MacBook Air 13" Mid 2012 Trackpad Replacement

The screw sizes refer to the length of the shaft, not the diameter of the head or socket. P5 is the standard pentalobe size for all these screws, regardless of length.

I agree that the notation is a little confusing. I think it's because, with standard sized hardware like for your house, you have shaft diameter (say 1/8" or 3mm) and shaft length (say 3" or 7.5cm). So we're programmed to think of small numbers like that as diameter. But in this case, they're length.

Pulling the fan cable out was terrifying but you actually just pull on the cable itself. No way to get any leverage at the connector to dislodge it. Did come out easily but like I said, scared me!

Draai de schroefjes voorzichtig los en leg ze op een stabiele plek neer en let erop dat de schroefje een verschillende lengte hebben.

I thought I could replace my 256 Gb SSD with 512? regards

Do you have good Test Point Voltages? It appears there are silver colored Test points on the I/O Board. I am working on a water spill and trying to troubleshoot if both the I/O board and the Logic need replaced.

It's probably not necessary but may be a little safer to completely discharge the old battery before replacing it.

tell a model that was not inferior to the speed of the one in the laptop.

Thank you

Do i need to order tools separately to replace the battery i just ordered?

im looking for a Logic Board for a

Apple - MacBook Air® - 13.3" Display - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 128GB Flash Storage (Latest Model) - Silver Model: MQD32LL/A

Any help is appreciated.

There is a nub on the inside of the case which is attached to the battery. When you try to pull it open, it appears to be attached to the plastic casing of the battery, which sometimes splits. I gently unhooked the nub from the battery before removing the case fully. This seems to happen if the battery has suffered some drop damage (plastic parts broken around screws and parts of plastic frame split). Just an FYI in case your lower case doesn't pull away easily.

When closing this back up make sure that the antenna cable is tucked away neatly

This is the tricky part if there is one. Just pull back towards the battery and not up.

hello there, My macbook air does not recognize a battery connected, anymore.

It looks like I damaged the connectors while trying to connect the battery back, although it does not look damaged. I must say, I tried a little force to squeeze the connector in the middle instead of the edge. May have damaged the connector ?

Once, after this, the MBA recognized my battery when pressed the connectors edge to the pins on the board. However, this did not last long and my MBA does not recognize the battery anymore. Any solutions on how I can fix this ? Please help.

Had the same issue where my Macbook did not recognize the battery on the first try. I opened it back up and re-seated the connector and that fixed the problem. That particular connector does not seem to have a positive engagement. It does not appear to seat all the way down. It’s charging now and I hope it will remain stable and connected as I travel.

When we were putting the new battery in, it was easier to fit the tab back on and then fit the battery in place. I had someone helping me and they held the new battery up whilst I pushed the tab in. It was quite tight, and I ended up easing it in with the tip of a screwdriver on each edge in turn.

Les couleurs ne me semblent pas justes.

The screw heads are made of a soft butter like chinese metal and will easily get f*cked up. take care when reinstalling to not mess them up.

les couleur sont justes; die rot markierten Schrauben oben und mitte sind länger als die unteren.

I had used the P5 driver there, too (just gently put the bit into the screws and see that’ll fit.

The battery doesn’t actually need to come out for this repair if you’re confident working in tight spaces.

Quick note about the replacement battery, if you bought from iFixit and the battery sections have a thin film over them, peel them off. They're to protect the battery during transit, and if you leave them on they might cause heating issues.

Here is a link to my question about it: Replacement battery has thin film on each section do I need to remove? plus, I just got an email from iFixit customer support that it needs to be removed.

thank you for the help! I installed the proper batt properly following the advice from here;-) Mahalo from Hawaii-

Does replacement battery for Macbook Air 13" Mid 2012 works with Mac OS Sierra 10.12.3 and up?

I installed the battery (OEM Apple) for the Mac Air 2013 throygh 2015:

1. the battery for the Mac Air 2012 throygh 2015 was stated to may have compatibility problems;

2. lesser price;

no problems with macOS Sierra.

Replaced it in no time! Thank you and cheers from Slovenia (that’s the one who beat you in hockey few days ago

iFixit should really clarify whether the film covering each of the battery packs should or should not be removed. Based on dpchoung’s comment I removed this film. It was not obvious or easy to remove and as I was doing it I realized that maybe this was not a good idea as I was concerned the packs might be damaged in the removal process. I suspect most people don’t bother with this film. Later, clicking on the forum exchange I see conflicting advice. My guess is that the film provides added protection and has minimal impact on thermal issues. I am sorry I went through the bother of removing the film and hope no damage was done.

Thanks for this fantastic guide!!! Got an old Macbook Air working again. Only difficult spot was the ZIF cables. Man, I hate ZIF cables....

I found it easyer to first connect the cables to the touchpad during reassabling. I could handel the tiny connectors better. After connecting the cabels I could easiely install the touchpad it self.

I stripped one of the six 1.6mm screws securing the trackpad to the upper case. Where could I get a replacement and what are the exact dimensions (I assume that 1.6mm is the length not the head size). Not sure whether this is the right place to post this, but I would be very thankful for some help.

The 00 philips driver is not working for these 6 screws...very frustrated....

The 00 phillips screw driver does not do the job for step 8!!!!!!!!! FRUSTRATING!

Anyone figured the right screwdriver?

Worst part was the philips screws on the brackets, step 8. One screw wouldn't unscrew for the longest time. I stripped it so bad, that I finally got it undone with a Torx 5 that I wedged into the stripped screw hole! Fortunately the replacement trackpad came with it's own brackets and screws anyway, so I didn't need to re-use the messed up screw.

In the end, success...phew!

Beware that when you remove these screws the trackpad will have dropped down and resting on the screen. Maybe a precaution would be to place a thin cloth between the trackpad and screen.

Agreed on the error in the guide. J00 seems to be the best fit.

I stripped one of the 12 screws. Of course one of the ones attached to the unibody frame not the trackpad. I thought I could weasel the trackpad out without taking the right bracket off but no dice. I had to bend the bracket and turn it around to get the trackpad out.

After I got the trackpad out I took out the replacement (purchased from here) and lo and behold it had the two brackets attached! So great, I'm good on screw count! But crap, now I REALLY need to get that stripped screw back out.

Thankfully I was able to dig it out with a tiny flat head bit from the 54 bit driver kit.

I even reattached the two brackets to the old trackpad and put it back in the ESD bag. I wonder if I can send it back to iFixIt to be refurbished. Don't want to toss it and have it wind up in a landfill unnecessarily!

The Phillips 00 I bought from iFixit definitely doesn't work. Gonna try their 000.

My new trackpad came with the brackets installed. It wasn’t necessary for me to remove the screws circled in orange (they hold the bracket to the trackpad). Check to see if your new trackpad has the brackets installed before removing the orange screws.

After purchasing multiple sets of drivers to get these out, I recommend anyone who finds they don’t have an adaquet PH00 driver to skip any dollar store or RadioShack driver sets. Head down to your local tool shop or auto repair store and buy yourself a $5-$10 set of precision drivers with only a few bits. Don’t go buying yourself a 20 piece set and think you’re getting a deal, these screws require a good quality PH00 to be removed without stripping.

When you're putting it back together, it's useful to attach these to the trackpad so it won't drop below the socket

I thought the purpose of this set screw was to adjust the height of the pad relative to the rest of the deck. By feeling underneath as I adjusted this screw, I was able to get the join between the pad and the deck seamlessly level,

Hi, I just want to ask what it means that it will stop clicking eventually, I had my macbook air trackpad replaced after some water fell on it and now around 9 months later the trackpad click gets stuck and it's driving me crazy, I went back to the service center myself and the technician actually admitted that he overtightened the screws but since the parts warranty is only 90 days he has to charge me again. So my question actually is can overtightening it cause permanent damage? Is there anything I can do? There's no apple store here (Cyprus) but the service center is one of the official service and registered distributor for Mac products and specifically for the more professional clientele.

can anyone tell me where to get a replacement for the set screw mentioned in step 10? mine has gone missing. all i need is the screw, i don't want to replace the whole trackpad.

I, too, have a question about the set screw. I replaced a MacBook Air 2011 keyboard because of water damage and that process involves also taking out the trackpad and putting it back in. After reassembly, I now get phantom clicks (the "click" sound happens as expected, but the Air frequently thinks I'm clicking when I'm not). Could this be a result of over/under tightening the set screw, or is it more likely the trackpad also needs replacement?

The set screw on my macbook barely turns 1/8 of a rotation before it hits a blockage. I do not want to try to turn harder for fear of stripping the screen and/or the threads in the case. I assumed that the screw should be able to be completely unscrewed from the case, correct? Any idea what's causing the blockage?

There is no need or benefit to removing this screw completely. Maybe back it out a little bit just to make it easier to install the new trackpad, and then adjust it once the new trackpad is mounted in the case. Agreed, this was a T6 on my MacBook Air 13" Mid 2012.