T5 Torx Screwdriver

Mijn probleem

My MacBook battery's health was down to about 60%, making it less convenient to take my MacBook to my favorite coffee shop. It was time to remedy that.

Mijn oplossing

At one point, I had the right-sized Torx and pentalobe drivers to do this repair, but through various relocations of my household, they've gone missing. I purchased replacements along with the battery, and actually liked them better than the ones I used to have. Some tool manufacturers seem to believe that smaller tool sizes require smaller handles, but the truth is that my hands don't shrink or grow to match the size of the screws I'm removing - but I digress. I uploaded the iFixit repair guide to my phone, and used it during the fast and easy repair. From placing the MacBook on my dining room table to putting the last screw back into the case, I was done in about 10 minutes. The new battery had a 79% charge and a manufacture date of Dec 8, 2017, making it only about 7 weeks old at the time of installation.

I saved a decent amount by doing this myself - about $50 - but the most important thing was that my MacBook didn't have to sit in a repair shop for an entire day while they did the job. My thanks to iFixit and to Walter Galan, who authored the easy-to-use repair guide.

Mijn advies

Don't lose any screws. A lot of them are tiny.

Mijn probleem

Our 12 year old daughter Sophia had been using her mom's old MacBook Air for school but she noticed that the battery was not holding a charge for long forcing her to keep it plugged in. We took it to the local Apple store for diagnosis and they agreed that the battery needed replacing but were unable to do it for us since they considered this laptop "vintage". Your site was recommended to us by one of her dad's co-workers and Apple "experts". We were very happy with your site and the price.

Mijn oplossing

Repair instructions were clear and easy to follow. Sophia was able to replace the battery herself quickly and easily.

Mijn advies

In future we will check your site first before going to any unhelpful retailers.

Mijn probleem

My room flooded, and water got into my laptop. I dried it under 2 fans continuously for a month, that dried off most of the water from the screen except for a little water spot that doesn't bother too much, but the magsafe port got corroded. The power adapter, when connected kept my laptop on through external power, but the battery was not charging and remained at 12 %. The charging light wouldn't show either the green or the orange when connected. Over time, that went down to 0. Then the laptop wouldn't switch on any more saying low battery. Took it to an apple store, they told me the magsafe board was corroded and quoted me $1350 to fix it, saying they would have to re-build the entire laptop.

Mijn oplossing

Now that i had nothing to lose, no warranty, such a high repair bill, and a laptop that was as good as dead because it was not switching on, i thought i'd try to fix it myself. Looked up the instructions on ifixit, which at first, seemed pretty complicated. I ordered a replacement magsafe port through amazon (was out of stock on fixit), and screwdrivers and a spudger from ifixit, and started the repair process. It was a little intimidating at first because of the sophisticated parts and connections, but i got a hang of it as i went along. Took around 3 - 3.5 hours till i opened up all the parts, replaced the magsafe board and then re-assembled the entire laptop. Then when i connected the charger to the new port and saw the green and orange light for the first time, it was an amazing feeling. I let it charge to a full, and now my laptop is back to normal and working great.

Mijn advies

For a price of $30 in parts and tools for my laptop, i was able to save $1350 in repair bills or the possibility of having to buy a new laptop. For the first time, the process can seem intimidating, but don't be scared and go for it, it actually ended up being a lot of fun and it solved the problem. Ever since, i've been looking up other repair jobs for other electronics to fix more things, after such a tough job, i now have itchy fingers of taking on more complicated jobs.

Advice: Try to be organized with the parts and screws in de-assembly, especially the screws since the screws are different lengths at different locations. I setup my repair job over a big table, and organized the parts in a clockwise direction in order of the de-assembly steps. Have a soft touch when taking out parts from the hinges, especially the keyboard wire. When putting back the logic board, make sure to take out all the wires from under the board and bring it above the board.

Mijn probleem

After a trip to my local Apple store, my Genius Bar helper Sugar Bear informed me I had a dead battery...

Mijn oplossing

Sugar Bear told me about iFixit, and within a couple days, everything I needed arrived on my doorstep. 15 minutes later... computer that runs like new. No sweat, no problem.

Mijn advies

Definitely keep your screws organized. I just lay them out in the box the replacement battery came in as I removed them. Takes all the guesswork out of how to reassemble the laptop. Good luck!

Mijn probleem

My Galaxy Gear wasn't working anymore. Nothing when I try to turn it on or when I plug it.

I gave it back to Samsung to have it fixed.

Gave them 85€ so that they tell me 1 month later that my watch is too much oxidized to be fixed. They gave me back my watch and my money saying they couldn't do anything.

Mijn oplossing

I managed to order a motherboard on iFixit for 15$ and 15min after receiving the package, my watch was saying Hello to me.

I'm really glad that iFixit was here to help me when even the official manufacturer let me down.

Mijn advies

With a clear tutorial, it was simple for me to do the repair and everything went fine.

A big Thanks to iFixit ! I'll be sure to tell about you around me !

Mijn probleem

My wife was experiencing poor battery performance. Apple refused to help because the product was out of their service window (over 5 years). I had to turn elsewhere to solve.

Mijn oplossing

Easy peasy. My recommendation to iFixIt would be to detail putting the battery back into the case. Even if the line simply reads "Once battery is removed, reverse the steps above to connect new batter."

That's primarily due to the fact that the battery I received had a plastic film that covered each lithium battery pack. Since the battery i removed did NOT have the plastic film, i wasn't 100% sure if i should try to remove or not.

Mijn advies

It can feel pretty intimidating to take on a repair like this. But go for it! The effort is well worth it.

Mijn probleem

Disassembling

Mijn oplossing

With arthritis in my hands, I was having difficulty getting the case off of my android phone, and did not have any tool that would fit the tiny screws on the back cover. The plastic blue tool to open one's phone case is great. It is easy to use and doesn't damage the phone. The small screwdriver suggested by ifixit for removing screws on the back of the phone fit perfectly. The tip is magnetized, which is very helpful for not losing the screws.

Mijn advies

My advice: Use ifixit.com for your repair needs. This was my first time using ifixit.com and I was very happy with the results.

Mijn probleem

4-year old battery no longer holding a charge for more than 1-1.5 hour.

Mijn oplossing

Overall very easy. The guide is very helpful and high quality tools ordered from iFixit helped tremendously.

Mijn advies

The only tough part was reconnecting the battery terminal once the new battery is in place. The cables were a bit rigid, so it was tough to line it up perfectly. Helped to lift the battery out slightly, then connect the cable and place the battery in the slot where it belonged.

Mijn probleem

Did not fix the problem

Mijn oplossing

I had school assignments due, so I couldn't wait for the tools, and had to take the macbook to the Apple store for same day battery replacement

Mijn advies

I would suggest foregoing the aggravation of fixing this thing yourself. I ended up taking my laptop to Apple, and that was what I should have done in the first place. Since I had assignments to complete for school, I had to take the laptop to Apple Store for battery replacement, The battery was replaced by Apple, and up and running that same day. I ended up not needing the tools after all.