Michael Walsh

I have a Macbook Pro mid-2009 15”. My question is this: Where is the cicuitry that drives the backlight display located?...

Macbook Pro, mid-2009, 15” - screen repair In this ifixit repair image the person is shown using a blue pry-device to...

I have had experience with this and I succeeded but I had to destroy the old keyboard to do it. But it wasn’t working properly so it was destined for the trash anyway. I used a pair of cutters (tin-snips or wire cutters) and cut the metal of the old keyboard in a circle around the stuck screw. That allowed me to remove what was left of the old keyboard. I was left with the stuck screw and a circle of mangled metal (from the old keyboard), about 3/4 inch in diameter, around it. I could then grab the mangled metal and slowly unscrew it which dragged the stuck screw along with it. A little super glue here might help but I didn’t need it. It also seems possible that I could have lifted up the mangled metal and folded it upwards on each side of the screw to hold it, then unscrew the whole thing by holding the mangled metal, tightly folded up, with a pair of pliers. If the mangled metal won’t hold the screw enough to unscrew it you can cut into the mangled metal as close to the screw as you can get. Then lift up...

To all. I bought a faulty Mac with this problem and I’m about to fix it using an epoxy resin glue. I won’t know how well it works for a few months but I’ll report back if I remember. But for anyone about to attempt this repair job be aware that aluminum is a highly-reactive metal that reacts with oxygen very quickly and forms a very thin, nearly invisible layer of aluminum oxide on its surface that protecst it from further oxidation (the aluminum’s equivalent of rust). However, and most importantly, the Al Oxide surface layer is very resistant to glues, and epoxy resin will NOT adhere to it very well. I tried it and found that I could peel the epoxy off the aluminum shell easily after 48 hours. The aluminum surface needs to be properly prepared for the epoxy by sanding it down to clean shiny metal, then applying the epoxy resin glue very quickly afterwards. “How quick is quickly?” you might ask. I have not determined the time yet but by practicing on an old aluminum sardine can I found that if the cleaned...

Hi,

Your article does not mention the WiFi (wireless) or Bluetooth cable connector.

Does WiFi connectivity come into the logic board via the camera cable, or some other cable?

Thank you

I greatly appreciated your comment in Step 8 saying: “Apple sticks a small strip of clear plastic with adhesive applied to one side to the logic board behind the camera cable connector to keep it in its socket“.

My problem was that I had an old Macbook Pro whose camera cable was out of its socket and I could not get it in because this piece of plastic was in the way. I had no idea what it was. It was not clear to me if it was an IC or some other important component. Your comment clarified what it was and its purpose.

Pushing down on it at one end did not achieve anything, so I have just lifted it up and off the board using a small scalpel blade.

I will use some tape to hold the cable connector in its socket.

Thank you

I greatly appreciated your comment in Step 11 saying: “Apple sticks a small strip of clear plastic with adhesive applied to one side to the logic board behind the camera cable connector to keep it in its socket“.

My problem was that I had an old Macbook Pro whose camera cable was out of its socket and I could not get it in because this piece of plastic was in the way. I had no idea what it was. It was not clear to me if it was an IC or some other important component. Your comment clarified what it was and its purpose.

Pushing down on it at one end did not achieve anything, so I have just lifted it up and off the board using a small scalpel blade.

I will use some tape to hold the cable connector in its socket.

Thank you

Scott, I assume you mean SSD, which stands for Solid-State Drive, and not SDD (whatever that stands for).

There is another flat black rectangular heat sink between the heatsink listed above and the speaker/microphone bracket.

It is worth replacing the thermal paste under it too. It is held in place by two T6 torx screws.

As a couple of others have mentioned (above), I too had trouble getting these two screws out too. My problem was that they had corroded and locked into their threaded sockets. Also, the corrosion had rotted out the inside shape of the Phillips slots so that no screwdriver would fit properly.

I had to cut the cover down the middle and bend it up and out of the way.

Aaron. The small black piece of plastic is one of two clips. The other is to the left of the one you mention. On the inside of the bottom case there are two small metal tabs that slip into these two black plastic clips.

In my opinion the RAM should be removed first - i.e., before the battery is removed.

The RAM DIMMS are just in the way if they are left in their sockets on the logic board until step 33.

I cannot see any useful reason to not remove them very early in the sequence.

The BATTERY MUST BE DISCONNECTED - it is NOT OPTIONAL if you are going to remove the logic board.

These instructions are for Removing The Logic Board, so if that is what you are going to do the battery MUST be disconnected.

The informational item beginning with the words “For certain repairs (e.g. hard drive), disconnecting the battery connector is not necessary … “ is NOT applicable to a set of instructions on removing a logic board and it should be deleted from this otherwise excellent set of instructions.