MacBook Core 2 Duo LCD Panel Replacement

Use a coin or spudger to rotate the battery-locking screw 90 degrees clockwise.

Lift the battery out of the computer.

Unscrew the three evenly-spaced Phillips screws from along the rear wall of the battery compartment.

Grasp the right end of the L-shaped memory cover, then pull it towards you so it clears the battery compartment opening.

Lift the memory cover up and out of the computer.

Remove the following 3 screws:

One 11 mm Phillips#00 in the middle of the lower case. (Head: 5mm dia. x .75mm thick)

Two 14.5 mm Phillips #00 (Head: 5mm dia. x .75mm thick)

Remove the following 3 screws from the rear wall of the battery compartment:

One 3 mm Phillips #0. (Head: 2.75 mm. dia.)

Two 4 mm Phillips #0 on the either side. (Head: 2.75mm dia.)

Remove the two Phillips screws from either side of the right wall of the battery compartment (not the ones closest to the battery connector).

Two 6.25 mm Phillips #000. (Head: 4 mm. dia. x .5mm thick)

Remove the four indicated Phillips screws from the front wall of the battery compartment. When working from the left, remove the 2nd, 4th, 7th and 9th screws.

Four 3.25 mm Phillips #000. (Head: 4 mm. dia. x 4mm thick)

Remove the following 4 screws from the back of the computer:

Two 11 mm Phillips #00, with Shank (2.2mm dia. x 2 mm len.) (Head: 3.2 mm. dia. x .5mm thick)

Two 7.25 mm Phillips #00, with Shank (2mm dia. x 3.75 mm len.) (Head: 3.2 mm. dia. x .5mm thick)

Remove the two Phillips screws from the optical drive (right) side of the computer:

Two 5.2 mm Phillips #00, with shank (2.3mm dia. x 3.25 mm len.) (Head: 3.2 mm. dia. x .5mm thick)

Use a plastic opening tool, an expired plastic credit, or a similarly-thick card to pry up on the upper case, starting in the upper-left corner and working around to the front of the computer.

While holding up the upper case, pull up the black tab on the connector end of the silver ribbon cable away from the connector's socket on the logic board.

Grasp the white plastic tab attached to the hard drive and pull it to the left, removing the hard drive from the computer.

Remove the two Phillips screws from the side of the optical drive.

Two 3.25 mm Phillips #000 (head: 4 mm. dia. x .3 mm thick)

Disconnect the orange optical drive ribbon cable connector from the logic board by prying it straight up using either a finger or a spudger.

Disconnect the newly revealed display data cable's plug from the logic board by pulling it upward using its black pull-tab.

Disconnect the newly-revealed hard drive cable's plug from the logic board by pulling it upward using its black tab.

Peel up the foil tape between the fan and the optical drive. Lift the foil tape from the fan side, leaving it attached to the optical drive.

During reassembly, be sure to route the cables beneath the tape before reattaching it.

Pull up the display data cable from along the edge of the optical drive to reveal a silver Phillips screw.

Remove the 2 mm Phillips #00 screw securing the rear corner of the optical drive.

The silver-jacketed Bluetooth cable may be covering the screw. If so, carefully push it aside. You may need to remove the screw holding the ground shield lugs for the two nearby cables before you can move the Bluetooth cable aside sufficiently. This screw is 7mm in earlier models, and may be 4.2mm in Santa Rosa/Penryn and 2009 models.

Lift the Bluetooth antenna board from the front edge of the optical drive.

Deroute the hard drive cable from under the clips along the near side of the optical drive.

Lift the side of the optical drive closest to you, then slide the drive towards you, and up and out of the computer.

First, slide its side nearest to the rear of the Macbook under the edge of the rear frame to the left of the hinge, while also sliding the optical drive's mounting tab at its upper left corner under the cables at this location.

Lower the drive partially into the lower housing. Keep the hard drive cable away from the optical drive bay.

Before dropping the drive fully in place, use a spudger to push forward (towards the front of the drive) on the screw hole in the drive's mounting tab.

Push forward the slider, which runs along the far side of the drive, to insert the end of this slider into a small channel in the lower case's frame. This helps hold the drive in place.

For original Macbook Core Duo and Core 2 Duo models, remove these 3 screws:

Two 3 mm Phillips near the right speaker.

One 6 mm Phillips threaded through a hole in a plastic finger above the subwoofer.

For Santa Rosa/Penryn and 2009 models, which don't have a c-channel:

Remove only the single 3 mm Phillips screw from the right speaker, and skip step 26.

Lift the right speaker out of its housing and set it to the side.

Using a spudger, gently pry up the white plastic slot and slide the metal c-channel to the right and away from the display.

Use a spudger to carefully disconnect the microphone cable from the logic board. You'll want to work from side to side, and slowly wiggle the plug back and out of its socket.

Lift up on the black right speaker cable with one hand, and deroute the microphone cable from the silver metal clip just above the right RAM slot.

If you didn't remove the ground lug retaining screw in step 20 above, remove it now. It's a 7mm (may be 4mm or 3mm in Santa Rosa/Penryn and 2009 models) Phillips screw securing the ground lugs on the right speaker cable and microphone cable to the metal frame.

Deroute the microphone cable and the black display data cable from the tabs at the bottom of the subwoofer.

Remove the single 3 mm Phillips screw securing the ground lug in the display data cable located just above the Bluetooth board. This screw may also be securing a ground lug in the speaker cable.

Disconnect the antenna cables from the Airport card:

If you have an original MacBook Core Duo or Core 2 Duo model, see the first picture, which shows that there are three antenna cables.

If you have a MacBook Core 2 Duo Santa Rosa/Penryn or 2009 model, there are only two antenna cables, and the plug/socket for the black inverter cable is in a different location. There may be a square foam piece over the plug/socket for the inverter board connector.

Disconnect the inverter cable from its socket by inserting a spudger between the right or left ends of the plug and the socket, and prying gently vertically. Do NOT pry up on the socket--you must pull up on the plug alone, vertically out of the socket. Do not pull in the direction of the cable wires or you will tear the socket off the logic board.

For original Macbook Core Duo and Core 2 Duo models, see first picture and remove the following 2 screws from the right hinge mount:

One 6 mm Phillips on the left side of the hinge mount.

One 10 mm Phillips on the right side of the hinge mount.

For Santa Rosa/Penryn and 2009 models, see second picture and remove the following 3 screws from the right hinge mount:

One 3 mm smalller diameter Phillips on the far left.

One 5.2 mm larger diameter, 4.2 mm head Phillips in the middle.

One 10 mm larger diameter, 4.2mm head Phillips from the far right.

Before removing the right hinge mount, take care to see how its pieces fit together, including the small white plastic piece. Knowing how the mount pieces fit together will help with reassembly. Lift the right hinge mount with the small white plastic piece out of the computer.

Hold the display with one hand while removing the following 3 screws from the left hinge mount:

One 7.2 mm smaller diameter Phillips from the right side.

One 5.2 mm larger diameter Phillips from the middle.

One larger diameter 10 mm Phillips from the left side.

Lift the left hinge mount with white plastic piece out of the computer.

Check that the cables coming out of the right end of the left hinge are not trapped under other cables.

Grasp the display assembly on either side and lift it up and out of the computer, taking care that the cables attached to the display don't snag on parts in the lower case.

Use a thin plastic card to release the tabs and their clips holding the front display bezel to the display assembly. There are five tabs along the left side of the display bezel.

Continue to free the tabs along the the top edge of the display assembly.

Next, free the five tabs securing the display bezel on the right side.

Lift up the front display bezel from the top and use your plastic card to free the tabs along the bottom edge of the display bezel.

After freeing all holding tabs, lift the front display bezel away from the display assembly.

Use a metal spudger or another thin tool to carefully pry the gray plastic clips off the tabs molded into the front display bezel. A 0.8mm flat screwdriver may be useful for this step. You may find that it's easier to remove some of these clips by prying up on their long sides.

Insert one end of the retaining clip beneath the edge of its recess cut into the LCD bracket.

Use the edge of a spudger to push the short hook tab on the underside of the other end of the retaining clip into the recess cut into the LCD bracket.

Remove the three 4.2 mm Phillips screws securing the clutch cover.

While holding the display down with one hand, use your other hand to lift the left end of the clutch cover off the clutch hinge and guide the inverter cable and AirPort cables through the gap in the clutch cover. If the cables snag on the two hooked tabs on the inside end of the clutch cover, free them carefully.

Lift up the right end of the clutch cover while guiding the display data and iSight cables through the gap and the two hooked tabs at the right end of the clutch cover. If the cables snag on the two hooked tabs, free them carefully.

Lift the clutch cover off of the display assembly.

Remove the small piece of foam tape stuck down above each of the bezel covers, at the lower left and right corners.

Use a spudger to slide the left bezel cover towards the LCD panel.

Lift the left bezel cover off the display assembly.

Use a spudger to slide the right bezel cover toward the LCD panel.

Lift the right bezel cover off the display assembly.

Lift the inverter out of the display slightly and disconnect the backlight cable from its right side.

Place the inverter back down in its recess.

Remove the single 3.2 mm Phillips screw securing the display data cable to the right clutch hinge.

Move the display data cable out from under the mounting arm of the right clutch hinge.

Remove the twelve 4.2 mm Phillips screws securing the LCD assembly to the rear display bezel.

Raise the bottom edge of the LCD assembly slightly, then slide it down slightly to free its upper edge from a slight overhang in the rear display bezel.

Lift it out of the rear display bezel, minding any cables that may get caught.

Turn the LCD panel assembly over so that the screen is face down. You may want to use a cloth on your worksurface to prevent scratching the screen.

Peel up all the yellow tape securing the display data and iSight cables to the back of the LCD panel.

Disconnect the display data cable from the back of the display.

Disconnect the iSight cable from the top of the display.

Lift up the display data and iSight cables and move them to the side. It is not necessary to entirely remove these cables from the display assembly.

De-route the microphone cable from the right side of the LCD assembly.

Remove the three 3.1 mm Phillips screws along the left edge of the display.

Remove the two 3.1 mm Phillips screws securing the iSight holder to the top of the display.

Remove the three 3.1 mm Phillips screws along the right edge of the display.

Lift up the LCD panel by its bottom edge and slide it out of the metal mounting brackets.