Difficulty

Difficult

Steps

30

Time Required

                          1 - 2 hours

Sections

6

  • Access Door
  • 2 steps
  • Battery
  • 1 step
  • Lower Case
  • 2 steps
  • Mid Wall
  • 2 steps
  • Logic Board
  • 20 steps
  • Heat Sink
  • 3 steps

Flags

0

  • BackMacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2008 & Early 2009

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Access Door
  • With the case closed, place the Unibody top-side down on a flat surface.
  • Depress the grooved side of the access door release latch enough to grab the free end. Lift the release latch until it is vertical.

With the case closed, place the Unibody top-side down on a flat surface.

Depress the grooved side of the access door release latch enough to grab the free end. Lift the release latch until it is vertical.

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Step 2

  • The access door should now be raised enough to lift it up and out of the Unibody.

The access door should now be raised enough to lift it up and out of the Unibody.

Step 3

              Battery
  • Be sure the access door release latch is vertical before proceeding.
  • Grab the translucent plastic tab and pull the battery up and out of the Unibody.
  • If the latch is depressed it will lock the battery in place.

Be sure the access door release latch is vertical before proceeding.

Grab the translucent plastic tab and pull the battery up and out of the Unibody.

If the latch is depressed it will lock the battery in place.

Step 4

              Lower Case
  • Remove the following eight screws securing the lower case to the chassis:
  • One 5.4 mm Phillips screw.
  • Three 14 mm Phillips screws.
  • Four 3.5 mm Phillips screws.

Remove the following eight screws securing the lower case to the chassis:

One 5.4 mm Phillips screw.

Three 14 mm Phillips screws.

Four 3.5 mm Phillips screws.

Step 5

  • Using both hands, lift and remove the lower case off the upper case.

Using both hands, lift and remove the lower case off the upper case.

Step 6

              Mid Wall
  • Remove the following 5 screws securing the mid wall to the upper case:
  • Three 10.5 mm Phillips screws.
  • Two 3.7 mm Phillips screws.

Remove the following 5 screws securing the mid wall to the upper case:

Three 10.5 mm Phillips screws.

Two 3.7 mm Phillips screws.

Step 7

  • Lift the mid wall out of the upper case.

Lift the mid wall out of the upper case.

Step 8

              Logic Board
  • Remove the following six screws securing both the right fan and the left fan to the logic board:
  • Four 3.5 mm Phillips screws.
  • Two 3.2 mm Phillips screws.

Remove the following six screws securing both the right fan and the left fan to the logic board:

Two 3.2 mm Phillips screws.

Step 9

  • Use the tip of a spudger to lift the right fan connector straight up from its socket on the logic board.
  • Be sure to only pry up on the connector itself not on the socket or you may damage the machine.
  • It is useful to twist the spudger axially from beneath the fan cable wires to release the connector.
  • Remove the right fan from the case.

Use the tip of a spudger to lift the right fan connector straight up from its socket on the logic board.

Be sure to only pry up on the connector itself not on the socket or you may damage the machine.

It is useful to twist the spudger axially from beneath the fan cable wires to release the connector.

Remove the right fan from the case.

Step 10

  • Use the tip of a spudger to lift the left fan connector straight up from its socket on the logic board.
  • Be sure to only pry up on the connector itself not on the socket or you may damage the machine.
  • It is useful to twist the spudger axially from beneath the fan cable wires to release the connector.
  • Remove the left fan from the case.

Use the tip of a spudger to lift the left fan connector straight up from its socket on the logic board.

Remove the left fan from the case.

Step 11

  • Remove any adhesive from the camera cable connector.
  • Disconnect the camera cable by pulling the male end out of its socket, parallel to the logic board, do not lift it upwards.

Remove any adhesive from the camera cable connector.

Disconnect the camera cable by pulling the male end out of its socket, parallel to the logic board, do not lift it upwards.

Step 12

  • Use a spudger to carefully pry the optical drive connector straight up off its socket on the logic board.

Use a spudger to carefully pry the optical drive connector straight up off its socket on the logic board.

Step 13

  • If necessary, peel off the foam bumper covering the subwoofer connector.
  • Using the flat end of a spudger, pry the subwoofer connector straight up off its socket on the logic board.
  • Be very careful. This connection is delicate, the socket can be easily broken off the logic board.

If necessary, peel off the foam bumper covering the subwoofer connector.

Using the flat end of a spudger, pry the subwoofer connector straight up off its socket on the logic board.

Be very careful. This connection is delicate, the socket can be easily broken off the logic board.

Step 14

  • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the silver-colored hard drive cable connector straight up out of its socket on the logic board.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the silver-colored hard drive cable connector straight up out of its socket on the logic board.

Step 15

  • Use a spudger to pry the trackpad connector straight up out of its socket on the logic board.

Use a spudger to pry the trackpad connector straight up out of its socket on the logic board.

Step 16

  • Using the tip of a spudger, flip up the IR/sleep LED ribbon cable retaining flap.
  • Pull the IR/sleep LED ribbon cable straight out of its socket.

Using the tip of a spudger, flip up the IR/sleep LED ribbon cable retaining flap.

Pull the IR/sleep LED ribbon cable straight out of its socket.

Step 17

  • Use a spudger to pry the battery indicator light connector straight up out of its socket on the logic board.
  • Pry up under the cable wires to avoid pulling the socket itself off of the logic board.

Use a spudger to pry the battery indicator light connector straight up out of its socket on the logic board.

Pry up under the cable wires to avoid pulling the socket itself off of the logic board.

Step 18

  • Using the tip of a spudger, flip up the keyboard ribbon cable retaining flap.
  • Pull the keyboard ribbon cable straight out of its socket.
  • During reassembly, make sure to fully insert the keyboard ribbon cable back into the ZIF socket.

Using the tip of a spudger, flip up the keyboard ribbon cable retaining flap.

Pull the keyboard ribbon cable straight out of its socket.

During reassembly, make sure to fully insert the keyboard ribbon cable back into the ZIF socket.

Step 19

  • Using the tip of a spudger, flip up the express card cage ribbon cable retaining flap.
  • Pull the express card cage ribbon cable straight out of its socket.

Using the tip of a spudger, flip up the express card cage ribbon cable retaining flap.

Pull the express card cage ribbon cable straight out of its socket.

Step 20

  • Using the flat end of a spudger, pry the microphone cable connector straight up out of its socket on the logic board.
  • Pry up under the cable wires to avoid pulling the socket itself off of the logic board.

Using the flat end of a spudger, pry the microphone cable connector straight up out of its socket on the logic board.

Step 21

  • Grab the plastic pull tab secured to the display data cable lock and rotate it toward the DC-in side of the computer.
  • Pull the display data cable connector straight away from its socket.
  • When disconnecting the display data cable, do not pull on the black tab secured to the cable lock. We recommend wiggling the cable while applying tension to slowly “walk” the connector out of its socket.
  • Make sure the display data cable is placed correctly in its socket during reassembly. Failure to do so will result in a partially visible display or no display image at all.

Grab the plastic pull tab secured to the display data cable lock and rotate it toward the DC-in side of the computer.

Pull the display data cable connector straight away from its socket.

When disconnecting the display data cable, do not pull on the black tab secured to the cable lock. We recommend wiggling the cable while applying tension to slowly “walk” the connector out of its socket.

Make sure the display data cable is placed correctly in its socket during reassembly. Failure to do so will result in a partially visible display or no display image at all.

Step 22

  • Locate the keyboard backlight ribbon cable (near the left fan space).
  • Using the tip of a spudger, flip up the keyboard backlight ribbon cable retaining flap.
  • Pull the keyboard backlight ribbon cable straight out of its socket.

Locate the keyboard backlight ribbon cable (near the left fan space).

Using the tip of a spudger, flip up the keyboard backlight ribbon cable retaining flap.

Pull the keyboard backlight ribbon cable straight out of its socket.

Step 23

  • Remove seven 3.2 mm Phillips screws securing the logic board to the upper case.
  • Do not remove the logic board yet! There are connectors attached to the underside of the logic board that must first be disconnected.

Remove seven 3.2 mm Phillips screws securing the logic board to the upper case.

Do not remove the logic board yet! There are connectors attached to the underside of the logic board that must first be disconnected.

Step 24

  • Remove two 7 mm Phillips screws securing the DC-in board to the upper case.
  • Note: This step is not completely necessary, but it will make it easier to disconnect the cable that is connected to the DC-in board.

Remove two 7 mm Phillips screws securing the DC-in board to the upper case.

Note: This step is not completely necessary, but it will make it easier to disconnect the cable that is connected to the DC-in board.

Step 25

  • Remove two 3.5 mm Phillips screws securing the bottom case clip to the upper case.
  • Lift the bottom case clip out of the upper case.
  • Some MacBook Pro Unibodies do not have a bottom case clip and do not require this step.

Remove two 3.5 mm Phillips screws securing the bottom case clip to the upper case.

Lift the bottom case clip out of the upper case.

Some MacBook Pro Unibodies do not have a bottom case clip and do not require this step.

Step 26

  • Carefully lift the logic board assembly from the left side and work it out of the upper case, minding the port side that may get caught during removal.
  • Do not entirely remove the logic board yet!
  • Ensure that the logic board is free from all connections to the upper case (except the battery connector) before proceeding.
  • During reassembly, ensure all connectors and cables are not placed underneath the logic board. Some of the ribbon cables are very thin and fragile.

Carefully lift the logic board assembly from the left side and work it out of the upper case, minding the port side that may get caught during removal.

Do not entirely remove the logic board yet!

Ensure that the logic board is free from all connections to the upper case (except the battery connector) before proceeding.

During reassembly, ensure all connectors and cables are not placed underneath the logic board. Some of the ribbon cables are very thin and fragile.

Step 27

  • Lift the logic board enough to grab the battery connector and pull it straight away from its socket on the logic board.
  • Lift the logic board assembly out of the upper case.

Lift the logic board enough to grab the battery connector and pull it straight away from its socket on the logic board.

Lift the logic board assembly out of the upper case.

Step 28

              Heat Sink
  • Remove eight 8.4 mm Phillips screws securing the heat sink to the logic board.
  • A spring is held under each of these screws.

Remove eight 8.4 mm Phillips screws securing the heat sink to the logic board.

A spring is held under each of these screws.

Step 29

  • Use the tip of a spudger to pry the thermal sensor connector up off the logic board.
  • This connector is especially delicate, so be sure to use extreme caution when removing it.

Use the tip of a spudger to pry the thermal sensor connector up off the logic board.

This connector is especially delicate, so be sure to use extreme caution when removing it.

Step 30

  • Gently lift the heat sink off the logic board.
  • If you need to mount the heat sink back into the laptop, we have a thermal paste guide that makes replacing the thermal compound easy.

Gently lift the heat sink off the logic board.

If you need to mount the heat sink back into the laptop, we have a thermal paste guide that makes replacing the thermal compound easy.

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

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                    Walter Galan

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m3kw - Jul 26, 2010

Reply

Wonder why there are springs on the heat sink screws? Do not over tighten them, the springs are there to help you apply the correct amount of pressure on to the CPU and GPU. If you tighten them all the way, it may not be the correct pressure! Leave maybe 1 mm of space, just before the screw stops turning. iFixit forgot to mention this important part, and also in the heat paste guide!!

Deepanshu Chaurasia - Oct 11, 2014

Reply

My Macbook was over heating. i did these steps to put thermal paste but now my Macbook pro is not even opening.. please help..!!

Trevor Kemp - Mar 12, 2017

Reply

My old Macbook was getting pretty hot (90-110 C on the main processor temperature sensor) doing normal tasks so I decided it was probably the thermal paste going bad. Successfully completed this using this guide, typing this on that computer now, thanks! It took me about 3 hours all in, including setup and cleanup afterwards. I did not replace the heat pipe assembly itself, just redid the thermal paste. I am actually curious what the symptoms are that would lead to completely replacing the heat pipe assembly itself. Running much cooler now (59 C).