MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Early 2011 MagSafe DC-In Board Replacement

Tip: Use one of those weekday pill holders to have a cheep way to store screws you remove and each day of the week can be for different sizes or parts. It has been handy to have (much less expensive than the magnetic mat.

My top tip - make sure you buy good quality Phillips screwdrivers and a magnetic holder. Cheap screwdrivers won’t get the screws undone safely. Without a magnetic holder you have no chance of getting the tiny crews in and out safely.

A good Phillips 00 is your friend here. Also, when reinserting the screws, gently start anticlockwise and you wil feel a click at the start of the thread. This tells you you’re in the right place and less likely to cross-thread through force in the wrong place.

Prying the battery connector off does not take much force. I did exactly what the guide suggested (walked it off back and forth) with the spudger without any problems. Just be very gentle, much like with anything inside laptops, they are very fragile and need to be worked with carefully. A+ instructions, battery replacement was a success.

Be patient on disconnecting this one. It worked for me step by step, little by little.

One other note: The screw heads fit flush with the curvature of the case -- which means that they aren't exactly horizontal. In other words, they aren't perpendicular to the table that the computer is resting on. Don't try to force them straight in vertically, because you'll risk cross-threading them. (nearly ruined one screw hole myself!)

On my MacBook Pro, the connector seems to be an integral part of the battery.

I successfully soldered the fan connector back on for a friend. I used a small soldering iron (maybe 6-10 watts) and ground the tip down to a very fine point. Also used a magnifying light and very fine rosin core solder. I took my time and lined everything up and was careful not to heat any other junction unnecessarily.

Yup. Be careful on this one. I was trying to gently pry up and popped it off the socket. Computer working fine after replacing magsafe board, but no fan for cooling…

This one is really delicate, as pointed out.  Be careful if using the pointed end of a spudger NOT to dig down and under ….there’s a layer of plastic-y insulation that can be torn.  I accidentally gored it with the pointy end of a spudger and it was slightly ripped.  Fortunately, I was able to press it down and there was no problem when the cable was reinserted.

For less than $16 I ordered a new fan from amazon. Fans eventually start making noise. If they fail, your system could expire from heat. Consider simply replacing your fan since this model is now about five years old. Here’s link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FWP...

I used a guitar pick and gently wiggled underneath to lift it up and out of the socket. no damage! woo hoo! on to step 7!

Yes, tricky. Insert the spudger just like in the photo. You won’t be able to dig it out out from any other side. Also, notice which side of the connector faces down into the socket: it is the side without the four shiny gold areas (again, just like in the photo).

Reminder: When replacing the cable the connector should be placed in from above. This fooled me and I damaged the seat a bit, but not enough to prevent proper connection.

Excellent guide, I feel this bit could be clearer tho. As it is a socket like a fan connector.

Mine had a foam pad on the top like the other lift-up connections and I’ve accidentally taken the socket off.

So just to be aware if your mac has the foam pad on top of this connection.

Here's where the mid-2009 13" MacBook Pro 5,5 makes its first major departure from this guide. No such connection exists. At least nowhere I could find on the motherboard.

IIRC the official service manual suggests putting the blunt or wide edge of a black-stick/spudger underneath the cable and then pressing down on said cable to provide better gripping force while pulling the cable out/away from the connector. It’s my tried-and-true method of choice.

Anyone has a data of this cable becausei brkoe it and i have an other same connector ??

Mail : mr.leminecrafteur@gmail.com

Just broke this cable by pulling to hard. Definitely use a spudger to pry out the connector instead of pulling the cable.

Same, any suggestion about its replacement?

Really grip those little bumps on the head with a pair of pliers and gently wiggle!

In case you need replacement parts for the broken cable : http://www.powerbookmedic.com/MacBook-Pr...

To find out how to replace the cable, you can have a look at this tutorial : https://fr.ifixit.com/Tutoriel/Remplacem...

On the mid-2009 13" MacBook Pro 5,5 the Airport/Bluetooth cable is different from the other three cables in this step. It's fabric wrapped, and its connection works in a fashion more like the display data cable connection, although it does not have a lock that releases by pulling a tab back over the cable. So, to those of you who are repairing this model, be careful. Prying upward is not the way to remove this cable. I played with it until I could detect which parts were moving which way and why. Although I can't say with precision how the connection works, I removed it by gently coaxing slightly up at an angle and back along the plane of the optical drive. The idea is to pull the cable back out of its socket while lifting slightly.

Too bad we can't post photos in the comments.

Same with the Mid 2010 model - moving the cable parallel to the board, towards the optical device works fine.

It is advised to tape all those connectors out of the way of the mainboard. Use paper tape or paper labels as you want to avoid the electrical discharge associated with peeling off of plastic tape.

After I put it all back together, the keyboard didn’t work; I traced it to this cable not being plugged in all the way. I used the tape trick to coax it all the way in to seat well and it works like a charm.

Thanks for the tip about keyboard ribbon, saved me a major headache

It’s worth pointing out that the lever to lift this is at the back of the connector and that you’re pulling it towards yourself - this then releases the plastic on top of the cable that’s holding it in place.

The tape tirck saved my bacon!! Thank YOU!

Thanks so much. This trick saved the day!!!!

It is advised to tape this connectors out of the way of the mainboard. Use paper tape or paper labels as you want to avoid the electrical discharge associated with peeling off of plastic tape.

The bottom of the small strip has excellent adhesive which will re-stick upon reassembly without any problems. I handled the sticky side and even stuck it to a plastic tray without any issues. Which is to say the sticky-ness does not seem to wear off.

This is the most difficult ribbon cable to reinsert. As noted in the comments for the keyboard ribbon cable above I’d recommend also using a a small piece of tape to help reinsert.

I used Blu-Tac on the end of my spudger to provide a gentle grip to get it to slide in.

It is advised to tape this connectors out of the way of the mainboard. Use paper tape or paper labels as you want to avoid the electrical discharge associated with peeling off of plastic tape.

The first time I reassembled the system I left this tiny ribbon connector under the logic board by accident. If your keyboard backlight no longer works after reassembly it’s because you forgot to reattach this small connector. Fortunately, I caught my mistake before securing the logic board screws. It’s an easy to miss item.

It is advised to tape this connectors out of the way of the mainboard. Use paper tape or paper labels as you want to avoid the electrical discharge associated with peeling off of plastic tape.

the sleep sensor/battery indicator were not included with my new case, i had to transfer them over from my old case. once the battery is out (step 22), you can see the three screws you need to remove in order to take it out. it’s also secured by adhesive. the button for the battery indicator will likely fall out (at least it did on mine) when you remove the board, so be careful not to lose it…my new case did come with the button for the battery indicator (even though it didn’t come with the board or cable), but i just re-used the old one.

I forgot to place this tiny flex cable on top of the mainboard, and tried to recover it from under (lazy!) so I broke it.

In general I would tape all those connectors out of the way of the mainboard. Use paper tape or paper labels as you want to avoid the electrical discharge associated with peeling off of plastic tape.

Update: the computer works even without this feature. Of course the led battery indicator does not work, but it is not a big loss.

Its quite delicate, pull gently and it will pop out with a slight clicking sound

I used my phone to photograph the entire underside of the Macbook Pro before I started removing things. This photo helped augment the excellent photos here. Take a few close-ups of each section/item before disassembly to reference upon assembly.

when reattaching the display cable, i used the spudger to tuck the spongy top flap underneath the cable lock, so that i could then get the cable lock down the entire way. i couldn’t get it under there (and get the lock closed) without it, the top part of the display cable blocked it.

For keeping the screws straight I drew a simple diagram and placed them on it head down/threads up in their respective positions. Then all screws went back into their original positions without any guess work. Another suggestion I have during assembly is to start the screws without torquing them all the way down - leave them a little loose to allow some adjustment of the logic board for getting them all to line up with their holes, then torque them down. This technique also works for the screws on the bottom cover/lower case.

Great guide! Saved me some dough, and now my MagSafe connector stays nice and cool.

for me the two on the farthest left were the 4.3mm screws. otherwise all went as described

on something like this (like in iphones) i print the picture and place the screws on the picture. saves some problems and guessing.

Definitely not necessary to remove this bracket. You can disconnect the mic from the logic board and not have to deal with this bracket.

Careful with this one. The wires are very thin fragile and it’s glued down very well making it extremely hard to remove. Just go slow and be patient otherwise you’ll damage the wires.

I finally got that mic out by gripping it between two spudgers like a pair of chopsticks and gently pulling it out at an angle. The rubber shroud on it makes the thing hard to grip, and when I finally pulled it free, part of the adhesive ring tore off and stayed stuck to the chassis. When reassembling the machine, I had to kind of squish it back into place. It doesn’t hold quite as well as it did before, but it seems fine.

I managed to get the board out without prying the microphone off by twisting the board out while the microphone is still connected.

You can then disconnect the microphone cable, which is a similar style connector to the fan cable and remove the board completely

Vraiment pénible cette déconnection, allez y gentiment et la colle partira.

when reseating the logic board, first install the DC board in position and loosely seat the screws. then try to align the logic board to the 3.6mm screw housing closest to the firewire/ thunderbolt port and align the board to the ports and gently drop it into position. watch out for the cables that can get snagged under the board while seating it.

I had the same issue. After wiggling the logic board back and forth and slowly applying more force, just up the threshold where I felt uncomfortable, it came out. The problem appeared to be caused by glue on the heatsink barcode sticking to the layer underneath.

I broke the black backlight shield.... be careful when you feel the logic board and the film underneath it seem stickinig togethre.

The fan exhaust grille was catching onto the speaker unit so I had to skip to step 28 to take it out. After taking out the airport card the speaker was able to move away from the fan grille and let me lift out the logic board.

Also be sure to lift up the logic board to a slight angle so it clears the optical drive then pull it out gently at that angle. Do not pull it ulwards.

The mainboard got stuck with the speaker and I can't lift it up. So I removed the first speaker screw (Wich is nearest to the mainboard) then I was able to remove the mainboard

My experience with the mid-2009 13" MacBook Pro 5,5 makes me suggest paying close attention to how the DC-in board's cabling is situated as you remove the motherboard from the computer, especially in relation to the microphone and the display data cable retainer. The replacement DC-in board I used had fabric wrapping around the individual cables to the motherboard. Consequently, there is more material to navigate between these parts on reassembly.

I managed to make it work, but if I had paid more attention to exactly how the cable was routed before removing the original, reassembly might have been easier.

It took me a while  to work up the courage to take this project on….after I’d received  the part from eBay.  I was  concerned about finding a way to get my daughter’s photos and documents retrieved before taking it on.  My dilemma was that there didn’t seem to be a way to charge the battery, which  only had about 5% left.  I used a 276gb flash drive to transfer  the essential  stuff using the remaining battery life.  Then I took the project on.  For a while, I still couldn’t get the bright green or amber light to come on, but just left the laptop plugged in with the dimmest green light showing on the magsafe charger.  After a few days, the battery charged up (almost like a slow trickle charge).  I fiddled with resetting  few things, per several suggestions, to no avail.  Today, however, out of a clear blue sky, I plugged the charger into the magsafe port and it turned green, then amber for the first time, and started charging pretty fast.  It seems a bit finicky about how it rests in the socket. Go for it!

Hi Carolyn, I am in the same boat as you. I have the parts, just waiting for the courage ! I have already replaced the battery and the trackpad without any issues. Just concerned about breaking anything in the disassembly process. Maybe Apple make these parts so delicate on purpose so that its not user friendly to easily replace without risk (otherwise everyone would be doing it themselves right - no fun or $ for Apple !).. Wish you were here to guide me through the process (knowing that you have already been there, done that ! so to speak !). Cheers Ron