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Use this guide to replace your MacBook Pro's upper case. Replacing the upper case requires removal of most components inside your computer, including the display assembly.
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Remove the following ten screws securing the lower case to the upper case:
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Three 13.5 mm Phillips screws.
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Seven 3 mm Phillips screws.
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Wedge your fingers between the lower case and the vent, and lift upward to release the two clips holding the lower case to the upper case.
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Remove the lower case.
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If present, grab the plastic tab attached to the battery connector and pull it toward the front edge of the device. For Late-2011 models the battery connector will not have a tab and is simply a plug that inserts straight down into the motherboard--to remove pry the plug straight up.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to lift the right fan connector out of its socket on the logic board.
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Remove the three 3.1 mm Phillips screws securing the right fan to the logic board.
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Remove the right fan from the upper case, minding its cable that may get caught.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to lift the left fan connector out of its socket on the logic board.
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Remove the three 3.1 mm Phillips screws securing the left fan to the logic board.
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Remove the left fan from the upper case, minding its cable that may get caught.
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Use the tip of a spudger or your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the keyboard backlight ribbon cable.
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Pull the keyboard backlight ribbon cable out of its socket.
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Use the tip of a spudger to push the small plastic cable retainer away from the camera cable socket for enough clearance to remove the camera cable.
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Pull the camera cable toward the optical drive opening to disconnect it from the logic board.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the optical drive connector up and out of its socket on the logic board.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to lift the subwoofer & right speaker connector out of its socket on the logic board.
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Use the tip of a spudger or your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the IR sensor ribbon cable socket.
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Pull the IR sensor ribbon cable out of its socket.
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Remove the following four screws:
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Two 3.5 mm Phillips screws
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Two 1.6 mm Phillips screws
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Remove both connector shields from the logic board.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the trackpad connector up and out of its socket on the logic board.
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Use your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the keyboard ribbon cable socket.
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Pull the keyboard ribbon cable out of its socket.
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Use your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the express card cage ribbon cable socket.
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Pull the express card cage ribbon cable out of its socket.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to lift the hard drive cable connector up and out of its socket on the logic board.
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Use the tip of a spudger or your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the battery indicator cable socket.
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Pull the battery indicator ribbon cable out of its socket.
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Lift the black plastic flap attached to the display data cable retainer and rotate it toward the DC-In side of the MacBook.
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Pull the display data cable out of its socket.
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Remove the following eight screws securing the logic board and DC-In board to the upper case:
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Six 3.2 mm Phillips screws
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Two 7.6 mm Phillips screws
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Lift the logic board assembly from the side nearest the optical drive and lift it away from the upper case.
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Carefully pull the ports and DC-In board away from the side of the upper case and remove the logic board assembly, minding any cables that may get caught.
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Remove the two Phillips screws securing the hard drive bracket to the upper case.
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Remove the hard drive bracket from the upper case.
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Peel the hard drive and battery indicator cables off the adhesive securing them to the express card cage.
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Remove the following five screws securing the express card cage to the upper case:
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Three 2 mm Phillips screws
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Two 4 mm Phillips screws
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Remove the express card cage from the upper case.
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Using its attached pull tab, lift the hard drive out of the upper case.
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Pull the hard drive cable connector away from the body of the hard drive.
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Remove the hard drive from the upper case and set it aside.
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Remove the two 2.2 mm Phillips screws securing the hard drive cable to the upper case.
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Remove the hard drive cable from the upper case.
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Remove the two 10 mm Phillips screws securing the front hard drive bracket to the upper case.
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Remove the front hard drive bracket.
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Use an iPod opening tool or another soft thin-edged tool to carefully lift up a corner of the "Warning: Do not remove the battery" sticker off the right speaker/subwoofer enclosure.
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Peel the sticker off the right speaker/subwoofer enclosure.
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Remove the three 6.5 mm Tri-point screws securing the battery to the upper case.
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Using its attached pull tab, lift the battery out of the upper case.
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Carefully disconnect the Bluetooth cable from the Bluetooth board.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to peel the thin plastic cover off the top and sides of the Bluetooth board housing.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the Bluetooth antenna connector up and off its socket on the Bluetooth board.
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Remove the small piece of EMI foam attached near the Bluetooth board.
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Remove the three 3.5 mm Phillips screws securing the optical drive to the upper case.
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Remove the optical drive assembly from the upper case.
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Remove the following three screws securing the subwoofer & right speaker to the upper case:
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One 2.6 mm Phillips screw
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Two 12.3 mm Phillips screws
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Remove the subwoofer and right speaker assembly from the upper case.
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Remove the two 7.1 mm Phillips screws securing the camera cable retainer to the upper case.
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Remove the camera cable retainer from the upper case.
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Remove the two 7.1 mm Phillips screws securing the display data cable retainer to the upper case.
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Remove the display data cable retainer.
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Remove the two outer 6.8 mm T6 Torx screws from each of the two display brackets (four screws total).
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While holding the display and upper case together with your left hand, remove the remaining T6 Torx screw from the lower display bracket.
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Remove the last remaining T6 Torx screw securing the display to the upper case.
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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.
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Rotate the display slightly away from the upper case.
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Lift the display up and away from the upper case, minding any brackets or cables that may get caught.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order. Make sure that any ribbon cables which need to be attached to the logic board are above it and free from getting caught before you screw it into place.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order. Make sure that any ribbon cables which need to be attached to the logic board are above it and free from getting caught before you screw it into place.
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Great guide but I would also appreciate a step that shows me how to remove the trackpad safely after everything else, since most of the replacement parts I saw for this don't include trackpads.
Is it possible to replace the keyboard?
You could add a note that once the battery is removed, if all you're replacing is the Trackpad, that is when it would be done. No need to take everything out of the case. Other than that, it's a GREAT guide.
Great guide! Although I don’t really look forward to replacing the upper case, BUT I will do so confidently thanks to Andrew’s instructions. This was needed because ½ of the backlight is not illuminating AND most importantly because my <right arrow> key stopped working. I saw how involved replacement of the keyboard assembly was and opted instead to replace the upper case with a used grade “A” upper case from a reputable seller.
