MacBook Core 2 Duo Display and Inverter Cable

Mijn probleem

I received the laptop from a friend who dropped it down a flight of stairs. They weren't going to repair it so I took it. I first took it to the Apple Genius Bar where they ran what they called an MRI - everything worked. They also straightened the CD ROM opening for me. I took it into MacTalk, paid $50 for diagnostics and they said it needed a display and inverter cable. Labor was going to be $120. This put the repair over what I wanted to invest.

Mijn oplossing

The display replacement takes a while but went well. I didn't discover I ordered the wrong inverter cable (needed the Santa Rosa/Pendryn cable) until well into disassembly. We tried the display with the old cable - no luck. I returned the inverter cable to iFixit (thank you) and ordered the right inverter cable (and an inverter just in case). The cable was faulty, the inverter worked fine. I just sent the unused inverter back in the mail (thanks again for your service and after sales support).

It was pretty much impossible to determine that the Macbook was the Santa Rosa/Pendryn model until I got inside. Perhaps some work can be done here? The Apple Serial Number Info site didn't even specify it.

Mijn advies

My Mac-experienced friend who helped with the repair used a simple but effective way to keep track of the different screws during the disassembly. For each step requiring screws to be removed, we labeled the step on a piece of white printer paper, then made small holes in the approximate location for each screw. Several steps can be put on one piece of paper. The screws are pushed into the hole in the paper using the magnetic screwdriver. For the holes, I used the smallest screwdriver I had. Put the holes in before taking the screws out! I used small tabs of scotch tape to hold the ultra thin screws in the hole. This takes all of the guess work out of the reassembly and keeps everything organized!

The top case of the laptop has reportedly been problematic for some time. Apple Genius Bar told me that these MacBooks qualify for free replacement top cases due to a design issue. Tomorrow I have an appointment to get the top case replaced. After that, pretty much good as new!