Introduction
Use this guide to replace the front bezel. Only applicable to Matte Displays.
Tools
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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 (14.1 mm) Phillips screws.
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Seven 3 mm Phillips screws.
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Using both hands, lift the lower case near the vent to pop it off two clips securing it to the upper case.
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Remove the lower case and set it aside.
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Remove the two 7.4 mm Tri-point screws securing the battery to the upper case.
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Note: For certain repairs (e.g. hard drive), removing the battery is not necessary but it prevents any accidental shorting of electronics on the motherboard. If you do not remove the battery, please be careful as parts of the motherboard might be electrified.
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Use the tip of your finger to carefully peel back the corner of the warning label to reveal a hidden Tri-point screw.
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Remove the last 7.4 mm Tri-point screw securing the battery to the upper case.
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Lift the battery by its plastic pull tab and slide it away from the long edge of the upper case.
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Tilt the battery away from the logic board enough to access the battery cable connector.
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Pull the battery cable connector away from its socket on the logic board and remove the battery from the upper case.
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Charge it to 100%, and then keep charging it for at least 2 more hours. Next, unplug and use it normally to drain the battery. When you see the low battery warning, save your work, and keep your laptop on until it goes to sleep due to low battery. Wait at least 5 hours, then charge your laptop uninterrupted to 100%.
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If you notice any unusual behavior or problems after installing your new battery, you may need to reset your MacBook's SMC.
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Use the flat end of a spudger to carefully pry the AirPort/Bluetooth ribbon cable up off its socket on the logic board.
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Use the tip of a spudger to pry the three antenna connectors up off the AirPort/Bluetooth board.
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De-route all three antenna cables from their channels in the AirPort/Bluetooth housing.
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De-route the camera cable from its channel in the AirPort/Bluetooth housing.
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Remove the following two screws securing the AirPort/Bluetooth housing to the upper case:
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One 3.8 mm Phillips
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One 8.6 mm Phillips
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Remove the AirPort/Bluetooth assembly from the upper case, minding any cables that may get caught.
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Remove the 8.6 mm Phillips screw securing the antenna/camera cable retainer to the upper case.
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Remove the antenna/camera cable retainer from the upper case.
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Remove two of the three 6 mm T6 Torx screws securing the right side of the display to the upper case.
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Grab the plastic pull tab secured to the display data cable lock and rotate it toward the DC-In side of the computer.
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Pull the display data cable straight out of its socket on the logic board.
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Remove the 8.6 mm Phillips screw securing the display data cable retainer to the upper case.
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Remove the display data cable retainer from the upper case.
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Remove two of the three 6 mm T6 Torx screws securing the left side of the display to the upper case.
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Open your MacBook Pro so the display is perpendicular to the upper case.
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Place your opened MacBook Pro on a table as pictured.
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While holding the display and upper case together with your left hand, remove the remaining T6 Torx screw from the upper display bracket.
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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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Insert the tip of a spudger underneath the black rubber gasket at the bottom right corner of the display assembly.
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Gently pry the wide edge of the gasket up from the back case.
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Starting with the freed corner, pull the rubber gasket off the right side of the display assembly.
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Continue pulling the display gasket off the display assembly down the left side.
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Pull the gasket off the bottom edge of the display to completely free it and set it aside.
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Carefully insert a guitar pick between the top right corner of the bezel and the display assembly.
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Use the guitar pick to gently pry up the adhesive along the top edge securing the bezel to the display assembly.
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Work along the top right edge of the display assembly, carefully prying the adhesive up with the guitar pick. Stop when you get to the iSight camera.
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Use a heat gun to soften the adhesive under the bezel along the left and top left edges of the display.
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Carefully insert a guitar pick between the top left corner of the bezel and the display assembly.
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Use the guitar pick to gently pry up the adhesive along the left edge securing the bezel to the display assembly.
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Work along the top left edge of the display assembly, carefully prying the adhesive up with the guitar pick. Stop when you get to the iSight camera.
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Wedge a guitar pick in between the bezel and display assembly near the inner bottom left corner.
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Work along the inner bottom left edge of the display assembly, carefully prying the adhesive up with the guitar pick.
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Continue prying along the inner bottom edge to release the adhesive securing the bezel to the display assembly.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
Step 1 (technically step 9 - replacing the base plate) Apparently one of my screws was a micron or two smaller than the others. This screw belongs to the hole above the optical drive, which is also apparently a couple of microns smaller than the others. It took seven attempts to figure which screw had originally been in that hole; all the other screws were too large, but fitted perfectly everywhere else.
Bizarre much?
Will -
It might be a matter of how the screws are driven in, and not that they're slightly different sizes. When I reassembled my MacBook, a couple of the screws, including the one over the optical drive you mention, were hard to drive in and jutted up a little bit instead of sitting entirely flush. Swapping screws didn't help. The solution was to unscrew them and drive them in at a bit of an angle - perpendicular to the slightly curved surface of the back plate where the screw holes were, instead of fully vertical with respect to the ground the Macbook is sitting on. Doing it that way, the screws were easier to drive in and they all ended up flush in their holes. Didn't matter which screws they were. (I swapped a few around just to check after reading this.)
Andrew Janke -
I had no such screw issues. Either there are differences in manufacturing lots or I just got incredibly lucky during reassembly!
xtophr -