If any of the other 8 longer screws were used instead, their heads will stick slightly above the panel, potentially snagging on skin or clothes. When returning the screws, the two shorter ones will need to go back to these holes. For us, two screws situated near the hinge were shorter than the rest. Pay attention to the lengths of the screws as you remove them, and make a mental note of any oddball lengths that you come across. The toolkit and ribbon both arrived second-day.įirst, remove all of the screws securing the back panel with the pentalobe driver. We had hoped the “easy fix” would resolve things, but unfortunately they did not. But a few dollars and a new strip of copper-laden plastic will buy my wife peace of mind, so therefore it was a good buy.Īs suggested by several places online, resetting both the PRAM and SMC were done first. I am usually against premature purchases, especially when I have not determined the exact problem. That evening my wife purchased a “MacBook repair kit” similar to the photo below, as well as a new ribbon cable.
The screws needed a pentalobe P5 driver bit. I was not able to preform an exploratory surgery, as I did not have the appropriate driver bit to remove the screws securing the back panel. Considering this MacBook was purchased in 2015, we were hoping the latter won’t be in order. Common enough that you have an extremely large swath of results ranging from the less intrusive (resetting the PRAM) to the more extreme (replacing the ribbon cable) to giving Last Rites and scheduling a trip to the Apple Store for a replacement. Surprisingly, or to put it more accurately, alarmingly this appears to be a common problem for MacBooks. However, later that evening, much of the inconsistency resolved itself. It makes troubleshooting a pain in the butt because you spend a fair amount of time simply attempting to duplicate the problem.
Repair technicians really, REALLY hate when a problem is inconsistent. Glide a finger across the surface, maybe the cursor will move. Specifically, inconsistent issues with trackpad responding to action. She was upset that her new’ish MacBook Pro was having problems with the trackpad.
For full disclosure, I am NOT a Mac person. This blog entry will only cover swapping out the trackpad ribbon cable, as it resolved our issue immediately. Unfortunately, the fixes found online seem to run the gamut from resetting the PRAM, to resetting the PRAM + SMC, swapping out the trackpad ribbon cable AND resetting both the PRAM and SMC. This can save you money, time and sometimes gray hair.Before I get started, this appears to be a known issue for this model of laptop. Otherwise it can be safer and easier to sell your broken MacBook Pro to /sell/macbook and buy a good one. Only attempt the job if you feel confident in doing so. Breaking even one small connector on the motherboard by pulling a cable will lead to very costly motherboard replacement. It’s not if one’s not experienced.īe patient and cautious when working on your Apple laptop. The battery is, unfortunately not removable without destroying it.Īden Webster From this description one could easily fall under impression that taking apart and working on a Macbook is an easy task. The speakers should be easily removed, minimal adhesive is used.
Next I disconnected all cables from the motherboard. Make sure to also disconnect any cables connected from the LCD to the motherboard.ĭisconnect the LCD from the frame by folding it up and away. Next I removed the T9 screws holding the LCD screen to the frame.
To remove the powerboard, disconnect the cable connecting it to the motherboard. Then using your screwdriver, pry up on the cables connected to the card.Īfter these components are removed, I started removing screws all around the computer. Next remove the T4 screw in the WiFi card. Next, remove the T4 screws in the CPU fan, and the heatsink.Ī small amount of heatsink compound is on the processor, so it might be a bit sticky.īefore fully removing the fan, disconnect the two cables going across or connected to the fan. There are two T4 torx screws on each respective board remove these, then pry up using a metal opener tool. I started by removing the ribbon cable going from motherboard to the power board. If the laptop is getting power, some components can be damaged if they are disconnected from power suddenly. You should now have access to the MacBook’s internals.īefore removing any other components. There is no adhesive or anything else preventing removal of this cover besides the screws, so it should be removed easily. Use an opener tool between the bottom cover and the frame to remove the bottom cover. Be careful when removing or installing these screws to follow the angle of the screw, or they can be stripped. To begin, use a 1.2mm Pentalobe screwdriver to remove the screws on the bottom cover.