Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

17

Time Required

                          20 minutes

Sections

6

  • Battery
  • 1 step
  • Memory Door
  • 2 steps
  • Upper Case
  • 7 steps
  • Optical Drive
  • 3 steps
  • Optical Drive Cable
  • 1 step
  • Optical Drive
  • 3 steps

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Introduction

What you need

Video Overview

Step 1

              Battery
  • Use your fingers to push both battery release tabs away from the battery, and lift the battery out of the computer.

Use your fingers to push both battery release tabs away from the battery, and lift the battery out of the computer.

1024

Step 2

              Memory Door
  • Remove the three identical Phillips screws from the memory door.
  • Make sure to record which sets of screws came from where. This will help when re-assembling.

Remove the three identical Phillips screws from the memory door.

Make sure to record which sets of screws came from where. This will help when re-assembling.

Step 3

  • Lift the memory door up enough to get a grip on it, and slide it toward you, pulling it away from the casing.

Lift the memory door up enough to get a grip on it, and slide it toward you, pulling it away from the casing.

Step 4

              Upper Case
  • Remove the two Phillips screws in the battery compartment near the latch.

Remove the two Phillips screws in the battery compartment near the latch.

Step 5

  • Remove the following 6 screws:
  • Two 10 mm T6 Torx screws on either side of the RAM slot.
  • Four 14.5 mm Phillips screws along the hinge.

Remove the following 6 screws:

Two 10 mm T6 Torx screws on either side of the RAM slot.

Four 14.5 mm Phillips screws along the hinge.

Step 6

  • Remove the four Phillips screws on the port side of the computer.

Remove the four Phillips screws on the port side of the computer.

Step 7

  • Rotate the computer 90 degrees and remove the two Phillips screws from the rear of the computer.

Rotate the computer 90 degrees and remove the two Phillips screws from the rear of the computer.

Step 8

  • Rotate the computer 90 degrees again and remove the four Phillips screws from the side of the computer.

Rotate the computer 90 degrees again and remove the four Phillips screws from the side of the computer.

Step 9

  • Do not yank the upper case off quickly. The case is attached to the logic board via a ribbon cable.
  • Lift up at the rear of the case and work your fingers along the sides, freeing the case as you go. Once you have freed the sides, you may need to rock the case up and down to free the front of the upper case. This stage can be quite tricky. Over the DVD reader are 4 tabs set back which pull out vertically.
  • Note that the two small tongues on the left hand front of the upper case may bend while you remove the upper case. When re-installing, you may need to bend them back to fit in the grooves in the lower case.

Do not yank the upper case off quickly. The case is attached to the logic board via a ribbon cable.

Lift up at the rear of the case and work your fingers along the sides, freeing the case as you go. Once you have freed the sides, you may need to rock the case up and down to free the front of the upper case. This stage can be quite tricky. Over the DVD reader are 4 tabs set back which pull out vertically.

Note that the two small tongues on the left hand front of the upper case may bend while you remove the upper case. When re-installing, you may need to bend them back to fit in the grooves in the lower case.

Step 10

  • Disconnect the trackpad and keyboard ribbon cable from the logic board, removing tape as necessary.
  • Remove the upper case.

Disconnect the trackpad and keyboard ribbon cable from the logic board, removing tape as necessary.

Remove the upper case.

Step 11

              Optical Drive
  • Disconnect the orange SuperDrive ribbon cable from the logic board, removing tape as necessary.

Disconnect the orange SuperDrive ribbon cable from the logic board, removing tape as necessary.

Step 12

  • Remove the following 3 screws:
  • Two 3.3 mm silver Phillips screws on either side of the SuperDrive.
  • One 4.8 mm black Phillips screw at the top right corner of the drive.
  • The 4.8mm screw may be a T6 Torx

Remove the following 3 screws:

Two 3.3 mm silver Phillips screws on either side of the SuperDrive.

One 4.8 mm black Phillips screw at the top right corner of the drive.

The 4.8mm screw may be a T6 Torx

Step 13

  • Lift the optical drive up and out of the computer.

Lift the optical drive up and out of the computer.

Step 14

              Optical Drive Cable
  • Disconnect the orange ribbon cable from the optical drive.

Disconnect the orange ribbon cable from the optical drive.

Step 15

              Optical Drive
  • If your new optical drive already has brackets on it, you’ll only need to transfer the data cable to your new drive.
  • Remove the two silver Phillips screws securing the mounting bracket to the left side of the optical drive.

If your new optical drive already has brackets on it, you’ll only need to transfer the data cable to your new drive.

Remove the two silver Phillips screws securing the mounting bracket to the left side of the optical drive.

Step 16

  • Rotate the drive and remove the two Phillips screws securing the mounting bracket to the rear of the optical drive.

Rotate the drive and remove the two Phillips screws securing the mounting bracket to the rear of the optical drive.

Step 17

  • Rotate the drive and remove the single Phillips screw securing the mounting bracket to the right side of the optical drive.
  • If you purchased an optical drive without mounting brackets, simply transfer the three silver metal brackets and orange ribbon cable to your new optical drive.
  • If you have a CD or any other object jammed in your optical drive, we have an optical drive repair guide.

Rotate the drive and remove the single Phillips screw securing the mounting bracket to the right side of the optical drive.

If you purchased an optical drive without mounting brackets, simply transfer the three silver metal brackets and orange ribbon cable to your new optical drive.

If you have a CD or any other object jammed in your optical drive, we have an optical drive repair guide.

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

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                    iRobot

Member since: 09/24/2009

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mattmiszewski - Aug 22, 2011

Reply

This worked like a charm (and I bought myself a new toolset that absolutely rocked) Thanks iFixIt folks. I need to make a tiny adjustment somewhere as the eggshell clasp is a bit hard to open now, but that is a small deal compared to the non-functional CD I had.

Per Lindgren - Jan 7, 2013

Reply

After installing an SSD instead of the optical drive, installing Mac OS on it (the SSD) and then booting from the SSD, I can’t get the computer to enter sleep mode. When I had the SSD connected (with the same OS installation) to an external USB port I had no trouble putting the beast to sleep (when booting from it)! Any suggestions? Obviously the SSD is now attached via (S)ATA instead of USB. Does it matter?

If I boot from the “original” SATA hard disk sleep mode works fine with the SSD installed (both via USB and in the optical bay)…

Christophe - May 1, 2020

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Is this superdrive reusable with an USB-adapter or enclosure ? Didn’t find a clear answer…