Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

16

Time Required

                          30 - 45 minutes

Sections

4

  • Lower Case
  • 2 steps
  • Battery Connection
  • 2 steps
  • Optical Drive
  • 11 steps
  • Optical Drive
  • 1 step

Flags

0

  • BackMacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012

  • Full Screen

  • Options

  • History

  • Save to Favorites

  • Download PDF

  • Edit

  • Translate

  • Get Shareable Link

  • Embed This Guide

  • Notify Me of Changes

  • Stop Notifications

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

              Optical Drive
  • 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.

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

  • 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 10

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

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

Move the AirPort/Bluetooth assembly and the subwoofer away from the top of the optical drive.

Step 11

  • Pull the right speaker/subwoofer cable out from under the retaining finger near the side of the optical drive.
  • Pull the right speaker/subwoofer cable upward to disconnect it from the logic board.

Pull the right speaker/subwoofer cable out from under the retaining finger near the side of the optical drive.

Pull the right speaker/subwoofer cable upward to disconnect it from the logic board.

Step 12

  • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the hard drive cable connector up from its socket on the logic board.
  • Bend the hard drive cable away from the optical drive.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the hard drive cable connector up from its socket on the logic board.

Bend the hard drive cable away from the optical drive.

Step 13

  • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the optical drive connector up from its socket on the logic board.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the optical drive connector up from its socket on the logic board.

Step 14

  • Remove the three 2.7 mm Phillips screws securing the optical drive to the upper case.

Remove the three 2.7 mm Phillips screws securing the optical drive to the upper case.

Step 15

  • Pull the optical drive upward from its edge closest to the display and remove it from the upper case.

Pull the optical drive upward from its edge closest to the display and remove it from the upper case.

Step 16

              Optical Drive
  • Pull the optical drive cable away from the optical drive.
  • Be sure to pull on the connector, not the cable itself.
  • Remove the two black Phillips #0 screws securing the small metal mounting bracket. Transfer this bracket to your new optical drive or hard drive enclosure.

Pull the optical drive cable away from the optical drive.

Be sure to pull on the connector, not the cable itself.

Remove the two black Phillips #0 screws securing the small metal mounting bracket. Transfer this bracket to your new optical drive or hard drive enclosure.

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

Cancel: I did not complete this guide.

                                                                                      135 other people completed this guide.

Author

                                      with 3 other contributors 


                    Andrew Optimus Goldheart

Member since: 10/17/2009

491,689 Reputation

                                      411 Guides authored                  



                       Badges:
                       44







                                                        +41 more badges

Team

                       iFixit                        

                                                  Member of iFixit 



                    Community                     


                                            141 Members                     


                                            15,767 Guides authored

Javier Cano - Oct 26, 2018

Reply

Andrew,

Thank you for this guide. My drive was refusing to write discs, after open it, I found the lens was dirty, nothing a Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol couldn’t clean.

Javier Cano

jams - Sep 9, 2019

Reply

is it posible to just remove the drive and leave the space empty?

Sam Omiotek - May 6, 2021

Sure, that will not cause any problems per se.

Branning Goody - Feb 26, 2022

Reply

The perfect guide for taking out an optical drive.

Rich Wright - Apr 10, 2022

Reply

Does the 2009 unibody use the same SATA optical drive as the mid 2012? I have a failed 13" 2012 drive and an early unibody 13" and am wondering if the same drive can be moved over.