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Use this guide to replace a broken hard drive cable. The hard drive cable also contains the sleep LED and the IR sensor.
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Remove the following ten screws:
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Three 14.4 mm Phillips #00 screws
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Three 3.5 mm Phillips #00 screws
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Four 3.5 mm shouldered Phillips #00 screws
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Use your fingers to pry the lower case away from the body of the MacBook near the vent.
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Remove the lower case.
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Use the edge of a spudger to pry the battery connector upwards from its socket on the logic board.
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Bend the battery cable slightly away from its socket on the logic board so it does not accidentally connect itself while you work.
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Remove the two Phillips screws securing the hard drive bracket to the upper case.
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Use the attached pull tab to lift the hard drive out of the upper case.
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Pull the hard drive cable away from the body of the hard drive.
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Remove the hard drive.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the hard drive cable connector up from its socket on the logic board.
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Remove the following four screws:
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Two 3 mm Phillips screws
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Two 9.7 mm Phillips screws
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Carefully peel up the thin IR sensor/sleep LED ribbon cable from the adhesive securing it to the upper case.
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Pull the front hard drive bracket containing the IR sensor/sleep LED away from the front edge of the upper case.
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Use the tip of a spudger to flip the "lever" of the ZIF connector (left side in first photo) on the hard drive cable. The connector does not come off, see next instruction.
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Gently pull the yellow sensor bracket cable out of the ZIF connector (to the right, in the second photo).
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the hard drive cable up off the sensor bracket to which it is adhered.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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Thank you Ifixit and Andrew "Optimus" Goldberg, the parts and tools arrived today i went to the shop to buy lunch when i had returned (15 mins later) my Husband had replaced the part (hdd cable) and my Macbook pro is super speedy again. Nice repair guide thank you i doubt i can say thank you enough.
After many hours of trying to get my SSD drive to work, I read elsewhere that other users had issues with the HD cable that came with the laptop. From when I opened the envelope until my SSD booted was less than 30 minutes. If you have the right tools this is an easy fix. Just keep in mind that there is adhesive on the cable that goes to the bracket -- don't forget to peel off the paper backing and line it up correctly.
Hello, I have a mid 2009 Macbook pro 13. I have bought a hard disk cable that looks almost the same as the original one except for greater width and shorter length. I guess that this new cable fits the 2012 model, SO YOU MAY HAVE TO UPDATE THE GUIDE accordingly.
Electrically the wider cable also works on the mid 2009 model (at least for disk access) though it does not fit mechanically.
My friends be careful when you buy this part.
thanks, Ifixit! Like many, my laptop developed the flashing question mark with startup even though when I removed the drive and put in external enclosure it worked perfectly, and putting in a different HD with a good system install on it also failed. thankfully I found out about the ribbon cable issue with a web search. The part fit perfectly and was easy to install, took about 10 minutes and I was up and running again.
Larry Schwartz
Thank you so much for this guide! My MacBook pro works! I had the folder of death on my screen so I just swapped out the ribbon and now it turns on. Easy fix and saved a lot of money. EASY TO DO!!!!
