MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Mid 2010 Upper Case Replacement

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.
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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.
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Step 3
• Remove the two 7.4 mm Y1 Tri-Wing screws securing the battery to the upper case.
• Note: For certain repairs (e.g. hard drive), removing the battery is not necessary but it prevents any accidental shorting of electronics on the motherboard. If you do not remove the battery, please be careful as parts of the motherboard might be electrified.
• You do not necessarily have to follow steps 3-6 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.
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Step 4
• Use the tip of your finger to carefully peel back the corner of the warning label to reveal a hidden Tri-Wing screw.
• Remove the last 7.4 mm Y1 Tri-Wing screw securing the battery to the upper case.
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Step 5
• 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.
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Step 6
• Tilt the battery away from the logic board 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.
• Pull the battery cable connector away from the center of the logic board.
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Step 7
• Remove the three 3.4 mm (3.1 mm) T6 Torx screws securing the left fan to the logic board.
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Step 8
• Use the flat end of a spudger to disconnect the left fan connector from the logic board.
• It is useful to twist the spudger axially from beneath the fan cable wires to release the connector.
• The fan socket and the fan connector can be seen in the second and third pictures. Be careful not to break the plastic fan socket off the logic board as you use your spudger to lift the fan connector straight up and out of its socket. The layout of the logic board shown in the second picture may look slightly different than your machine but the fan socket is the same.
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Step 9
• Lift the left fan out of the upper case.
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Step 10
• Remove the three T6 Torx screws securing the right fan to the upper case.
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Step 11
• Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the right fan connector up out of its socket on the logic board.
• It is useful to twist the spudger axially from beneath the fan cable wires to release the connector.
• Remove the right fan from the upper case.
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Step 12
• Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the AirPort / Bluetooth ribbon cable up off its socket on the logic board.
• Fold the AirPort / Bluetooth ribbon cable back to keep it out of the way of the logic board.
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Step 13
• Disconnect the iSight cable by pulling its connector toward the optical drive opening.
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Step 14
• Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the optical drive cable connector up from the logic board.
• Fold the optical drive cable back to keep it out of the way of the logic board.
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Step 15
• Carefully pull the subwoofer/right speaker cable up to lift its connector out of its socket on the logic board.
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Step 16
• Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the hard drive cable connector up out of its socket on the logic board.
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Step 17
• Remove the two short Phillips screws securing the small EMI shield to the logic board.
• Remove the EMI shield from the logic board.
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Step 18
• Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the trackpad cable connector up out of its socket on the logic board.
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Step 19
• Use your fingernail to carefully flip up the keyboard ribbon cable retaining flap.
• Make sure you are flipping up the retaining flap, not the socket itself.
• Use the tip of a spudger to pull the keyboard ribbon cable straight out of its socket.
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Step 20
• Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the battery indicator cable connector up out of its socket on the logic board.
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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 straight out of its socket.
• Do not pull the cable upward, as the socket is very fragile. Pull the cable parallel to the face of the logic board toward the corner of the upper case.
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Step 22
• Use the tip of a spudger or your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the keyboard backlight ribbon cable socket.
• Be sure you are prying up on the retaining flap, not the socket itself.
• Pull the keyboard ribbon cable straight out of its socket.
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Step 23
• Remove the following screws:
• Seven 3.3 mm T6 Torx screws securing the logic board to the upper case.
• Two 8 mm T6 Torx screws securing the DC-In board to the upper case.
• Do not remove the logic board yet! There are components on the underside of the logic board attached to the the upper case that must first be disconnected.
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Step 24
• 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!
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Step 25
• Lift the logic board enough to gain clearance and use a spudger to pry the microphone up off the upper case.
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Step 26
• Slide the logic board away from the port openings and lift the assembly out of the upper case.
• Before reinstalling the logic board, it is easiest to press the microphone down into its housing in the left speaker to keep it in place.
• To avoid ESD damage, be sure to lay your logic board on a soft, static free surface during service.
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Step 27
• Remove the two Phillips screws securing the hard drive bracket to the upper case.
• These screws are captive in the hard drive bracket.
• Remove the hard drive bracket from the upper case.
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Step 28
• Using its attached pull tab, lift the hard drive out of the upper case.
• Don't try to completely remove it yet, as it is still connected to the hard drive cable.
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Step 29
• Pull the hard drive connector out of its socket on the hard drive.
• Pull on the connector, not the cable itself.
• Remove the hard drive and set it aside.
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Step 30
• Remove the following four screws securing the hard drive/IR sensor cable to the upper case:
• Two 2.5 mm Phillips screws.
• Two 10 mm Phillips screws.
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Step 31
• Carefully peel the IR sensor cable off the adhesive securing it to the upper case.
• Pull the hard drive bracket/IR sensor housing away from the side of the upper case.
• Remove the hard drive/IR sensor cable from the upper case.
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Step 32
• Use the tip of a spudger to pry all three AirPort/Bluetooth antenna connectors up off the AirPort/Bluetooth board.
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Step 33
• De-route the three antenna cables from their channels in the AirPort/Bluetooth housing.
• De-route the camera cable from its channel in the AirPort/Bluetooth housing.
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Step 34
• Remove the following two screws securing the AirPort/Bluetooth housing to the upper case:
• One 3.8 mm Phillips
• One 8.6 mm Phillips
• Remove the AirPort/Bluetooth assembly from the upper case, minding any cables that may get caught.
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Step 35
• Remove the following three Phillips screws securing the optical drive to the upper case:
• One 4.5 mm Phillips screw securing the optical drive bracket to the upper case near the fan.
• Two 2.5 mm Phillips screws securing the optical drive to the upper case near the optical drive opening.
• In some cases, all three may be 2.5mm screws.
• Remove the optical drive from the upper case.
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Step 36
• Remove the following six screws securing the subwoofer and right speaker to the upper case:
• Two 3.2 mm Phillips screws.
• Two 12.3 mm Phillips screws.
• One 2.5 mm Phillips screw.
• One 8.3 mm Phillips screw.
• Remove the subwoofer/right speaker from the upper case.
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Step 37
• Remove the 8.6 mm Phillips screw securing the antenna/camera cable retainer to the upper case.
• Remove the antenna/camera cable retainer from the upper case.
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Step 38
• Remove the single 8.6 mm Phillips screw securing the display data cable retainer to the upper case.
• Remove the display data cable retainer from the upper case.
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Step 39
• Remove two of the three 6 mm T6 Torx screws securing the right side of the display to the upper case.
• We purposely have you leave one screw attaching the display to the upper case to aid in future steps.
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Step 40
• Remove two of the three 6 mm T6 Torx screws securing the left side of the display to the upper case.
• We purposely have you leave one screw attaching the display to the upper case to aid in future steps.
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Step 41
• Open your MacBook Pro so the display is perpendicular to the upper case.
• Place your opened MacBook Pro on a table as pictured.
• While holding the display and upper case together with your left hand, remove the remaining T6 Torx screw from the upper display bracket.
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Step 42
• Be sure to hold the display and upper case together with your left hand. Failure to do so may cause the freed display/upper case to fall, potentially damaging each component.
• Remove the last remaining T6 Torx screw securing the display to the upper case.
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Step 43
• Grab the upper case with your right hand and rotate it slightly toward the top of the display so the upper display bracket clears the edge of the upper case.
• Rotate the display slightly away from the upper case.
• Lift the display up and away from the upper case, minding any brackets or cables that may get caught.
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Author

System

Member since: 09/24/09

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