MacBook Pro 17" Models A1151 A1212 A1229 and A1261 PRAM Battery Replacement

Written By: iRobot
  • Comments: 27
MacBook Pro 17" Models A1151 A1212 A1229 and A1261 PRAM Battery Replacement

Difficulty

Difficult

Steps

15

Time Required

No estimate

Introduction

The time and date, as well as other settings, are kept by the PRAM battery when your machine is off.

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    • Use your fingers to push both battery release tabs away from the battery and lift the battery out of the computer.

    Before upgrading to a larger HD, you'll want to "clone" your original HD using the donation-ware program "Carbon Copy Cloner" (http://www.bombich.com/). Put the new HD in an external case; clone the original; test the clone (by starting up with it), then take apart the MacBook to put the new HD in the MacBook, and the original in the external case for use as a backup, etc. (You can't just drag the contents of the original HD to the new HD, and expect it to work; not since the days of OS 9 and before.)

    amiller770 -

    Can I put more than two gigabytes of RAM in?

    Noah Nsangou -

    mine has 2g＊2＝4 gb ram in. you should be fine

    on mac forum it suggested to put 4gb and a 2gb in a1261.

    david -

    I made the mistake of wanting to do a clean install of OS and start fresh after installing a SSD. Now I can't install most browsers on OSX Leopard. Does anyone know what is the most current version of OS I can put on this system? (disk or download) Can I get to Snow or Lion?

    2006 17" MackBook Pro Model#A1151

    2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo

    Memory: Two 1GB 667 MHz

    Hard Drive: Corsair Force GS: SSD 128GB

    scannon -

    You can install OS X 10.7 LION and no later version. Although LION runs ok with 2GB RAM it does help to get 1GB + 2GB = 3GB. Even if you install 2 X 4GB you will only utilize 3GB. Installing a SSD seems to make no difference since the SATA bus is only 1.5GB/s. A good 5400rpm disk is good enough. I even run BootCamp and Windows 7. Works fine. Not fast but fine. My A1212 refuses to die :-)

    asle -

    There seems to be some discrepancy about whether or not installing a SSD will help. See Phil's earlier comment from October 2015: there, *he* claims that having an SSD increases the load times significantly, (even though -- of course -- 1.5Gbps is not ideal)...

    His quotation, (re-)cited integrally:

    Just replaced my old HD with a Corsair Force LX SSD (which is SATA 1-3 compatible as required by this model) with success now my old 'outdated' laptop has super fast loading times and is postively flying faster than the speed of 'sound'. Thanks for the guide. Only problem I faced was replacing the top panel which after a few minutes of panic realised the rubber mounted Mic next to the left speaker had risen up when I had removed the top panel so after carefully pushing it back into place the panel fitted back how it should, so beware of this possible problem.

    Phil - 10/07/2015

    at0gjm -

    Bonjour j'ai besoin de cette bactérie que dois-je faire ?

    basile kouamé YAO -

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    • Remove the four identical Phillips 3.4 mm screws from the memory door. These screws have 4 mm diameter heads rather than the 3 mm heads on the body screws.

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    • Lift the memory door up enough to get a grip on it, and slide it toward you, pulling it away from the casing.

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    • Remove the three Phillips screws in the battery compartment near the latch. Apple was nice enough to tilt these screws at a slight angle to make them easier to remove. On the A1261 these screws have 4 mm diameter heads rather than the 3 mm heads on the body screws.

    One of the screws here wouldn't bite going back in. I'm 100% certain it's the same screw that came out of it but it wouldn't bite going back, neither would any of the other two in this section in that particular hole.

    Damon B -

    To Damon - possibly the thread on the bottom of the upper case is obstructed.

    I found that I needed to fight the latch magnet with the right-most screw in the photo. The screw was pulled away from the hole so a magnetized screwdriver was not enough to place it. I needed tweezers to hold the screw in place until it bit.

    Yishai Sered -

    No, these screws won’t bite going back in — struggled for an hour. Lost hope of success.

    Case screw holes perfectly lined-up, neatly closed body, screw threads/head are fine (Apple quality screws), perfect screwdriver.

    The left one is in, other two simply will not bite whatsoever. Slightly irritating eventually turned to madly infuriating. I have a similar, earlier model and that was smooth to replace these exact, slightly angled screws (so I have experience).

    Q: Are the centre and right-hand screws absolutely essential — or can I give up and leave them out?

    (By the time you read this, that’s what I’ll have done)(out of sheer frustration)

    Steve Arkwright -

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    • Remove the following six screws:

    • Two 14.5 mm T6 Torx screws on either side of the RAM slot.

    • Four 3.4 mm Phillips screws along the hinge.

    Note for re-assembly: For the hinge use the longest four Phillips screws.

    R L -

    The Philips screws in Step 5 are longer than the other Philips screws. Would be better if the instructions differentiated them. Otherwise it is possible to use the wrong screws in Step 7 when reassembling.

    Alex -

    These instructions are actually wrong. The 14.5 mm screws are for along the hinge, the 2 on either side of the RAM slot are about 10 mm.

    Andrew Patterson -

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    • Remove the four 3.4 mm Phillips screws on the port side of the computer.

    When reassembling, please be careful not to screw into the wrong spot. I accidentally screwed into the DVI port and it was hard to remove the screw after that. I had to disassemble the whole thing again, only to find that I couldn't remove the screw from within as it was encased. After much scraping and prodding with a sewing needle, I was able to get that screw out. Phew!

    isotope434 -

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    • Rotate the computer 90 degrees and remove the two Phillips screws from the rear of the computer.

    Screw on the right is shorter

    mikefal -

    What are these two screws called?

    ian -

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    • Rotate the computer 90 degrees again and remove the four Phillips screws from the side of the computer.

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    • Do not yank the upper case off quickly. The case is attached to the logic board via a ribbon cable.

    • Lift up the back of the case and work your fingers along the sides, freeing the case as you go. Once you have freed the sides, you may need to rock the case up and down to free the front of the upper case.

    WOW this step is very hard!!! its a serious suction cup..

    nya -

    Once the upper case is free...Carefully tilt the upper case from the front towards the screen as their is a ribbon cable directly beneath the keyboard and trackpad that will need to be removed in the next step.

    Troy -

    Be very careful not to bend the screw tabs on the top case the perimeter screws attach to. Bending them causes them to quickly fatigue and potentially break off. When reassembling the top case, be sure the tabs are all *inside* the case before reseating it. If you get resistance, pull the case back up, check the tabs and reseat the top case again.

    Sheldon Carpenter -

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    • Disconnect the trackpad and keyboard ribbon cable from the logic board.

    • Remove the upper case.

    Disconnecting this cable is optional, if instead you tip up the top case ~75 degrees, propping it up with something non-metalic (wedged in or by the battery compartment). Unplugging a connector from the main circuit board always carries slight additional risk.

    amiller770 -

    It's not really necessary to disconnect the trackboard/keyboard ribbon cable. You can simply lean the upper case against the LCD.

    Russ Greene -

    how reconnect this cable?

    anatole -

    I did this with and without step 10 (removing the upper case with detached cable). Removing the cable is risk, putting it back on was not so easy. But then, leaning the keyboard part against the LCD while replacing the hard drive is also risky.

    tobybaier -

    After having successfully removed/reattached the ribbon cable several times while trying to revive this computer for back-up use the securing/release tabs on the connector broke. The connector then will not hold the cable properly and connecting fails. Tried various methods of propping the cable in the connector to get full contact but eventually all efforts failed, too. Result: essentially a dead motherboard as no replacement for the connector seems available. Sadly, not worth the extra effort to try further repairs.

    Steve colton -

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    • Disconnect the orange SuperDrive ribbon cable from the logic board, removing tape as necessary.

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    • Remove the following three screws:

    • Two black 4 mm T6 Torx screws on either side of the SuperDrive.

    • One 8.7 mm silver (black in some models) T6 Torx screw at the back of the drive near the speaker.

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    • Use one hand to pull back the speaker cable and use your other hand to lift the optical drive up and out of the computer.

    • If you have a CD or any other object jammed in your optical drive, we have an optical drive repair guide.

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    • Disconnect the PRAM battery cable from the bottom right corner of the logic board.

    I used a pick attempting to slide the PRAM battery harness’ plug out of the logic board’s socket laterally. I apparently didn’t get the plug’s direction of travel correct, as I ripped the socket off the logic board. I suspect I unknowingly didn’t release a catch before applying force (and it takes very little to pop the socket off).

    Could anybody expand on what is the exact motion required to get the PRAM battery plug out of the socket?

    •FWIW:

    The computer worked fine for a while if left on AC; apparently that keeps the PRAM voltage up. A vacation-long period off the cord seems to have bricked it.

    •What I Wish I Had Done:

    Figure out polarity on both the existing and the replacement PRAM batteries (measure or observe polarity markings; I am suspicious of color coding). Cut and splice the leads. (I’d give up whatever single-side interference rejection comes from the twisted leads for parallel leads and room to solder.

    •Plan:

    Open, copy disk, and solder new battery leads direct to board where socket connects.

    John F -

    ifixit.com’s linked vendor for a PRAM battery is as of March 2024 sold out.

    Most online vendors list their batteries as used. I’m not sure somebody else’s nearly-dead or dead battery is much help.

    A general look around the web at batteries for sale suggests that the OEM item came with the battery cell insulated in either almost-teal bright blue or dark-blue/almost-black shrink material. The brand name “Varta” (an old-line European battery manufacturer) is on many of them. Marking on the insulation says the battery inside is a CR2025, a 3 V lithium button cell. Lumps under the insulation suggest the leads are soldered to the faces of the battery.

    Googling “CR2025 battery” gets you lots of similar products - apparently this form factor is common in the Wintel world - but you can’t tell whether the connector is the same as Apple.

    https://batteryclerk.com/products/apple-... (as of Mar ‘24) list an A1296 as an application, but looks like the correct item.

    John F -

    https://rometechcases.com/products/rtc-c... claims to be for an A1261, and looks right.

    Having ruined the socket on my logic board, https://www.jameco.com/z/CR2025-LEADS-Ja... is appealing for my solder-on application because of its unterminated leads. (I question the wisdom of applying soldering heat to a lithium battery, even a small one. I’d just as rather let somebody else gain the required experimental experience. Wear face protection and be ready for hard-to-extinguish splatter.)

    If I had to build my own with a button cell, fine-gauge leads, and insulation, I’d consider upsizing to a larger 3 V lithium button cell, hoping for longer life. Jameco offers a CR2032 (half again the capacity of a CR2025)-based similar product.

    User “MarthMarth” at https://discussions.apple.com/thread/395... sorta confirms that a new PRAM battery unbricked his no-boot A1261.

    John F -

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    • Use a spudger to pry up the PRAM battery from its housing on the left speaker assembly.

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

iRobot

Member since: 25/09/09

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