Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

12

Time Required

Suggest a time??

Sections

5

  • Lower Case
  • 2 steps
  • Battery Connector
  • 2 steps
  • Optical Drive
  • 6 steps
  • Optical Drive Cable
  • 1 step
  • Optical Drive
  • 1 step

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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:
  • Three 13.5 mm (14.1 mm) Phillips screws.
  • Seven 3 mm Phillips screws.
  • When removing these screws, note how they come out at a slight angle. They must be reinstalled the same way.

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

Three 13.5 mm (14.1 mm) Phillips screws.

Seven 3 mm Phillips screws.

When removing these screws, note how they come out at a slight angle. They must be reinstalled the same way.

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 Connector
  • For certain repairs (e.g. hard drive), disconnecting the battery connector is not necessary but is recommended as it prevents any accidental shorting of electronics on the motherboard. If you do not disconnect the battery connector, please be careful as parts of the motherboard might be electrified.
  • 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.

For certain repairs (e.g. hard drive), disconnecting the battery connector is not necessary but is recommended as it prevents any accidental shorting of electronics on the motherboard. If you do not disconnect the battery connector, please be careful as parts of the motherboard might be electrified.

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.

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
  • Disconnect the camera cable connector from its socket on the logic board.
  • Do not lift up on the cable as you disconnect it from the logic board. Pull the cable parallel to the face of the logic board.

Disconnect the camera cable connector from its socket on the logic board.

Do not lift up on the cable as you disconnect it from the logic board. Pull the cable parallel to the face of the logic board.

Step 6

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

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

Step 7

  • 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 8

Remove following two screws:

One 8.6 mm Phillips screw

One 3.9 mm Phillips screw

Carefully rotate the AirPort/Bluetooth board housing (with AirPort/Antenna cables still attached) out of the lower case.

Step 9

  • Remove the three 3.5 mm T6 Torx screws securing the optical drive to the upper case.

Remove the three 3.5 mm T6 Torx screws securing the optical drive to the upper case.

Step 10

  • Lift the optical drive near its connector and pull it away from the upper case to remove it from the computer.

Lift the optical drive near its connector and pull it away from the upper case to remove it from the computer.

Step 11

              Optical Drive Cable
  • Pull the optical drive cable out of the optical drive.
  • Be sure to pull by the edges of the connector, not by 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 out of the optical drive.

Be sure to pull by the edges of the connector, not by 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.

Step 12

              Optical Drive
  • Optical drive remains.

Optical drive remains.

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

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Author

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                    Miroslav Djuric

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Michael - Jul 5, 2012

Reply

In Step 8, be careful when putting back the airport black plate that there is a little lip under the thumb (in the photo) and needs to be inserted underneath the outside black frame before rescrewing the 2 screws.

Secondly, I used this guide to add the data doubler caddy from OWC. Be sure to unscrew the philips screws and the little metal plate on the outside of the optical drive and attach it to the caddy. It will allow you to attach the 3rd torx6 screw of the caddy to the frame closest to the center.

john - Apr 4, 2018

Reply

Yeah; Michael’s bit about the inner retaining bracket (“plate”) needs to get put into the main instructions here.

Keith Gould - Nov 28, 2018

Reply

Kudos to everyone who warned about the screws in step #8. They’re not nice screws and they do need to replaced with a reasonable amount of torque in order to secure the BlueTooth/WiFi assembly. You have to remove those screws in order to remove one of the 3 Torx screws securing the drive mechanism.

I personally had little trouble with the screws in step #8 but only because I was forewarned and took extra care to ensure that I was using the exact cross head driver for the screws. It helps to have the right tools.

Now… if anyone has any tips on how to get those fiddly Torx screws back into their positions I’d be even more grateful. I’ve managed it but find that screws like that are a real pain to get back into place. The heads are not at all deep, they’ve picked up a bit of magnetism and prefer to jump off the driver and stick to any other metal in the machine. The longest part of the job is getting those three screws properly seated (not cross threaded) and screwed down to the point when the drive is secure.

Gabriel - Mar 28, 2021

Reply

Adding a tip that helps for properly seat those pesky little screws that helps for me is you must first be certain you have them perpendicular and with a very delicate touch (with just the weight of the driver) rotate counter-clockwise until feel the tiniest little click, feeling that click will indicate you lined up the threads….then with no pressure applied began clockwise rotation. Repeat as necessary.