MacBook Pro 15" Core 2 Duo Models A1226 and A1260 Upper Case Cable Replacement

Use your fingers to push both battery release tabs away from the battery, and lift the battery out of the computer.

Remove the three identical 2mm Phillips screws from the memory door.

Lift the memory door up enough to grip it and slide it toward you, pulling it away from the casing.

Remove the two 2.8 mm Phillips screws in the battery compartment near the latch.

Remove the following 6 screws:

Two 10 mm T6 Torx screws on either side of the RAM slot.

Four 14.5 mm Phillips screws along the hinge.

Remove the four 3.2 mm PH00 Phillips screws on the port side of the computer.

Rotate the computer 90 degrees and remove the two 3.2 mm Phillips screws from the rear of the computer.

Rotate the computer 90 degrees again and remove the four 3.2 mm Phillips screws from the side of the computer.

Lift up at the rear of the case and work your fingers along the sides, freeing the case as you go. Once you have freed the sides, you may need to rock the case up and down to free the front of the upper case.

There are four plastic clips above the DVD slot, and another above and to the left of the IR sensor. These clips can be very difficult to disengage without prying. They can also be difficult to re-engage during reassembly.

Disconnect the trackpad and keyboard ribbon cable from the logic board, removing tape as necessary.

Remove the upper case.

Use a spudger to pry up the translucent plastic sheet covering the keyboard connector. You can just peel up the three sides closest to the upper flex cable entering the keyboard connector to make it easier to reassemble it.

Use the tip of a spudger to flip up the black plastic flap locking down the orange upper case ribbon cable. Similar to the other locking flaps it is located on the opposite side of where the cable enters the connection.

Peel up the orange tape covering the keyboard backlight connector.

Use the tip of a spudger to flip up the brown plastic flap locking down the keyboard backlight ribbon cable.

Use a spudger or your finger to slide the keyboard backlight ribbon out of its connector.

Disconnect the power button cable, the bluetooth cable, and the sleep sensor cable.

Carefully peel up the orange ribbon cable removing tape as necessary.