MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Hard Drive Cable Replacement

Written By: Andrew Optimus Goldheart
  • Comments: 104
MacBook Pro 13" Unibody Mid 2012 Hard Drive Cable Replacement

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

14

Time Required

10 - 25 minutes

Introduction

Use this guide to replace a broken hard drive cable. The hard drive cable also contains the sleep LED and the IR sensor.

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    • 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).

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

    gunes314 -

    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 -

    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 -

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

    taylornya -

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

    Darrell Johnson -

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

    rodrigosady -

    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 -

    We have a guide for that!

    How to Remove a Stripped Screw

    Sam Omiotek -

    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 -

    A good Phillips 00 is your friend here. Also, when reinserting the screws, gently start anticlockwise and you wil feel a click at the start of the thread. This tells you you’re in the right place and less likely to cross-thread through force in the wrong place.

    Iain Boyd -

    I feel like these are 000 screws. Amazon sales describe them as such and my 000 screwdriver fits better

    cam2000deluxe -

    Before ordering a new Trackpad remove the existing battery and try clicking the Trackpad. If it clicks OK with the battery out the source of problem is likely a swollen battery, which should to be replaced even if it still works to some degree. From the side of the battery you will likely see the soft part of the battery bulging beyond the hard case.

    Patrick Langvardt -

    That’s absolutely correct as I can testify. With the battery removed I also adjusted the T6 set screw that adjusts the sensitivity of the trackpad click, evidently someone had cranked mine down tighter than the factory setting.

    Gary Register -

    Le quatrième paragraphe dans les instructions en français n’est pas correct : ce ne sont pas les 2 petites vis, mais les 7 petites vis qui sont inclinées. Et les 3 grandes sont bien verticales.

    Degeorges -

    Bonjour ! Merci de votre observation. J’ai corrigé la traduction. iFixit étant un wiki, n’hésitez pas à modifiez si vous remarquez une erreur :) Encore merci de votre attention et à bientôt !

    Claire Miesch -

    Tip: if you have a magnetic screw mat or similar, lay the macbook over the mat to make sure it catches any screws that may decide to fall of and hide under your table

    Moritz -

    Funny, it's not her hands that are doing the close ups. :)

    Cinemated Man -

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    • 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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    • 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.

    Is this step of removing the battery connector required?

    manodh -

    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 -

    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 -

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

    Phil Wagner -

    I used the nails of thumb and pointer finger simultaneously - worked pretty fine

    Reinhard Kaune -

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

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

    Stephen Smith -

    That's a good tip

    Anrothan -

    Great tip, I did that too

    Ahmed Mahran -

    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 -

    On my MacBook Pro, the connector seems to be an integral part of the battery.

    Jerry South -

    I suspect it’s just like the special screwdriver required for seatbelts on cars – to discourage regular consumers from attempting repairs. Of course, this only encourages consumers to use the wrong tool to attempt to repairs

    colleenthompson -

    Dissambling my MacBookPro Premium Mid 2012 (i5-3210M 2.5Ghz) was easily, Careful with the screws, use screwdriver fitting exactly with the screws, you damage them very fast. Work very exactly, relaxed with time, consentration, good Tools and with feelings in your hands. Disconnect the Akku was easy if you take care, remove it to be safe, Two screws more, more space to work & haven`t to think about damaging someting. Apple use diffrent screws, you should have many difffrent scewdrivers. It is also good to clean everything inside, With time everything gets very dusty & dirty, don`t forget the sides and little fittings at the case. Use a pinsel, alcohol, soft peace stuff, it will look like new. If you have knowledge & experience, you can paint it in any colour or airbrushing for individualizing. You can also just polish it with a soft Politure (Sonax car Polish No1, NOT with wax or take an other light Politure you familiar & can do the job, A Laptop should serviced once a year, keeping it good working over years

    Stefan Lindner -

    First thing i do is open & cleanig everything inside,specially the cooling & fan, renew the thermal paste with an high quality product. Install the Nain System, clean up Bloatware and other unnecessary things, install standard software for daily use, additional change system components against better one (Edge to Firefox, Windows Media Player to VLC , an Office Suite and configuring everything for Data Protection, Privacy- & Indentety Protection, install Drivers from the component Manufactur (incedible effect, disable limitations, more functions, work better & faster, increasing performance, additional change the WiFi & Bluetooth Card to a better one a UMTS WWAN to an LTE Card, increase RAM with two Dual-Channel working SODIMMs, Use M2 or 2,5" SSD if no M2 Slot aviable) as System- and Software iDrive, a FAT32 formatted 32GB Partition to be safe of metaviruses comes with harmless downloads, and a big 2,5 HDD to store the user data. What does you guys think about this? Old Computer become a new life,

    Stefan Lindner -

    I livein Austria, near Vienna, if someone needs help or anything else, i would be glad to help. I always searching old or broken devices to bring them to new live. I also searching for spare parts, specilly a Bottom & Side Case and a 256GB or higher NGFF Storage Card for a Sony Vaio Tab 11 SVT1144HE (2014), some 14,1" Displays for a HP Probook 440G5 (2016), Elitebook MT 43 Mobile Thin Client, (2011), Dell Vostro 3460 (2012) Lenovo Thinkpad T440s (2014), and a Logic Board for an Lenovo Ideapad 330-15ARR (2017, damaged by Water i think) and a Logic Bord for an Alienware 17R4 with i7-6870HX & Nvidia 1080 (2018, CPU dead, maybe there is a repair Guide or workaround to bring it back to Life). I need always 8GB or 16GB DDR3 and DDR4 RAM Storage (perfectly two ident one for Dual-Channel use for Laptops, M2 SATA 6GB/s and NVMe PCIe SSDs 500GB or more and 2,5"SSD or HDD with 1TB or more and 3,5" HDD with 4GB or above. If you have some of this or other useful parts and doesn`t need them, please make me an offer, maybe

    2

    Stefan Lindner -

    an change something you need. This is not a Business what i do, it`s more a Hobby with challenging new Excercices.. Thats the best Point. Plase forgive me as a Newbie this very long Post in the wrong Section, but if you are start writing you cannot stop.... But now i have to come to an end and would be happy if someone wants to get in contact. My E-Mail is: udontknowme@gmx.at (the adress name is just a notice against Big Data and for Privacy Protection!

    Stefan Lindner -

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    • Remove the two Phillips screws securing the hard drive bracket to the upper case.

    • These screws will remain attached to the hard drive bracket.

    These were Philips #0 screws in my computer.

    Church Tucker -

    FYI my used Mac didn’t have the bracket or screws. 3D printed the bracket someone did (it’s on Thingiverse), M2x10mm screws were short but worked.

    sbierly -

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    • Remove the hard drive bracket.

    • The hard drive bracket may be firmly seated against the upper case.

    Don't miss this step: I almost did and of course couldn't get the disk out until I looked at the video !

    francistasset -

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    • Use the attached pull tab to lift the hard drive out of the upper case.

    • Don't try to completely remove the hard drive just yet. It is still attached to the hard drive cable.

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    • Pull the hard drive cable away from the body of the hard drive.

    • Remove the hard drive.

    The hard drive cable is a recalled part on these machines. You may need to replace it before your drive will be read correctly. The Apple Store will replace your cable for free if it's problematic.

    Eric March -

    dont forget to save the torx T6 screws froom your old hard drive and install in your new one if you are replaceing the HDD at the same time

    Charlie -

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    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the hard drive cable connector up from its socket on the logic board.

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    • Remove the following four screws:

    • Two 3 mm Phillips screws

    • Two 9.7 mm Phillips screws

    I have a mid-2009 MBP. Removing the 3mm screws was nearly impossible. I read that Apple uses loctite glue to secure the screws. Someone recommended touching the hot tip of a glue gun (minus the glue, of course) to the screw head. Doing so heats the screw and loosens the loctite. It worked well for the first one, I rushed the second and striped it so badly that I had to use a drill to bust up the screw head. I didn’t have a bit small enough to breakup the entire the screw, but I was able to pulverize the head so that the mounting surface was flat, which enabled me to install the new cable. At the moment, my cable is held in on that side by just the one screw and the weight of the hard drive. I’d like to replace the missing 3mm screw but I’d have to drill out the rest of the broken screw to have hole to put it in. Not exactly looking forward to that….perhaps if I just use some electrical tape to secure it down? On the upside, the new cable is working and my mac is up and running again.

    Jo

    jojojo5683 -

    Replacement screws can be bought on Amazon - search 3mm laptop computer screw kit

    jojojo5683 -

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    • Carefully peel up the thin IR sensor/sleep LED ribbon cable from the adhesive securing it to the upper case.

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    • Pull the front hard drive bracket containing the IR sensor/sleep LED away from the front edge of the upper case.

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    • Remove the hard drive cable.

    • Your replacement part may come with several adhesive foam bumpers. These are to ensure a snug fit of both bracket and hard drive. Apply only as needed.

    The replacement cable comes without the sleep led attached. Thus you have to remove the flat cable of the sleep led from the socket of the old hd cable. Take your fingernail and lift the side of the socket opposite to the cable. It's really tiny! Afterwards insert the new cable and push gently on the part lifted up before.

    Skyynet -

    Hi. What is the purpose of the 5 black rubber pads that are shipped with the cable kit?

    coffeenow -

    Step 13 has the note: "Your replacement part may come with several adhesive foam bumpers. These are to ensure a snug fit of both bracket and hard drive. Apply only as needed." - This would be if the drive width had a gap and allowed it to move "sideways" in and out of the torx post holes. I didn't need them.

    prall -

    You can get the cable with or without the bracket and IR sensor assembly. Opt for with the bracket, makes it much easier.

    ** Note to iFixit, the install of the new cable would be much easier if the cable was pre folded where it bends up from the bottom where the two 3mm screw holes are. Thanks.

    Damian Holland -

    I followed the (as usual, excellent) instructions to the letter. Fortunately, my replacement cable came with the bracket and IR sensor assembly, so that was not a problem. But when I tried to boot the machine from the drive attached to the new cable, it just ended up with the flashing folder / question-mark icon again. I tried using a different drive - but the system still doesn't see it. The IR /sleep sensor works fine, FWIW. Is it possible that the new cable is defective - and/or: when the old cable shorted out thanks to worn away insulation, that something else got fried on the main logic board?

    Charles Ess -

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    • Your replacement part may or may not come with the front (sensor) bracket. If it does not, you'll need to transfer it to your new cable.

    • Use the tip of a spudger to flip the "lever" of the ZIF connector (left side in first photo) on the hard drive cable. The connector does not come off, see next instruction.

    • Gently pull the yellow sensor bracket cable out of the ZIF connector (to the right, in the second photo).

    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the hard drive cable up off the sensor bracket to which it is adhered.

    • Remove the adhesive backing from your new hard drive cable, stick it onto the sensor bracket, and connect the sensor bracket cable.

    • Many fixers cover the length of the thicker cable in the pair with sections of electrical tape on both sides because it can rub the tiny ridges inside the aluminum case causing a short to the case itself or simply breaking the connection.

    Very nice set of close up photos of the hard drive cable IR sensor ZIF connectory are here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/708...

    Mark Mikofski -

    I would recommend using tweezers that come with the ifixit tool kit to properly insert the sensor bracket cable back into the sensor bracket. I had trouble with my computer in which the solution was that this step was not executed properly in my repair of the hard drive cable installation. I encourage everyone to make sure the bracket is fully and properly put back in the bracket otherwise the hard drive will appear to malfunction.

    chasethomas642 -

    Thanks for this - yes, the final little detail about getting the yellow ribbon in is tricky indeed, I feared I’d bend it too many times and end up breaking it. Also, as there is no way to know if it’s placed far enough in, a bit of guess work. But, 3 mins to re-assemble, and hit power - booted up like immediately, perfect. Cheers - Pat

    Patrick Sgro -

    Great thumbs up for very hi-res photos for this section. This thing was THE hardest in this guide. If you haven’t got courage to do this, just buy the one with bracket. Even if you have - zoom into the picture. It will save the day.

    If you have hard time putting the cable back into the ZIF connector, try gently pushing the cable down against the bracket while pushing it into the connector. Simply pushing the cable into the connector doesn’t seem to work well.

    Collapsed PLUG -

    I just did this step and I’m concerned I might have bent the little yellow cable or not seated it far enough into the connector. More will be revealed.

    My suggestion might be to re-insert the cable before sticking the hard drive back onto the bracket. It might provide more flexibility and a better angle at getting the sleep LED cable back in the ZIF connector.

    This is just for the sleep LED? and the IR sensor? right so if we don’t care about the LED for sleeping hard drive and never use the IR sensor then it doesn’t matter, right?

    Adam Hechler -

    Good guide, great, thanks! It simply works like a charm.

    I’d extend Adam’s suggestion: insert the LED cable into the connector before glueing the connector plate onto the holder. This way you can use both hands, find the correct angle and fiddle the little thingy into place. If you do it behind a magnifying glass it’s even easier.

    Grix -

    Confirmed, it’s much easier to put LED cable into ZIFF connector before gluing the last one. Spudger helps to direct cable properly.

    Valentyn -

    Thanks for this useful guide that enabled me to do this job myself. I found the last step was the trickiest one, so much so that even though I was careful I managed to break the ZIF connector as I was trying to put it back in after also having some difficulty figuring out how to disconnect it. Part of the problem was that I stuck the new cable to the base of the holder before I tried to plug the ZIFF connector back in and did not manage at first attempt to get it close enough to the white housing to be easily within reach of the ZIFF connector that I think is why it broke when I tried to put it back in. It was not a nice surprise but fortunately when I completed the reassembly the hard disk started working again with no problems that was my reason for changing the cable, so losing an LED light and some sleep (pun intended) was worthwhile.

    hundredmeterskoven -

    I got the Prohibitory symbol for the 2nd time. This time re-installing the OS did not work and I tried everything. Researched around the net and it was suggested to replace the hard drive cable and it worked even though the cable looked good, but there is a small chip and board on the cable. Maybe something shorting out…the chip?…the board?…etc. Top notch company and service, instructions are clear and easy to follow. Thank you I Fix It!!!.

    Sterling Wong -

    When replacing the cable, it is helpful to pre-form the bends before taking the protective cover off from the adhesive portion of the slim cable (that leads to the LED sleep light). Turn over to view place to pre-bend. Be gentle - hands only.

    Gary Renick -

Conclusion

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

Author

Andrew Optimus Goldheart

Member since: 17/10/09

493803 Reputation

50 comments

Thank you Ifixit and Andrew "Optimus" Goldberg, the parts and tools arrived today i went to the shop to buy lunch when i had returned (15 mins later) my Husband had replaced the part (hdd cable) and my Macbook pro is super speedy again. Nice repair guide thank you i doubt i can say thank you enough.

carynturner -

After many hours of trying to get my SSD drive to work, I read elsewhere that other users had issues with the HD cable that came with the laptop. From when I opened the envelope until my SSD booted was less than 30 minutes. If you have the right tools this is an easy fix. Just keep in mind that there is adhesive on the cable that goes to the bracket -- don't forget to peel off the paper backing and line it up correctly.

mbj -

Hello, I have a mid 2009 Macbook pro 13. I have bought a hard disk cable that looks almost the same as the original one except for greater width and shorter length. I guess that this new cable fits the 2012 model, SO YOU MAY HAVE TO UPDATE THE GUIDE accordingly.

Electrically the wider cable also works on the mid 2009 model (at least for disk access) though it does not fit mechanically.

My friends be careful when you buy this part.

palbarede -

thanks, Ifixit! Like many, my laptop developed the flashing question mark with startup even though when I removed the drive and put in external enclosure it worked perfectly, and putting in a different HD with a good system install on it also failed. thankfully I found out about the ribbon cable issue with a web search. The part fit perfectly and was easy to install, took about 10 minutes and I was up and running again.

Larry Schwartz

1schwartzmd -

Thank you so much for this guide! My MacBook pro works! I had the folder of death on my screen so I just swapped out the ribbon and now it turns on. Easy fix and saved a lot of money. EASY TO DO!!!!

Landon -

Hi...how I can identify the cable should I buy? thank you

Andrey -

Lookup your Mac's serial number on a site like this http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-loo... and make a note of the model number (for example, A1278). Then search eBay, Amazon for "Macbook hard drive cable A1278"

foragingferret -

I purchased the HDD cable with the bracket, so my installation was a breeze. Remove the old cable and install the new one. Four screws and done. Here was my problem with the MacBook Pro 13 Mid-2012. Bought the i7 model off Craigslist from a student. Seller said the hard drive went bad and she replaced it with a smaller 250GB drive. I thought no big deal because I was going to install an SSD anyway. I bought a 500GB SSD and it would not boot. Rapidly flashing Apple, No sign, and Folder with question mark. The drive booted fine with an external USB case. 750GB drive would not even recognize in the MacBook. Went to Apple and they would not touch it since it had a third-party drive installed, but they suggested replacing the cable since everything else worked. Sure enough, the HDD cable was bad and the replacement cable works perfectly! The 500GB SSD is recognized and boots OS X. Easy fix. So if your hard drive appears bad, check it first, and then determine if the cable is bad.

Peter Hillman -

I just bought a replacement 1TB SSD/hybrid drive from Ifixit.com because the stock 500GB HDD "failed." The 2012 MBP would not read the new drive internally but booted just fine from the new drive on external USB. Replaced the cable, new replacement drive still wouldn't show up in Disk Utility on the internal bus but the original drive works just fine. I put the new drive into the external silicone enclosure and use it for Time Machine backups.

Bob -

It is important to note that the replacement cable ordered from Ifixit.com may be of subtly different size from the OEM cable removed from MBP 2012. However the new drive did fit into the drive bay and the lower external case fit without any screw adjustments. Have faith and it should work out just fine.

Bob -

Pretty easy! However, watch that sleep sensor/ribbon cable. Pretty easy to damage that during the fiddling process of removing it. Also, the adhesive on the replacement cable may still have on it seems to arrive melted via the shipping process. So make sure it hasn't gotten on anything else. Initial symptoms of the HDD cable failure were: slow indexing speeds, spotlight wasn't working, displaying directory listings were slow, complete OSX panics, OSX freezing, HDD folder appearing with question mark on boot. Disk Utility would randomly see the HDD but anything mounted externally it had no problem.

seanakrinsky -

I had the question mark of doom for a while on boot up until I finally came across ifixit. This guide has been extraordinarily helpful. It will save you a lot of money on repairs. Thanks iFixit for having all of the necessary resources to keep my macbook running! :D

brenmarsh -

Very helpful tutorial, guided me through the replacement process of the cable in my MacBook 13" Mid 2012.

icecore -

Fixed my mid-2012 Unibody MacbookPro 13" with this guide and with the cable bought from iFixit. Perfect shipping and quality.

Feels good not to be dependent of a (main) external hard drive anymore !

Dwf Pierre -

My laptop crashed and could not find its own hard drive. Through process of elimination I figured it was the hard drive cable. Bought the part, replaced it, and the computer booted up by itself and everything was how I left it! Thanks!

Kengo Nagaoka -

Fantastic guide. After some research to find the problem, I was able to remove the hard drive with this guide, test it externally and find that it is working fine. I was able to order the part from iFixit Europe and Bob's yer Uncle, fixarooney. Thanks iFixit, you're the best!

twitchy53 -

My 2012 pro was not booting with Sandisk ultra. Replacing the cable worked for me. Thanks for the guide.

Nikhil Sukumaran -

Step 14: Note how far in the yellow tab of the sensor bracket cable goes into the ZIF connector before pulling it out. Reinserting was a little difficult, but looking at the photo at full size helped. When all the way in, there will be a line of gold running just in front of the connector. Overall, great instructions and photos. Thank you so much.

Sue Livingston -

Thanks you for this excellent guide! This was the first time I did anything more involved than changing RAM so the guide was really helpful. As for many others, the problem was that I got the dreaded "question mark in a folder" image upon start up, indicating that the OS could not be found. I managed to make one recovery start-up to repair the hard drive but the problem persisted, I then found comments about the hard drive cable often being the cause of this problem and this article allowed me to buy a new one and install it. Easy and quick!

The cable I bought fit perfectly and had the IR sensor included. It is a MyArmor Replacement 923-0104 HDD Hard Drive Cable 821-2049-A With Bracket for MacBook Pro 13" A1278, £16 on amazon.co.uk

Also bought ACENIX® 3 Pcs Nylon Plastic Spudger for £4.

perstarrsjo -

Thanks for guide. Had a strange error with my computer suddenly not booting and showing me strange pictures. Internet recovery did now work and after checking with another disc and read here I could order a new cable and follow this guide. Seams to be quite a common problem but kind of easy to fix as long as you get the cable. Thanks!

johannesloefgren -

This is a great guide for replacing the hard drive cable. Thank you very much for posting it. With the right tools, its very easy to complete this. The only minor issue i faced was in folding the new hard drive cable. I couldn't do it perfectly because I was worried if I would harm the cable itself by folding too much. Including one more step to show how we can fold the new cable at right points would be nice. Thanks again.

Deepak Shivamurthy -

Last week, I lifted my MacBook Pro Mid 2012 solely by the front right corner. After that, all operations were incredibly slow and I got lots of spinning color wheels. When I tried to run First Aid on the SSD in Disk Utility, the drive would not even appear in the list of devices. When I checked the SSD's SMART details with ‘smartctl’, there was nothing wrong. Still, I opened up the Mac and swapped out the SSD for a spare known to be working well in another machine. The second SSD also failed to show up in Disk Utility. The hard drive cable appeared to be fine, but after reading the comments here and on other sites, I decided to replace the cable with a new one ordered from ifixit. With the new hard drive cable and the original SSD, my MacBook Pro is now back in business and disk access is fast again. Hooray! Thanks for the very clear instructions. Like the previous poster, I was afraid of damaging the new cable when bending it. I used the flat tip of a spudger to bend the cable.

Bill -

Hellos guys, I have a MacBookPro (13-inch, MID 2012), and I had the same problem, today I decided to go to an apple store and they told me that on these macbook models it is very normal for this to happen, (Factory error), then his response was: "We changed it for a new one, it does not matter that you no longer have any guarantee of the product, and will have no cost." So I recommend that if your case, approach the nearest Genius Bar, and fix the problem in less than 15 minutes.

Best regards

oemrebfilm -

That works by replacing the SATA Cable for internal SSD drive. The SATA cable that came with my MBP 2013 mid 2012 was the culprit. It's possible it's not compatible for SSD. I recommend when upgrading to SSD, buy the internal SATA cable as well. OWC does not stock this cable. I got it at amazon.com, $14. Problem sold!!! Thank you.

Mario -

This is a repair that Apple will do for free if you can get it to an authorized repair shop. Doesn't matter who has owned it or how old - it's a factory recall. I just did this for a friend - but not before trying an aftermarket cable (not the one from iFixit) which was intermittent.

Tim Smith -

cant find any information on a recall- by any chance do you have a URL?

Len

len kearney -

great guide, but just so youguys know, this problem that you may be having was fixed for apple for free for me. Because it was the ribbon cable and only that, the repair was free. Cost me nothing. And no, I do not have applecare, this was covered because it falls under a different warranty category

dobsongolfer -

Nice job now is my time

Maurizio Manente -

Super easy to follow and took me far less time than estimated here (I also replaced the hard drive; didn't mess with trying to figure out if the drive itself or the cable was faulty, just replaced them both and now have a much larger capacity drive!) Made a system software installer on a flash drive using another computer and instructions from Apple and everything is working great now, whew!

bairandrea -

Thank you for the good instruction. Now the 6 year old MacBookPro (early 2011) of my sister recognizes the harddrive again and works fine!

Stefan Plank -

Thanks for posting such clear instructions. Ifixit in Germany got the part to me in Paris in less than 48 hours and I got my MB Pro mid-2012 back up and running in 45 minutes.

James Wilson -

One thing I would add for anyone trying this now, is that you don’t need to spend money on a spudger. It can just as easily be done with the edge of a credit card. Hope that helps, great guide by the way OP! Used it twice now to fix 2 macs on the cheap. Appreciate your work!

David Lee -

I just did this project and I believe it worked! Instructions were great and it was not that hard. I can immediately tell there is improvement in speed.

Wayne Burton -

Excellent tutorial. but you need to add an age limit to it. This stuff is <XXXXX-rated, that is, not to be attempted upon by anyone older than 20. I’m 55, and this requires a vise, two very steady hands, and a steady magnifier with a light (preferably built-in). I’ve gotten so far as managing to pull it the ZIF, and then I had to toss in the towel. I can’t see that close, and I shake too much…

Giving Mac & all loose parts to able-bodied youngsters to fix today…

But otherwise, your tutorials rock! :D

Ciel Udbjørg -

Replaced- works as new

thanks!!!

McGazz -

Thank you for the guide. So easy to follow and apply. Ordered the part from iFixit and received it within 3-4 business days. My daughter’s Macbook Pro back to super speed performance. Thank you guys!!!

Aleksander Pervaza -

This guide worked well for me but I agree with others that: -

1) A different method for disconnection the battery is needed. I broke the edge of mine doing as instructed.

2) Some explanation of the best way to fold or bend the new cable in place is needed.

This is extremely fidley. My closeup vision isn’t good so resorted to clamping my iPhone in place while using the Magnifier function with lamp on focussed on the job to enlarge what I was doing. I felt like a surgeon doing keyhole surgery :-)

Steven Korunic -

I was trying to replace my original HDD with a SSD (Samsung Evo 860 500Gb). I could boot up fine on the new SSD via USB (using a USB-SATA cable) but every time I tried to boot when the SSD was inside my computer (in the place of the original HDD), I couldn’t boot (forbidden sign appeared). I read on several forums it was a compatibility problem with the original SATA cable. I seemed strange to me but I decided to buy a new SATA cable via iFixit. I’ve just replaced the original SATA cable with the new one and now I can boot on the SSD without any problem !

Thank you very much for this tutorial, even if I still don’t understand why it doesn’t work with the original SATA cable ^^

Basile Amory -

I had to change the hard drive after trying to install a new SSD and it wouldn’t work. The SSD was only able to boot via USB. Now it can boot internally after I put in the new hard drive cable. My advice: Be careful with the connectors when putting in this new one, it is quite delicate.

Trieu Hoang -

I fixed my “Question Mark Folder of Death” using this hard drive cable and this guide. I am writing this comment from my repaired MacBook. Thanks a ton.

Justin Reinhart -

There seem to be different versions of the ribbon cable, visibly different at the screwholes - one is thinner with metal as screwholes, the other one completely black and the screwholes are more a part of the cable itself. Which one is newer / better / recommended?

thekryz -

Hi, thekryz! Metal-lined screwholes are generally supposed to be more rigid. However, personally I’d accept only a marginally higher price for that feature, since my cable had to be replaced twice in 8 years and the screwholes weren’t the problem in either case. Hope this helps.

Stefan Mayer -

Don't let me down Optimus!

cmworms -

Thank you for these instructions! I have been able to replace my hard drive, ram battery and now this hard drive cable on my husband’s laptop thanks to iFixit’s generous contributors!

However, in these instructions more detail was needed to explain the transfer of the front sensor bracket. Here is a video on youtube I found that does an excellent job. Go to 3:34. You have to be really careful with this part because it is very delicate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgIwxA1_...

Dr. J Pierre -

This is the second time I have done this repair on same computer. The first time it lasted 7 months. I noticed right before it broke for the second time, the laptop was very hot…I was not using it…lid was shut, but had been putting my CD collection in and the power cord was connected. Hope the new part lasts longer this time!

charles robertson -

Great tutorial, I forgot and jump the adhesive part so was surprised when try to get out the old conector, hate that I have to blend the new one, and always worried to fo very carefully. So I help me with the screws, at the end feel that was little bigger , but at the end the MacBook Pro 2012 works fine like always. I gonna miss these model in the future not to many people got it and Catalina don’t works with the new gadgets like the iPad Pro share screen, only very new models, hope someone can hack someday this old computers

javiersconde -

This is a great guide, super helpful. I got the replacement part from iFixit and was a little intimidated by having to bend it into shape, but apart from that the fix was very straightforward. I was stressed as my city is in total lockdown due to COVID-19 and couldn’t get to a shop, but this guide really saved me. So relieved I didn’t lose my university work.

Callum Glennen -

Thanks for the instructions. I am grateful that my cable replacement came with the bracket for the LED - avoiding some of the tedious work. I replaced the hard drive cable at the same time as when I upgraded to a 1TB SSD. I am looking forward to the performance enhancement with 16 GB of memory, new fan, et al. My mid-2012 MBP Unibody is better than new.

Gary Renick -

Please where can I learn raining Apple Laptops Apart From YouTUBE

Shola -

thank you ifxit community. This is the second HDD cable I replace in the macbook pro - a common thing to break!

Charlie -