Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

11

Time Required

Suggest a time??

Sections

4

  • Lower Case
  • 2 steps
  • Battery
  • 5 steps
  • Hard Drive
  • 3 steps
  • Hard Drive
  • 1 step

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  • BackMacBook Pro 15" Unibody 2.53 GHz Mid 2009

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Lower Case
  • Remove the following ten screws securing the lower case to the upper case:
  • Seven 3 mm Phillips screws.
  • Three 13.5 mm Phillips screws.

Remove the following ten screws securing the lower case to the upper case:

Seven 3 mm Phillips screws.

Three 13.5 mm Phillips screws.

1024

Step 2

  • Using both hands, lift the lower case near the vent to pop it off two clips securing it to the upper case.
  • Remove the lower case and set it aside.

Using both hands, lift the lower case near the vent to pop it off two clips securing it to the upper case.

Remove the lower case and set it aside.

Step 3

              Battery
  • Three Pentalobe screws secure the battery to the upper case. They can be removed with this special driver.
  • If you don’t have a Pentalobe driver, a 1.5 mm flathead screwdriver can be used in a pinch. Be sure the head of your flathead screwdriver fits snugly across two of the five “points” of the screw head before trying to break the screw free, as a loose fit will easily strip the screw head.
  • If the head of your screwdriver fits too loosely, find a bigger bit and file it down until it fits snugly before proceeding.
  • You do not necessarily have to follow steps 3-7 to remove the battery in order to replace the hard drive. However, it is recommended to remove all power sources from electronics before working on them.

Three Pentalobe screws secure the battery to the upper case. They can be removed with this special driver.

If you don’t have a Pentalobe driver, a 1.5 mm flathead screwdriver can be used in a pinch. Be sure the head of your flathead screwdriver fits snugly across two of the five “points” of the screw head before trying to break the screw free, as a loose fit will easily strip the screw head.

If the head of your screwdriver fits too loosely, find a bigger bit and file it down until it fits snugly before proceeding.

You do not necessarily have to follow steps 3-7 to remove the battery in order to replace the hard drive. However, it is recommended to remove all power sources from electronics before working on them.

Step 4

  • Remove the two exposed five-point Pentalobe screws along the top edge of the battery.

Remove the two exposed five-point Pentalobe screws along the top edge of the battery.

Step 5

  • Use the tip of a spudger to bend back the finger of the “Warning: Do not remove the battery” sticker while you remove the five-point Pentalobe screw hidden underneath.

Use the tip of a spudger to bend back the finger of the “Warning: Do not remove the battery” sticker while you remove the five-point Pentalobe screw hidden underneath.

Step 6

  • Lift the battery by its plastic pull tab and slide it away from the long edge of the upper case.
  • Do not try to completely remove the battery just yet.

Lift the battery by its plastic pull tab and slide it away from the long edge of the upper case.

Do not try to completely remove the battery just yet.

Step 7

  • Tilt the battery back enough to access the battery cable connector.
  • Pull the battery cable connector away from its socket on the logic board and remove the battery from the upper case.
  • If you’re installing a new battery, you should calibrate it as soon as possible.

Tilt the battery back enough to access the battery cable connector.

Pull the battery cable connector away from its socket on the logic board and remove the battery from the upper case.

If you’re installing a new battery, you should calibrate it as soon as possible.

Step 8

              Hard Drive
  • Remove two Phillips screws securing the hard drive bracket to the upper case.
  • These screws are captive to the hard drive bracket.
  • Lift the the retaining bracket out of the upper case.

Remove two Phillips screws securing the hard drive bracket to the upper case.

These screws are captive to the hard drive bracket.

Lift the the retaining bracket out of the upper case.

Step 9

  • Lift the hard drive by its pull tab and pull it out of the chassis, minding the cable attaching it to the computer.

Lift the hard drive by its pull tab and pull it out of the chassis, minding the cable attaching it to the computer.

Step 10

  • Remove the hard drive cable by pulling its connector straight away from the hard drive.

Remove the hard drive cable by pulling its connector straight away from the hard drive.

Step 11

              Hard Drive
  • Remove two T6 Torx screws from each side of the hard drive (four screws total).
  • You’ll need to transfer these screws to your new hard drive if you’re changing drives.
  • If you are installing a new hard drive, we have an OS X install guide to get you up and running.

Remove two T6 Torx screws from each side of the hard drive (four screws total).

You’ll need to transfer these screws to your new hard drive if you’re changing drives.

If you are installing a new hard drive, we have an OS X install guide to get you up and running.

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

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                    Walter Galan

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[deleted] - Aug 15, 2012

Reply

The guide states you must remove the battery in order to replace the hard drive. This is incorrect- it is merely a safety precaution. If you do not have the specific pentalobe screwdriver, DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS. I just replaced a hard-drive in one of these macs, that someone had already stripped the screw head. The screws are tapered too, so no getting it out once stripped.

The battery does not interfere with this repair, so simply remove the two screws on the hard-drive bracket (step 8), replace the drive then put the mac back together.

Brando - Sep 21, 2013

Reply

Does replacing hard drive remove Moutan Lion OSX I did download update and don’t have disk. Also how to transfer files to new larger GB hard drive

Peter H - Apr 24, 2014

Reply

If you have problems when installing Mavericks after the battery has been removed maybe your Mac has the wrong date and time.

In Mavericks installscreen, start the terminal, type “date” and enter…if the wrong date is displayed type:

date {month}{day}{hour}{minute}{year}

Every bracket should be replaced with a two-digit number. For example, March 18th 2013 12:50 would become the following command:

date 0318125013 + enter

hanshans - Mar 5, 2015

Reply

Actually I could just lift the battery connector without removing the battery at all. Worked out fine for me.

jmeredith - Oct 31, 2015

Reply

Thanks for the guide. I honestly feel like I got a new Mac. I installed one of iFixit’s hybrid 1TB SSD (SSD with backing HD). My Mac was unusable and painful to use it was so slow. Now it’s like brand new.

Removing the battery connector was hard to do with finger force alone, I had to entice it with a flat head screw driver. Getting the full iFixIt toolkit gives you all of the tools except the spudger which really could be improvised with something else.