Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

20

Time Required

Suggest a time??

Sections

5

  • Access Door
  • 2 steps
  • Battery
  • 1 step
  • Lower Case
  • 2 steps
  • Optical Drive
  • 8 steps
  • Hard Drive Cable
  • 7 steps

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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.

1024

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 white plastic tab and pull the battery up and out of the Unibody.

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

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

Step 4

              Lower Case
  • Remove the following eight screws securing the lower case to the chassis:
  • One 3 mm Phillips screw.
  • Three 13.5 mm Phillips screws.
  • Four 3.5 mm Phillips screws.

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

One 3 mm Phillips screw.

Three 13.5 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

              Optical Drive
  • Using the flat end of a spudger, pry the subwoofer connector straight up off the logic board.
  • On some models, the subwoofer connector is soldered to the logic board and will break if you pry it off. If you need to replace the speaker/subwoofer, you can pull back the foam padding on the connector and remove the red and black wires to disconnect. You will need to reinsert the wires from the new speaker to reconnect.
  • If you are only removing the optical drive and not replacing the speaker/subwoofer, you do not need to disconnect this connector.

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

On some models, the subwoofer connector is soldered to the logic board and will break if you pry it off. If you need to replace the speaker/subwoofer, you can pull back the foam padding on the connector and remove the red and black wires to disconnect. You will need to reinsert the wires from the new speaker to reconnect.

If you are only removing the optical drive and not replacing the speaker/subwoofer, you do not need to disconnect this connector.

Step 7

  • Disconnect the camera cable by pulling the male end straight away from its socket.

Disconnect the camera cable by pulling the male end straight away from its socket.

Step 8

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

Use a spudger to pry the optical drive connector straight up off the logic board.

Step 9

  • Remove the two Phillips screws securing the subwoofer to the upper case.
  • The longer of the two screws is on the right.

Remove the two Phillips screws securing the subwoofer to the upper case.

The longer of the two screws is on the right.

Step 10

  • The subwoofer is still connected to the right speaker, so don’t completely remove it just yet.
  • Lift the subwoofer off the optical drive, and set it above the computer.

The subwoofer is still connected to the right speaker, so don’t completely remove it just yet.

Lift the subwoofer off the optical drive, and set it above the computer.

Step 11

  • Remove the two Phillips screws securing the camera cable bracket to the upper case.
  • The leftmost screw may remain captive in the camera cable.

Remove the two Phillips screws securing the camera cable bracket to the upper case.

The leftmost screw may remain captive in the camera cable.

Step 12

  • Remove the three 2.5 mm Phillips screws securing the optical drive to the upper case.

Remove the three 2.5 mm Phillips screws securing the optical drive to the upper case.

Step 13

  • Lift the optical drive from its right edge and pull it out of the computer.
  • The hard drive cable may become disconnected from the logic board when removing the optical drive. Ensure it is connected during reassembly.

Lift the optical drive from its right edge and pull it out of the computer.

The hard drive cable may become disconnected from the logic board when removing the optical drive. Ensure it is connected during reassembly.

Step 14

              Hard Drive Cable
  • Remove the single Phillips screw securing the hard drive bracket to the upper case.
  • This screw is captive in the hard drive bracket.

Remove the single Phillips screw securing the hard drive bracket to the upper case.

This screw is captive in the hard drive bracket.

Step 15

  • Lift the hard drive by its plastic pull tab and remove the freed hard drive bracket.

Lift the hard drive by its plastic pull tab and remove the freed hard drive bracket.

Step 16

  • Lift the hard drive out of its supports and disconnect the SATA cable by pulling the connector straight away from the hard drive.

Lift the hard drive out of its supports and disconnect the SATA cable by pulling the connector straight away from the hard drive.

Step 17

  • Remove the four 10.3 mm Phillips screws securing the mid wall to the upper case.

Remove the four 10.3 mm Phillips screws securing the mid wall to the upper case.

Step 18

  • Lift the mid wall out of the upper case.

Lift the mid wall out of the upper case.

Step 19

  • Use a spudger to pry the hard drive cable connector straight up off the logic board.

Use a spudger to pry the hard drive cable connector straight up off the logic board.

Step 20

  • Peel the hard drive cable from the adhesive securing it to the upper case, and maneuver the plastic retaining block out of the upper case.
  • During reassembly, be sure the two pins on top of the plastic retaining block mate to the holes on the underside of the midwall.

Peel the hard drive cable from the adhesive securing it to the upper case, and maneuver the plastic retaining block out of the upper case.

During reassembly, be sure the two pins on top of the plastic retaining block mate to the holes on the underside of the midwall.

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

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                    Walter Galan

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RICHARD CHAN - Aug 10, 2018

Reply

My mid-2012 MBP MD101LL/A a1278 doesn’t look anything like this, nor does the cable.

Tor Willy Austerslått - Sep 20, 2018

Reply

These instructions are not for the Mid 2012 A1278, but for a much older MacBook Pro. Pretty confusing.

dtdt - May 17, 2021

Reply

big up to the 2 ppl a day that want to run their 08 uni on ssd. 1.5 upload, was it really that slow back then!?