MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Fan Replacement

Escrito Por: Phillip Takahashi (e 4 outros contribuidores)

Comentários: 34
Favoritos: 31
Execuções: 72

MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Late 2011 Fan Replacement

Dificuldade

Moderado

Passos

Tempo necessário

10 - 20 minutos

Introdução

Use this guide to replace a noisy or burned-out fan.

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MacBook Pro Unibody 13" (Mid 2009 to Mid 2012) and MacBook Unibody 13" (A1278 and A1342) Fan

$39.99

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Passo 1 Lower Case

Remove the following ten screws:
Three 14.4 mm Phillips #00 screws
Three 3.5 mm Phillips #00 screws
Four 3.5 mm shouldered Phillips #00 screws
When replacing the small screws, align them perpendicular to the slight curvature of the case (they don't go straight down).

Editar

How much weight can I save by removing the optical drive?

gunes314 - 29/12/2013 Responder

You can save a lot of weight if lets say your installing a solid state drive or putting in a second hard drive but if you know that you use the CD/DVD disc drive a lot then you might just want to leave the drive alone.

Marshall WahlstromHelgren - 14/09/2015

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.

Robert Wacker - 02/04/2014 Responder

Great tutorial. I found that using a Phillips #0 in lieu of the #00 worked much better.

kschmesk - 07/04/2014 Responder

Hello, where can I buy the screws I need in case I lose one of them?

taylornya - 20/11/2015 Responder

iFixit sells a kit: MacBook Pro Unibody Lower Case Screw Set

Darrell Johnson - 24/12/2015

I have one stripped screw... How opening without drill it?! Any suggestions please?

rodrigosady - 26/11/2016 Responder

I also stripped a couple screws. I wasn’t able to open it up without drilling. After drilling the heads and removing the cover it was easy to hacksaw the tip and unscrew with a standard driver.

Michael Wilkens - 03/10/2017

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.

jeremyyoung - 12/11/2018 Responder

Passo 2

Use your fingers to pry the lower case away from the body of the MacBook near the vent.

Use your fingers to pry the lower case away from the body of the MacBook near the vent.
Remove the lower case.

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Passo 3 Battery Connection

Use the edge of a spudger to pry the battery connector upwards from its socket on the logic board.

It is useful to pry upward on both short sides of the connector to "walk" it out of its socket. Be careful with the corners of the connectors, they can be easily broken off.

Use the edge of a spudger to pry the battery connector upwards from its socket on the logic board.
It is useful to pry upward on both short sides of the connector to "walk" it out of its socket. Be careful with the corners of the connectors, they can be easily broken off.

Editar

Is this step of removing the battery connector required?

manodh - 28/05/2011 Responder

yes - as with disassembly of any electronic component you have to remove any power source. You don't want to accidentally turn the Mac on

khull - 30/07/2011

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.

aekinaka - 23/06/2015 Responder

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

Phil Wagner - 22/01/2020 Responder

Passo 4

Bend the battery cable slightly away from its socket on the logic board so it does not accidentally connect itself while you work.

Bend the battery cable slightly away from its socket on the logic board so it does not accidentally connect itself while you work.

Editar

I put some tape between the connector and socket while working on the drive.

Stephen Smith - 04/01/2017 Responder

That's a good tip

Anrothan - 17/01/2017

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!)

lelandjordon - 03/08/2017 Responder

Passo 5 Fan

Use the edge of a spudger to gently pry the fan connector up and out of its socket on the logic board.

It is useful to twist the spudger axially from beneath the fan cable wires to release the connector.

The fan socket and the fan connector can be seen in the second and third pictures. Be careful not to break the plastic fan socket off the logic board as you use your spudger to lift the fan connector straight up and out of its socket. The layout of the logic board shown in the second picture may look slightly different than your machine but the fan socket is the same.

Use the edge of a spudger to gently pry the fan connector up and out of its socket on the logic board.
It is useful to twist the spudger axially from beneath the fan cable wires to release the connector.
The fan socket and the fan connector can be seen in the second and third pictures. Be careful not to break the plastic fan socket off the logic board as you use your spudger to lift the fan connector straight up and out of its socket. The layout of the logic board shown in the second picture may look slightly different than your machine but the fan socket is the same.

Editar

Can the socket be soldered back if broken? Or am I screwed? Can I use the laptop without the fan?

ricardosaez395 - 19/01/2017 Responder

I have the same question, looks like instead of "unplugging" these micro connections, I accidentally pried it off the Board instead. Harumph. Can these be fixed?

Steve White - 11/03/2017 Responder

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.

Scott Stanley - 08/10/2017 Responder

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…

Thomas Carr - 04/11/2017 Responder

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.

Carolyn Ryan - 09/12/2017 Responder

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...

airshack - 01/01/2018 Responder

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!

jcundy2 - 15/03/2018 Responder

Rut roh… after trying this computer is running like stuck in mud. the sprocket thing broke and have 2 of the gold looking plugs, now what should I do? any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance. fan speed 0 rpm lynz4tex

Lynn Foyt - 01/05/2019 Responder

I broke it off as well. Fortunately I am replacing the board so the new board will have an intact socket. I just popped the fan plug out of the broken socket and tossed the broken off socket. The fan plug is undamaged and ready to be plugged into the new board socket.

Speaker - 22/06/2019 Responder

I simply skipped this step and left fan wire connected to logic board. Just unscrew screws from Step 6, put fan on the logic board and remove whole stuff togheter.

paczor - 04/09/2019 Responder

Passo 6

Remove the following three screws securing the fan to the logic board:

Remove the following three screws securing the fan to the logic board:
One 7.2 mm T6 Torx screw
Two 5.3 mm T6 Torx screws

Editar

These are T5 screws

dbell316 - 21/10/2013 Responder

I think so too, (maybe on a certain batch?) tried a T6 and its too big

billytalentlovexo - 21/01/2015

No they are T6

tweakland - 30/04/2014 Responder

Nope just tried a T6 and its too big, don't have a T5 but it's gotta be one

billytalentlovexo - 21/01/2015

It would be helpful to have recommendations about how to clean the dust from inside. What places to direct the compressed air,

garyrclark - 21/12/2015 Responder

Forget the dust inside: replace the fan for about $15! Here’s what I ordered and it worked perfectly:

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

airshack - 01/01/2018 Responder

Wah. My screws got rounded out and the old fan is stuck in now. Anybody have a solution to get them out without frying the logic board? It definitely seems as if locktite has been used here. Has anybody else found evidence to support that?

Jimbo - 26/01/2018 Responder