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General discussion

I took my Macbook pro apart and it doesn't fit back right!

Feb 8, 2008 2:39PM PST

OK, so I took a huge risk, and took apart my $2000 Macbook pro to upgrade the wireless card to the Wireless-N from the built in Wireless-G that came with it (yes, you can do that for only $50 bucks if your brave). Well, admittedly, the warranty is expired and I didn't buy Applecare, so I don't really have anything to loose.

I tried to be as careful as possible, but after putting all the screws back on, my computer doesn't look right any more, and it also doesn't latch shut too well either. There is a small gap on both the left and right side of the latch release button!

This seems to be a common problem with these computers after you take them apart. If anyone has any suggestions on how to properly re-assemble it to fix that problem with the gap, I'd appreciate a response.

For what it's worth, I've heard people have this gap problem even when their computer has never been taken apare, so maybe there is no easy fix to this!

Discussion is locked

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without being able to see the Macbook
Feb 8, 2008 10:33PM PST

it would be extremely difficult to tell you what was wrong.

I would suggest that you take it apart again, did you have instructions for this or did you just "wing it", and put it back together again.
This time, ensure that everything fits correctly before moving on to the next part.

Some of Apple's laptops use very small clips, molded into the plastic, to hold two parts together. It is very easy to misalign them, still get the screws in, and tight, but end up with a case that is misshapen and with a lid that does not close.
You didn't mention if the Macbook actually worked when you got it back together.

Good Luck

P

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Take-Apart Manuals
Feb 15, 2008 10:56PM PST
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Thanks for all the tips
Feb 18, 2008 11:55PM PST

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your replies to my question. I was traveling abroad for the past couple weeks, so I didn't have a chance to take my laptop apart, but now I am home and will do so. This time I intend to work in a very secure environment with a mat to place all the screws in.

One of the screws on the left front corner is starting to come out, so I suspect that screw may be the WRONG screw for that corner. Now the frustrating part will be to find where that screw is supposed to go. When I put it back together, I lined all the screws on the table alongside each other and then looked at them at eye level and tried to see which screws were bigger and eliminate all possibilities, but I didn't have much luck. I also tried to measure them with a ruler, but found it difficult to measure the screws.

I suspect either I have a wrong screw, OR a tab is not lined up properly. It's soo frustrating, but hopefully with some patience I'll get it back together properly and it will latch normally again. I'll respond again once I figure out what's going on.

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Macbook and Gap
Feb 18, 2008 1:30PM PST

Taking it apart this time, make sure your environment is pure white your working on and nothing can roll off unnoticed.

Get it setup like a photo studio, and get the camera rolling weather it's a Video, or DSLR.
Keep it close up to make out the smallest details. You don't need to see what's in the next room.

Don't use flash if possible, unless you can control output.
You want cross lighting to see details. Use the smallest aperture possible to keep all distance
of subject clearly focussed so when you blow up the image on screen, it's clear.

For sure use the links provided by other members.

Hope it works out...
Just be extremely patient.