step 13

              AirPort/Bluetooth Board
  • Peel back the piece of EMI tape covering the AirPort/Bluetooth cable connector.

Peel back the piece of EMI tape covering the AirPort/Bluetooth cable connector.

Step 14

  • Use the tip of a spudger to lift the AirPort/Bluetooth cable connector out of its socket on the AirPort/Bluetooth board.
  • Remove the AirPort/Bluetooth cable.

Use the tip of a spudger to lift the AirPort/Bluetooth cable connector out of its socket on the AirPort/Bluetooth board.

Remove the AirPort/Bluetooth cable.

Step 15

  • Continue peeling the EMI tape off the bottom of the AirPort/Bluetooth bracket and remove it from the assembly.

Continue peeling the EMI tape off the bottom of the AirPort/Bluetooth bracket and remove it from the assembly.

Step 16

  • Remove the three 3 mm Phillips screws securing the AirPort/Bluetooth board to its bracket.

Remove the three 3 mm Phillips screws securing the AirPort/Bluetooth board to its bracket.

Step 17

  • Remove the AirPort/Bluetooth board from its bracket.
  • Be careful not to damage the pink thermal pad attached to the bracket.

Remove the AirPort/Bluetooth board from its bracket.

Be careful not to damage the pink thermal pad attached to the bracket.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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Author

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                    Andrew Bookholt

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Oliver Humpage - Oct 20, 2016

Reply

If you change your bluetooth card, its MAC address will change. Since pairing is done by MAC, you will need to re-pair all devices.

Michael Schwern - Dec 23, 2016

Reply

My Wifi failed, “no hardware found”, but the Bluetooth still worked. I replaced the board, but still no dice. Turns out it was the cable. Lesson learned: try the cheaper part first! Not a total loss, now I have Bluetooth 4.

Robert Sebastian Soyka - Jan 10, 2018

Reply

Hello,

I was able to complete this repair in less than 40 minutes, thanks to the author and his easy-to-follow guide!

Regarding Step 10 - I found it easier to use a Phillips #000 screwdriver (instead of the recommended #00 size) for the two “orange” 3.1 mm Phillips screws, as it did not slide off the tiny screw heads like the larger-sized screwdriver would.

heartsingingsoul - Feb 9, 2020

Reply

This is an amazingly succinct and clear at of instructions! My Hat is of to you!

I discovered that the flat wifi cable was not properly plugged in, so I plugged it back in and went no further! Yea it worked!

huedrant - Mar 29, 2021

Reply

I added this note already in step 7, but want to make more visible for those that might encounter a broken cable:

Actually, on my repair attempt, one antenna cable broke (on the image the bottom right one in the red square in #7), I’m not sure whether it broke already before or was morbid somehow. Fact is: suddenly I had this cable in my fingers, and was sure I completely broke the macbook and need to find a new display now.

But as it turned out: the Mac is still fully working, including WIFI, BT, Camera etc. So apart from my huge relief, I want to address that these cables may break easily at their connection with the display. And that one antenna might be not mandatory for WIFI to work.