MacBook Unibody Model A1278 Kühlkörper austauschen

Geschrieben von: Walter Galan

Kommentare: 55

MacBook Unibody Model A1278 Kühlkörper austauschen

Schwierigkeitsgrad

Schwierig

Schritte

Zeitaufwand

2 Stunden

Einleitung

Der Kühlkörper sorgt dafür, dass der Prozessor und die Grafikkarte kühl bleibt.

Werkzeuge

Ersatzteile

MacBook Unibody (Model No. A1278) Heat Sink

Schritt 1

Lege die Oberseite des Gehäuses mit geschlossener Klappe auf eine glatte Oberfläche.
Drücke den Verschlusshebel auf der geriffelten Seite der Klappe in das Gehäuse des MacBooks, bis du den Verschlusshebel auf der anderen Seite greifen kannst.
Öffne den Verschlusshebel so weit, dass er senkrecht steht.

This is not a a1278 unibody MacBook Pro. A1278 MacBooks backs are one solid metal piece not two separate pieces. This guide is for a different MacBook Pro.

Brad Burgeson - 25/10/18

This guide isn’t for a pro; it’s a MacBook unibody.

Nicholas - 19/09/19

So, it turns out that Apple used the model code A1278 for quite a few different Mac models, including both Pro and non-Pro versions! This guide is for the non-Pro Macbooks. There’s also one for the Pro models with the same A1278 identifier.

tempelmann - 11/11/20

Schritt 2

Die Bodenklappe sollte nun ein kleines Stück offen stehen.
Die Klappe kann nun nach oben aus dem Gehäuse des MacBooks genommen werden.

Schritt 3

Versichere dich, dass sich die Entriegelung der Klappe in senkrechter Position befindet, bevor du weitermachst.
Ziehe an der weißen Plastiklasche und damit den Akku gerade nach oben und aus dem Laptop.

Great tutorial ! great step !

Leo Etcheverry - 12/07/15

Even though it’s specifically stated, you have to make sure the access door latch is vertical or the battery won’t be removable.

Henry Kim - 11/01/19

Schritt 4

Entferne die im Bild gezeigten acht Schrauben, die die Bodenplatte mit dem Rest des Gehäuses verbinden:
Eine 3 mm Kreuzschlitzschraube.
Drei 13,5 mm Kreuzschlitzschrauben.
Vier 3,5 mm Kreuzschlitzschrauben.

On my model, it seemed the top-left was 3.5mm and the bottom 4 were 3 mm.

Jim -

Make sure you have a good quality Phillips screwdriver. Mine had removable tips and had a small play at the connection. As a result I didn't have a good feel and damaged my screws (those securing the fan and the top left in step 23). Game over for me installing new thermal paste...

Be very carefull with your screws! Especially those on the inside.

Nickolas Michelinakis - 08/05/16

You can get away with a Phillips #00 for many of the screws involved but the 4 at the bottom case split are likely to strip if you don’t use a JIS #00 or, in a pinch, a Phillips #000.

Bill Cole - 25/09/17

I used the Phillips #00 tip from my Pro Tech Toolkit, and it worked well enough. But yes, maybe #000 might have been better on the lower row of screws. Note to myself: Always read the comments first.

Les Kitchen -

When replacing these screws, the order to replace them in is as follows:

1, Top left

2. Top right

3. Top center-left

4. Top center-right

5. Bottom center-right

6. Bottom center-left

7. Bottom right

8. Bottom left

I hope this information is helpful.

facebook - 20/08/19

I followed my usual process of putting in all the screws loosely, then tightening them gradually in distributed pattern, to help ensure that the panel settles in place evenly. But maybe some orders are better.

Les Kitchen -

Schritt 5

Hebe die Bodenplatte mit beiden Händen an und entferne sie vom oberen Gehäuse.

Thanks for the guide!

It's implicit in the two photos, but worth mentioning because it blocked my progress in this step for a bit: You have to put the release latch back into its horizontal, closed position before you can lift off the lower-case panel.

Les Kitchen -

Schritt 6

Entferne die vier 10,3 mm Kreuzschlitzschrauben, die die Trennwand im Gerät befestigen.

Schritt 7

Hebe die Trennwand aus dem Gehäuse.

Schritt 8

Benutze einen Spudger, um den Anschluss des Lüfterkabels vom Logic Board zu trennen.
Es ist hilfreich, den Spatel axial unterhalb des Kabels zu drehen, um den Anschluss zu lösen.
Die Buchse und der Anschluss des Lüfters werden im zweiten und dritten Bild gezeigt. Sei vorsichtig, dass du die Buchse des Lüfters, die aus Plastik ist, nicht abbrichst, wenn du einen Spudger einsetzt, um den Anschluss aus der Buchse zu ziehen.
Das Layout des Mainboards im zweiten Bild sieht möglicherweise etwas anders aus als bei deinem Gerät, die Buchse des Lüfters ist aber die gleiche.

Is there anyway to solder the fan socket back on to the mother board? It broke off :(

Emily - 20/01/15

Solder back to the mother board!

Clodoaldo Castro - 26/08/16

Me too!!! WHAT NOW?

christopher butera - 01/07/15

solder back to the mother board

Clodoaldo Castro - 26/08/16

It helped me a lot to look at the closeup pictures of the fan connector socket on the motherboard and the fan connector itself. Then I could figure out where to apply the axial rotating pressure with the plastic "spudger" (a trimmed old credit card). Needed more force to remove the 7-year old connection than I felt comfortable with. The pic's helped with the leverage point to use - just past and under the fan wires BUT not on the board itself.

Excellent guide! Moved fan from MB to MBP and installed new fan in old MB.

Nusayr Azam - 13/06/16

Schritt 9

Entferne die folgenden drei Schrauben, die den Lüfter mit dem oberen Gehäuse verbinden:
Zwei 5 mm Kreuzschlitzschrauben.
Eine 7 mm Kreuzschlitzschraube.
Die längere der Schrauben gehört in die obere linke Ecke des Lüfters.

Screws were locktited and I have stripped head of right one while trying to remove it…

Oleg Krotov - 08/04/18

same issue as Oleg. have tried multiple screwdrivers and they won’t budge.

Ujjawal Manocha -

Schritt 10

Nimm den Lüfter aus dem Gehäuse.

One of the screw was messed up. How can I remove it ?

sebmeunier - 20/06/14

I ended up removing the three screws holding down the black gasket that the fan is attached to on the left hand side in the photo. Remove the two screws holding the speaker assembly. then you can remove the 3 screws running vertically down. One is on top of the dvd drive holding it down to the black chassis. dvd drive comes out as well, i followed the specific guide to get that out. Doing this let me flip the mobo out along with the fan, luckily the heatfin is separate from the fan.

Ujjawal Manocha -

Two of my screws did not want to come out when I used Philips #00 and it damaged the screw so now I don't know if I will manage to get it out. What can I do?

emilyjeanette89 - 29/09/15

Don't know about ruined screw head removal, but for future reference: Place the tool lightly on screw head & rotate axially 'til the tool drops into the screw head for a comfortable, firm fit, before applying pressure & torque for screw removal. If the tool does not drop in the screw head for the comfortable, snug fit, you may have the wrong tool or the wrong size. Try a different size 'til U get the right fit before applying pressure & torque to remove the screw. It can save you grief from a ruined screw head.

Loy Lum - 29/09/16

Schritt 11

In den nächsten Schritten wirst du die markierten Kabel, die das obere Gehäuse mit dem Logic Board verbinden, von diesem trennen.
Jeder der Anschlüsse ist anders, deshalb wird hier Schritt für Schritt gezeigt, wie man jeden einzelnen Anschluss trennt.

Schritt 12

Entferne die eine Kreuzschlitzschraube, die die Abdeckung des Akkukabels mit dem oberen Gehäuse verbindet.
Entferne die Abdeckung des Akkukabels vom oberen Gehäuse.

Schritt 13

Verwende einen Spatel, um das Kabel für die Akku-Anzeige gerade nach oben vom Logic Board zu hebeln.

Schritt 14

Trenne den Akku-Kabelanschluss, indem du ihn gerade vom Logic Board wegziehst.
Wenn du das Kabel nicht mit den Fingern greifen kannst, kann ein Spatel oder eine Pinzette ein hilfreiches Werkzeug sein.

had to lever the plug out horizontally one edge at a time to disconnect it. The connector is what connects the battery to the mother board

justbecos -

Schritt 15

Benutze die Spitze Seite eines Spatels, um die Lasche, die das Tastatur Flachbandkabel befestigt, nach oben zu klappen.
Ziehe das Flachbandkabel gerade aus dem Anschluss heraus.
Wenn der kleine Anschluss rechts neben dem Tastatur Flachbandkabel besetzt ist, entferne dieses Kabel auf die gleiche Weise.

Which of the keyboard connection pins do i have to circuit to power on the macbook?

madfur -

When replacing the keyboard ribbon, place a rubber band between the ribbon and your spudger to get the traction for a good connection.

bkbkbk -

Trying to get this back in can be really difficult. But it works, just try and try again very patiently. After putting down the retaining flap again, pull a little bit to make sure the ribbon cable is all the way in and fixed.

Udo Schmitz -

to remove and put back the ribbon cable in its slot I use a piece of scotch tape. Easier to remove or insert the cable in the slot.

lemerise -

Awesome - thanx!!!

19quiz76 - 24/09/14

Genious :-)!

Igor - 24/02/15

My late 2008 Macbook 5,1 2.4GHz also had the tiny ribbon plug besides the keyboard ribbon plug polpulated as well (keyboard backlight?) - I missed it blindly following the guide but it made its presence clear when I lifted up the PCB - lucky I was not moving hastily severing the tiny ribbon!

So I added a comment at step 15 as in the guide this tiny plug is clearly not populated in contrast to my Macbook.

Kudos to the author - this guide clearly helped me a lot saving me a lot of time and head scratching.

By the way, minimal thermal paste was found on both CPU and GPU (the original reason I dissasembled my old Macbook) and after I put enough of this thermal transfering stuff on them the Macbook started working much-much cooler after years of hot operation that I thought were due to heavier OSX versions - should have done it 4-5 years ago!

MiKa - 14/02/16

What temp was your Macbook's CPU running at? I have cleaned out exhaust radiator thing, would it be worth redoing my thermal paste as well?

Jake - 07/04/16

@beefmangta With a machine of that age assuming the thermal paste has never been replaced, it is absolutely worth replacing. Certain aftermarket pastes such as Arctic MX-4 (which is available on Amazon) also tend to perform better than stock pastes in many cases.

Bagel -

I accidently cut the tiny cable labeled 21 on the right hand side of the cable highlighted in the photo. It’s for the keyboard backlight. It’s gone obviously but the comp still works without it connected

Ujjawal Manocha -

Schritt 16

Benutze die Flache Seite eines Spudgers, um den Trackpad-Anschluss nach oben vom Logic Board abzuhebeln.

Schritt 17

Hebe den Verschluss des IR-Sensor Flachbandkabels mit der Spitze eines Spudgers nach oben aus seiner Buchse heraus.
Ziehe das IR-Sensor Flachbandkabel mit der Spitze eines Spudgers aus dem Logic Board.

Schritt 18

Benutze das flache ende eines Spudgers, um den Anschluss für das Festplattenkabel nach oben vom Logic Board abzuhebeln.

Schritt 19

Benutze das flache Ende eines Spudgers, um das Kabel für das optische Laufwerk nach oben vom Logic Board abzuhebeln.

Schritt 20

Trenne das Display-Datenkabel, indem du den Stecker gerade aus seiner Buchse ziehst.

Schritt 21

Verwende das flache Ende eines Spudgers, um das Subwoofer Kabel vom Logic Board nach oben zu hebeln.

This will easily break, resulting in snapped pins. Will cause right speaker to not function if you don't solder them back on. I don't know how to prevent this from happening, I did just as described in step #21. I even went in from the side as shown in the photo, but probably should have gone in from opposite (RH side in photo) as that's where the pins are.

19quiz76 - 24/09/14

Broke mine too. With the black foam pad cover and the photo it was impossible to see how this lifted up without ripping out the socket.

Nikolaos Giannopoulos - 12/04/20

My advice for this step is to remove the black foam pad covering the connector so you can see it better (put the pad back on the connector later). The way I removed the connector was by lifting upwards with the wires.

Bagel -

Schritt 22

Greife die Plastiklasche, die an dem Verschluss für das Display Datenkabel befestigt ist, und drehe diese in Richtung des MagSafe Anschlusses.
Ziehe das Display Datenkabel gerade aus seinem Anschluss heraus.

Schritt 23

Entferne die folgenden beiden Schrauben, die die Halterung des Display-Datenkabels mit dem oberen Gehäuse verbinden:
Eine 7mm Kreuzschlitzschraube
Eine 5mm Kreuzschlitzschraube
Entferne die beiden 7mm Kreuzschlitzschrauben vom DC-in board.
Hebe die Halterung des Display-Datenkabels aus dem oberen Gehäuse heraus.

This step appears to be redundant, but is actually necessary to enable removal of the microphone (later, in step 26).

This step should be clarified, because it otherwise seems un-necessary. Moving step 26 to be after this step would fix the continuity problem.

Russell Newman - 15/10/14

Schritt 24

Wenn vorhanden, entferne die beiden 4mm Kreuzschlitzschrauben, die die Bodendeckelklammer mit dem oberen Gehäuse verbinden.
Nimm die Klammer aus dem Gehäuse heraus.

I don't have this piece on my MacBook built in early 2009.

apa -

Schritt 25

Entferne die beiden 5mm Kreuzschlitzschrauben, die die Tastaturhalterung mit dem oberen Gehäuse verbinden.
Nimm die Halterung aus dem Gehäuse heraus.

When re-assembling everything, it is much easier to perform steps 15 & 16 before performing step 25!

Neil 9797 -

Definitly!! Step 15 is basicially impossible with Step 25 and Step 7 (if you have to reseat the keyboard ribbon cable like I did [Step 15]) in place. Mine presented as dead, thankfully the battery indicator and magsafe worked. But when I reseated the keyboard cable (Step 15) I wasn't convinced so when the power butten did nothing I took a deep breath and went back in. And success was had on the second attempt (psew!).

Nick Campbell - 14/12/14

Schritt 26

Trenne das Mikrofon vom oberen Gehäuse mit der Spitze eines Spudgers.

Schritt 27

Entferne die folgenden fünf Schrauben, die das Logic Board mit dem oberen Gehäuse verbinden:
Vier 3mm Kreuzschlitzschrauben
Eine 3,5mm Kreuzschlitzschraube
Greife das Logic Board an der linken Seite und ziehe es aus dem Gehäuse heraus.

On my MacBook, the screw nearest the optical drive is 5mm long.

When replacing the logic board, route the DC-In cable around the front side of the aluminum post.

David Kilbridge -

When re-assembling everything, before performing step 27, it is very useful to perform part of step 23 *first*. Specifically:

- carefully replace the small DC-in boardand secure with the two 7 mm Phillips screws (step 23 yellow)

The small DC-in board is *much* easier to set in place and screw in if you do it before screwing the logic board back in place.

Neil 9797 -

Thanks for the headups! Binya Binya Pollywog! BaBahLouuu BabaLou!!

14vs35 - 31/01/16

Correction about length of screws. The picture implies that the 3.5mm screw (orange) is the one on the right, nearest the USB ports etc. In fact it is the one on the left, nearest the fan.

Neil 9797 -

Can anyone help me on this step, I damaged the head of the screw it is the screw near to the fan and the screw near to memory the rest of the screw I managed to get it off I'm so screwed :( any help is much appreciated. Thanks

John - 13/04/15

Pay particular attention to the routing of the wires from the DC input board to the logic board relative to the wiring for the microphone and the post that supports the right-hand side of the display data cable bracket; route them improperly and you won't be able to get the data cable bracket back into place. Unfortunately the photos don't capture this detail. I also found it easier to position the microphone before fully inserting the logic board, otherwise the leads wanted to torque it about 80 degrees to the plane of the case and no amount of prodding with a spudger could coax it into position.

chris - 10/07/15

Schritt 28

Entferne die vier 8,5 mm Kreuzschlitz Schrauben, die den Kühlkörper am Logic Board befestigen.
Unter jeder der Schrauben befindet sich eine Feder.

Schritt 29

Verwende das flache Ende eines Spudgers, um den Stecker des Temperatursensors vom Logic Board zu trennen.

Hello!

Like to know what is the use of the second small connection, as the one your deconnecting in this picture, near the heat sink also.

Sorry for my english, I’m french :)

Thank you!

Guylaine Lanthier - 26/04/19

Instead of the connector coming out, both of the wires pulled themselves out of the connector, breaking it. I will just put them back in and hope it works out. Be careful!

Foster Savitsky -

Schritt 30

Nimm den Kühlkörper vorsichtig vom Logic Board ab.
Wenn du den Kühlkörper wieder auf dem Logic Board befestigst, haben wir eine Anleitung, wie man neue Wärmeleitpaste korrekt aufträgt.

Abschluss

Arbeite die Schritte in umgekehrter Reihenfolge ab, um dein Gerät wieder zusammenzubauen.

Tinte & Feder

Walter Galan

685540 Reputation

6 Kommentare

Great guide! Helped me deep-clean the MacBook and reapply thermal paste to the CPU/GPU. I found it better to do step 15, the keyboard ribbon cable before screwing the keyboard flex bracket back on. The cable is fragile, and it's hard to get back in, so I recommend a fair amount of caution. The same goes for the IR sensor ribbon cable - put it on before you place the logic board down, by turning the logic board to best insert the cable. Also, remember to use the exact correct screwdrivers! If not, you risk stripping the screw heads, which will cause you an extreme amount of frustration later down the line. I completely stripped one of the screws holding down the fan previously, and it took me an hour just to get it off. Other than this, the guide is perfect for all your needs.

Henning Klepp Christensen - 04/03/16

Great guide. Laptop was struggling encoding a movie for my iPad. Temps sitting close to 100°c and fan maxed out. After replacing thermal compound and giving the insides a good dust it’s now encoding again but 20-30°c lower and fan isn’t going crazy yet.

lachlan.smith - 17/02/18

Watch out when doing this I did this last night and my mac book stopped charging. When I get home later I will diagnose the issue but if I am correct I just need to re seat the cable.

Joseph Federico - 02/03/18

The guide is missing a vital step: before lifting the logic board, you need to disconnect the cable on the top right underneath.

Stefan Camporese (CENTER) - 07/06/18

you mean step 26?

Jean Pierre Bacilio - 26/09/18

Excellent guide. Thanks OP!

Jean Pierre Bacilio - 26/09/18