MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Late 2013 Logic Board Assembly Replacement

Written By: Andrew Optimus Goldheart
  • Comments: 64
MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Late 2013 Logic Board Assembly Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

10

Time Required

No estimate

Introduction

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    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the left speaker connector up and out of its socket on the logic board.

    • Use the tip of a spudger to pry the right speaker connector up and out of its socket on the logic board

    • Be sure to pry on the cable head, and not on the socket itself. Prying on the socket may cause it to separate from the logic board.

    At this point, it should be noted that the author is using two different logic boards through the procedure. Here, for the first time is the difference between a 2.3 GHz board and the 2.6 GHz board. The audio out socket is integral to the 2.3 GHz board. The 2.6 GHz board has a discrete audio out jack that plugs into the logic board. As the disassembly proceeds, the 2.6 board’s audio outlet is unplugged (Step 26/27 pictures note this, but the author doesn’t. So, as I hoped, the 2.3 GHz board can be replaced by a 2.6 GHz board, IF you don’t want an audio out jack!

    David White -

    Correction. The two boards are NOT compatible. The battery connector and others do not align. A faulty 2.3 GHz logic board is no excuse to get a faster board.

    David White -

    Note that you should SLIDE not pull these out. Just broke one of them.

    andershegelund -

    On this model they should be pried straight up from the board as instructed. If your connector looks different from what’s shown in the photos, proceed with caution, verify your model number and make sure you’re following the corresponding guide.

    Jeff Suovanen -

    I totally missed the pry STRAIGHT UP instruction. I tried to slide one out and it sheared from the board, taking one copper trace with it. Poop!

    Peter Kaczkowski -

    On MID-2014 Retina, they definitely lift up and out.

    MFMauceri -

    On LATE-2013 Retina, they definitely lift up and out

    KRIS -

    This really was helpfully! Thanks!

    Jan Dreyer -

    VERY HELPFUL. Thank you.

    Rafael Pérez -

    Yes. This is tricky. Be VERY CAREFUL. I damaged it. I’m afraid this MacBook is RIP.

    Richard Cacciato -

    This was tricky. I pried up from where the cable enters the connector with a very small flat headed screwdriver - no spudgers to hand!

    aaron.sarginson -

    I can confirm. you LIFT UP on Mid-2014.

    Costantino -

    Yes, LIFT UP with 2,3GHz Late 2013

    diplomat3000 -

    As others have said, this was pretty nerve-wracking to release. I used the pointed end of a spudger and gently pried up on the plastic corner where the wires go into the connector. Not the wires themselves, but the plastic. I wasn’t sure it would work without breaking the connector until it precariously gave way from the board.

    justinlyon -

    Mid-2015 they lift up

    Aaron -

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    • Peel back the tape covering the top of the keyboard ribbon cable connector.

    • Use the flat end of a spudger to flip up the retaining flap on the keyboard ribbon cable ZIF socket.

    • Be sure you are prying up on the hinged retaining flap, not the socket itself.

    • Use the flat end of a spudger to push the keyboard ribbon cable out of its socket.

    I can't fit the ribbon cable back in the slot. It was hard to take out a well. Any tips? I'm going crazy

    Jennifer McAuliffe -

    The trick is to align it so that it slides in perfectly straight and level with the surface of the logic board. It's made more difficult by the way the ribbon cable bends around the edge of the logic board, which puts tension on it and makes it harder to align. I usually position it with a finger on each side and then press gently on the top with a spudger or other tool to help level it out. It should slide into place reasonably easily at that point. Good luck!

    Jeff Suovanen -

    I had the same probem. After googling patiently I stumbled upon the tip to use some tape to lead the cable and to apply a little more pressure than you might be comfortable with. I used a piece of tape (the brown kind you use for mail), put it on the cable and led the connector into its socket. In order get it all the way I really had to press on the cable from the top while at the same time dragging it forcefully into the socket. I had to repeat it three times until it was fully in, but it worked.

    Sergio Weigel -

    For me the angle of this picture was kind of confusing. Just to make sure it is clear, to anyone else (and they don’t break off the protective plastic piece for the pins like I did), the hinged flap is at the opposite end from the ribbon cable. Where the spudger is in the second picture kind of looks like the middle of the part, but no. From the angle these pictures are taken, it is the plastic piece closest to you. I don’t know why it took me so long to figure this out, and I feel like a bit of an idiot for not doing so more quickly. But hey, maybe reading this comment will help someone not make the mistake I did.

    Parker Young -

    For my MacBook Pro mid 2014, the socket type was a lever. Looking at the battery, carefully lift it so it makes an angle of 90 degrees, then the cable was easily removable.

    Mike Bachman -

    the tape actually helps remove the cable. Just hold the tape and pull it back towards the battery. The ribbon cable will slide right out. Easy. No tools needed.

    Pranav Singanapalli -

    I’m so curious about the connector besides it, to the left. It wasn’t used at all, and what was the purpose of it?

    Anders thomasen -

    This is a complete guess on my part, but I think it’s there for test purposes, before the logic board is actually installed. Given that it’s right next to the keyboard connector, it might be an easy/fast way for a test jig to connect a keyboard simulator without messing with the keyboard connector that is causing so much trouble for all of us… :-)

    yeliab -

    Same as in

    STEP 12

    the right fan ribbon - disconnect cable ZIF socket.

    Remark :

    Here is video how to open the ZIF socket. https://youtu.be/MQbqpWkCz94?t=360

    Ketut Sandiarsa

    KRIS -

    The adhesive of the tape covering the top of the keyboard ribbon cable connector is no longer sticking. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get it to stick back on there?

    christian araya -

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    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the trackpad ribbon cable connector up out of its socket.

    After this step I think the author must add a connector that is not mentioned (visible on step 18 and 19), between de SSD connector and the GPU (I suppose)

    Quique García -

    The only connector I see at that location is the speaker connector—scroll up two steps from here and you’ll find instructions for disconnecting it.

    Jeff Suovanen -

    I agree with Quique…there’s another connector, running toward the battery, visible in slide 19. 6-wire, immediately adjacent to SSD connector.

    Joel Black -

    The picture above looks slightly different than my Late-2013 MBP. The grey sticker with 4R7 is further to the side.

    justinlyon -

    justinlyon: Different placement of some parts on the logic board is normal with different logic board speeds, and differences between the Late 2013 and Mid 2014 logic boards.

    johnsawyercjs -

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    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the keyboard backlight connector up from its socket on the logic board.

    macbook has been rotated 180 degrees here

    Costantino -

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    • Use the tip of a spudger or your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the microphone ribbon cable ZIF socket.

    • Be sure you are prying up on the hinged retaining flap, not the socket itself.

    • Pull the microphone ribbon cable out of its socket.

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    • Use the tip of a spudger to flip up the display data cable lock and rotate it toward the DC-In side of the computer.

    • Pull the display data cable straight out of its socket on the logic board.

    • Do not lift up on the display data cable, as its socket is very fragile. Pull the cable parallel to the face of the logic board.

    Be extremely careful in this step as the pins of this cable are EXTREMELY fragile. The leftmost pin bent over the neighboring one and its tip broke which lead the display to not work at all!

    Thanks God, I could realign it again and the display got on again :)

    When removing this cable pull it backwards by holding the hinge from its middle. DO NOT WALK THE CABLE FROM THE SIDES as this leads to breaking the terminal pins like what happened with me. When the cable has never been removed before, it behaves like something glued so when you try to walk it from one side, it seems to not move, which leads you to automatically push harder causing the pins on the terminals to bend or even break.

    Michael Azer -

    I don’t know why, but my 15” Late 2013 had some sort of protector covering the lock, so I used tweezers to grab the thing and pull up the cable lock and it worked seamlessly.

    Rafael Pérez -

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    • Use the flat end of a spudger to carefully pry off the rubber screw cap on the raised screw head near the MagSafe 2 connector.

    • The location of this screw may vary between models.

    This may be a matter of a 2.3GHz vs a 2.6GHz board, but on mine the raised-head screw - and the rubber cover - are on the other side of the black metal whatever it is, about centered relative to the cable connector to its left.

    jerryl -

    same thing for me too.

    William Corwin -

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    • Remove the following six screws securing the logic board to to the upper case:

    • One 3.1 mm T5 Torx screw

    • One 2.5 mm T5 Torx screw

    • One 5.5 mm silver, raised-head T5 Torx screw

    • Two 5.7 mm T5 Torx screws

    • One 3.8 mm silver T5 Torx screw

    There is another screw near the yellow one, the 5.5 mm silver, raised-head T5 Torx screw. I had to remove that too rather than force things.

    Simon Anthony -

    Notice that the silver 3.5 mm T5 Torx screw is the same one you were asked to remove on step 21.

    Rafael Pérez -

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    • Lifting from the side nearest the battery, rotate the logic board toward the top of the MacBook Pro.

    • You may need to slide the logic board a few millimeters to the left in order to get clearance for the ports along the right edge of the board.

    • Using the flat end of a spudger, carefully push the MagSafe 2 connector out of its socket on the bottom of the logic board.

    • Disconnecting the MagSafe 2 connector can be difficult. If you are only removing the logic board to temporarily get it out of the way, such as for a battery replacement, you may find it easier to simply remove the two 2.5 mm T5 Torx screws securing the MagSafe DC-In board, and then remove the logic board and MagSafe board together.

    I wasn't able to get the magsafe connector off easily; it was easier to just remove the 2 screws holding the magsafe port in place, then disconnect it after the the logic board was removed.

    Derek Gelormini -

    Completely agree. I just did the same.

    ChrisMBP -

    Same here. Removing the MagSafe screws should also be included.

    Christopher Hofmann -

    Agreed, after reading your comment I also simply removed the magsafe connector.

    Bruno Essmann -

    Hello, i did it the same, and it was more easy after that.

    SebioJazz -

    Agree, just did the same. It is safer.

    Pantelidis Pantelis -

    100% agree, recommend updating this article to suggest removing the mag safe connector at the same time and save the hassle and potential damage trying to remove the connect from the logic board. far easier and safer to simple remove the two screws and lift out the mag safe connector at the same time as the logic board.

    calum.h -

    Confirmed, I removed the screws of the magboard so the whole magboard was removed together with the logic board at the same time (MacBook Pro mid 2014).

    Mike Bachman -

    My logic board is stuck on the audio, USB, and TB connectors and the chassis. Turned out it was connectors near the battery connector catching the logic board.

    Joseph Gorse -

    There’s one more connect next to the SSD socket, that I can’t find mentioned, and is hard to disconnect.

    Steven DeRose -

    Yes… @StevenDeRose! I had a really hard time getting that connector off because I couldn’t figure out the release mechanism. I ended up prying the connector off the board. %#*@. I guess it’s a speaker connector!!!! Major flaw in the instructions….!!!

    Peter Kaczkowski -

    Rather important note: I have this model (Retina, 15”, Mid-2014, MacBookPro11,3) and the entire guide worked up until this step. What failed? Somehow, my 2014 model had the 2015’s headphone jack. Mid-cycle update, perhaps?

    So rather than lift the logic board out as shown, I had to lift the right edge and pull it away from the left edge (backing the headphone/USB/TB/MagSafe ports out of their bays, if you will). And just like in the photos from the 2015 guide, the headphone port came along, attached to the logic board, unlike how this guide seems to show the headphone port remaining behind.

    Hope this helps anyone else confused! If you get here and can’t seem to lift/rotate the logic board out as shown, try popping over to the 2015 guide and scroll down to that respective section, then pop back here once the board is out!

    Justin -

    weird… same thing here…

    Gabriel Lage -

    Thanks for this tip. Super helpful!

    Jackie Malling -

    Thanks, Justin! Without your comment I wasn’t able to progress.

    Laszlo Varga -

    Another thank you.

    That link is:

    MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Mid 2015 Battery Replacement

    Eric -

    I found it tricky to reinstall the logic board to its proper position. Make sure no cables get clamped, e.g. the keyboard backlight cable which I oversaw the first time.

    It also helps to pay attention to exact alignment of the headphone jack, and to all screw positions.

    Karl Müller -

    I found I had to lift the logic board like 15 degrees to unhook the thunderbolt ports from the case. Justin is right, go look at the 2015 one and then come back!

    Maxfield Feigelman -

    I insisted in removing the connector from the board and I sort of helped myself using the Jimmy tool that is sold by iFixit and, being careful enough, one can get this done without any damage to any of the parts.

    Rafael Pérez -

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    • Remove the logic board assembly from the MacBook Pro.

    • While the logic board and fans are removed, use a can of compressed air and a soft, non-static brush to remove dust and other debris from the upper case and the logic board, particularly from the fan exhaust openings along the rear edge of the upper case.

    • When reinstalling the motherboard, make sure all cables, and the two rubber heat sink/fan covers, are visible and not trapped under the motherboard.

    • Second photo, clockwise from top: battery, right speaker, keyboard backlight, AirPort/camera, display, microphone, left speaker, keyboard, and trackpad.

    A little “scotch tape” can be used to hold the various cables out of the way. Then the replacement board almost falls into place.

    David White -

    Now that I’m done re-assembly, I wish I had paid attention to the second image where all the cables that need to come above the logic board are highlighted in red. I took me three tries of screwing in the logic board in before I properly accounted for all of them

    Albert Einstein -

    I’d not even seen that pic until I came here to add my comments. Very good point !

    Simon Anthony -

    Careful: The picture shows nine red boxes, but if you just count, you might miss a cable, because there actually are ten of them. The I/O board data cable may not be at risk of getting stuck under the board, so it’s entirely logical to not put a box around it, but if you simply count loose cables before putting the screws back in, you will easily count it while missing another less prominent cable (like the keyboard backlight connector, which can be easy to overlook).

    Lars -

    When re-inserting the board it is important to make sure that the tiny clips on the USB and DVI ports are on top of the aluminum housing lip. If they are under it, then it is not possible to move the board over toward the DVI port side….

    Jurgen -

    When putting the board back in, double check that tape that covers the keyboard ribbon cable. I thought I had it over the board but it was just the tape over the board, not the cable.

    Austin Hodges -

    I did the same thing.

    Shane -

    I thought this was a guide for the battery only?

    Handy to have this extra info, I was confused at first, until I started reading the comments. :)

    Cary B -

Conclusion

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

Author

Andrew Optimus Goldheart

Member since: 17/10/09

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