MacBook Unibody Model A1342 Optical Drive Replacement

Written By: Walter Galan
  • Comments: 56
MacBook Unibody Model A1342 Optical Drive Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

17

Time Required

30 minutes - 1 hour

Introduction

This guide will show you how to replace the SuperDrive from your laptop (requires a SATA SuperDrive).

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    • Remove the eight 4 mm Phillips screws securing the lower case to the MacBook.

    According to this page http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1651?viewl..., the 8 screws are not identical.

    Can anybody tell me where each kind of screw is supposed to go?

    Gregoire -

    They are all 100% Identical. You were probably looking at a different model, or Apple has entered the wrong information... Hey, It happens...

    Owen Davies -

    The screws on the Late 2009 are identical. The blue lock compound might make tightening some require a little more effort.

    svenaustx -

    Can I replace it with a SATA 3 cable?

    nm -

    A1342 macbook does not have the right controller to support sata III

    Owen Davies -

    hi, i just got back from the apple store and they are really keen for me to upgrade to a new laptop since my battery is old and the screen is cracked, so glad i found ifixit i would love to upgrade this puppy! gonna make it a real sleeper! styler hall wrote about sticking 16 gb of ram in his a 1342 ? is this a simply mather of ordering 3 4gb sticks ?aslo i currently have 4 gb and would like to upgrade to 8 ( or indeed 16) does that mean i need to buy all new sticks or can i continue to use the old one and stick a new one next to it ?

    thanks again mick van aar, perth western aus.

    michelvanaar -

    The A1342 will take up to 16 GB of RAM, however, there are only two RAM slots, so use two 8-GB RAM modules. Other World Computing (OWC) is a great reference source for info on exactly which RAM to use with which model; prices are usually much better on EBay though. Add an SSD from OWC and your machine will really scream!

    I hope that helps!

    gdesbrisay -

    Gregoire is right. The 8 screws are absolutely NOT identical, I’m looking at them right now, weeowey weeowey.

    John Guzman -

    I just wanted to say that, in 2020, i used these instructions to replace the magsafe socket on my A1286, mid-2012, pre-Retina MacBook Pro. The internal layout is not quite the same but close enough for me to do the job. I skipped the steps of fully disconnecting the fans and speakers because of what others had said about breaking the sockets. it just meant I had to be extremely careful when lifting up the main board so that I did not tear and break the connections. I was able to disconnect the old magsafe socket with the board flat and in situ, but there was no where near enough room to be able to aline and press home the new par home. Reluctantly i had to lever up the board. This was difficult as there is a tapped post that holds a screw in the way close to where the USB sockets are, that prevented the board lifting up and out. I had to be quite forceful to manouevre the sockets out from the edge of the case.

    Paul Burridge -

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    • The lower case is constructed of rubber-coated aluminum. Do not excessively bend the aluminum during removal, as any permanent deformation will cause tolerance issues after reassembly.

    • Slightly lift the lower case near the vent opening.

    • Continue running your fingers between the lower and upper cases until the upper case pops off its retaining clips.

    • The location of these three clips is shown in the third picture.

    Do the retaining clips have to be re-engaged when replacing the lower case?

    John Morley -

    Answering my own question, the clips re-engage when the lower case is correctly positioned. You can help them by gently pressing the lower case with your thumbs midway along the two short sides. When everything is correctly aligned the eight screw holes line up.

    John Morley -

    Rather than running your fingernail down the sides to free up the retaining clips, I found that using an old credit card, inserted about 1/4”, to run along the left and right side popped those end retaining clips right off with no problem. You may need to twist the card slightly when in the middle area to help pop those off.

    bdahl385 -

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    • For precautionary purposes, we advise that you disconnect the battery connector from the logic board to avoid any electrical discharge. This step is optional and is not required.

    • Use the flat end of a spudger to lift the battery connector up out of its socket on the logic board.

    • It may be easier to use your fingernails to lift up on both sides of the connector.

    you do not need to remove the battery when replacing the hard drive or ram

    brilldoctor -

    beware not to lift the connector to close of the angle, as the picture suggest it. It might broke the angle. Attack by the middle.

    naamol -

    Not necessary?

    hikkymemo -

    Be careful of the corner of the battery cable connector when trying to pry it off with the spudge. I knocked the corner of mine. No operational impact but was not very pleasing!

    jljordanweb -

    Not necessary, but a good idea, so as to avoid any spurious charges going through the boards...

    svenaustx -

    @Svenaustx - What could happen if not removing this battery? Worst case? Not a geek on this but did change RAM on my Macbook Pro "15. Can't remember disconneting the battery back then. Shouldn't it be sufficient shutting the Mac off and ensure it has been used for an hour or so before replacing RAM?

    Allan Clarke -

    i used a metal pry and noticed some sparking when i disconnected the battery. replaced ram. now it wont turn on. did i fry it?

    Ian Lynch -

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    • Remove the following screws from the optical drive side of the rear vent:

    • Two 10 mm T8 Torx

    • Two 5.2 mm Phillips

    Hi, i have an issue with the screw in the middle: it is blocked and the top is now damaged... Any suggestion?

    Corrado -

    I have a problem with the two middle screws

    Harlan Shannon -

    same here...

    rekidjinwoo -

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    • Remove the following screws from the port side of rear vent:

    • Two 10 mm T8 Torx

    • Two 5.2 mm Phillips

    The left-most philips screw in this picture does not seem to go in properly. The best I could do was use the screw with least of the blue screwlock on it and then err on the side of leaving the white plastic a bit Ioose in that location.

    QuincyMB -

    Be very careful when putting the Torx screws back as they are very easy to leverage and seems to bend the white piece at some point, making me nervous they could crack it. Don't overdo these.

    QuincyMB -

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    • Carefully lift the rear vent out of the upper case.

    you can actually stop disassembling now and try to replace it now. after removing two t6 screws it came off pretty easily

    grze -

    Good tip, thanks! I skipped ahead to step 17 and had no problem getting the magsafe board out from under the logic board and the new one installed. Saves a lot of work disconnecting connectors indicated as Fragile!

    matt15 -

    Thank You! Saved me an hour or so of work and a lot of stress!

    15sweyandt -

    I also did Step 6, then skipped to Step 17 & 18. Once I had the display data cable off, I could remove the 2 T6 Torx screws holding the MagSafe board on and remove it. You can reach under the logic board with the point of the spudger to work the cable out of the socket. Note how you maneuver the board out of the tight space so you can maneuver it back in. When you put the new MagSafe board in, plug in the cable first. If you bend the wires so the plug approaches the socket at the appropriate angle, you can nudge it in with the pointed end of the spudger.

    hpendleton -

    Thanks a lot for this hint! You saved my macbook, when I failed to unscrew the fan because of one completely destroyed screw. Thanks to your comment I skipped steps 7-16 and went straight to replacing the magsafe board without problems. The spudger and some 3D imagination and done,

    Sebastian M -

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    • Remove the single 12 mm Phillips screw securing the top of the rear speaker housing to the upper case.

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    • Remove the single 2.2 mm Phillips screw inserted horizontally into the side of the optical drive.

    • This screw is located in a gap within the right speaker assembly, and is visible only from the hinge edge.

    Finding this screw wasn't easy

    Leonardo Echeverria -

    Where did you find that Screwdriver?

    jesusalbaregidor -

    I put my laptop vertically so I could get the screw out. Trying it sideways while the laptop laid flat wasn’t working.

    Mr Poofy -

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    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the AirPort/Bluetooth ribbon cable connector up off the logic board.

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    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the rear speaker connector up off the logic board.

    • Pry up underneath the wires.

    • This connector is very delicate and easily broken.

    Step 10. If you are having difficulty with the small connector, insert something thin and long underneath it (preferably not metal, as you can scratch the motherboard that way). There is some space under it that you can use to get it loose.

    Remember, the amount of force required to loosen it is very small. Take a break if necessary if you are getting frustrated.

    Stephen Eilert -

    I would recommend not removing this as part of this step. You can easily slide the drive under the speaker wire -- just lift it from the side with two screws carefully.

    Matt Mastracci -

    i just broke the connector! Be very carefully here. Needed to sold the speaker cabels then...

    rafa74 -

    I broke it, obviously... I tried to put it back; it seems to be solid enought, but the speaker now sounds really bad(low and noisy-undefined). Any ideas on how to fix it?

    gl84 -

    PLEASE TAKE THIS STEP AWAY!!!!!

    I now have the same as the rest of the loyalty of Ifixit’s…. I glued it and have the crappy tinny low volume sounds, thanks

    Peter -

    Same here. I broke it too, tried to glue it back and have sound, luckily, but very bad quality. THIS STEP IS UNNECESSARY!

    Jens Lubbadeh -

    This step has been very badly explained. I too have now broken my speaker connection. As others have said, you're just trying to lift the cable up NOT "PRY THE SPEAKER CONNECTOR UP OFF THE LOGIC BOARD" as instructed here! Doing this will break the soldered connection to the board. Now I need to take it to a professional for a solder repair.

    Nick -

    Hi There, broke the connector.

    I could not remove the cable even with the broken off connector.

    Soldered it back on, low wattage and very little tin needed.

    When putting the drive back in, I found that the loudspeaker cable could easily fit under the drive holder.

    So, in future in case of problems with the drive, no more broken off connectors..

    vos474 -

    Do not try to remove that connector ! It is too much fragile. As other users did, I broke it … And I don’t know if it will be possible to repair it.

    Jean-Pierre Giovanni -

    Same here, I was very careful, but the connector broke off, of course. Tried to glue it back, but now the sound it very low, noisy, almost useless. Any idea to fix it? :)

    szezo -

    Are you f****g serious? This step is unnecessary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    My connector broke!!!!! How can i fix it????

    Jack son -

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    • Carefully rotate the rear speaker assembly (with AirPort/Antenna cables still attached) out of the lower case.

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    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the optical drive connector up off the logic board.

    The connector broke while removing it... be careful

    Leonardo Echeverria -

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    • Remove the single 4.5 mm Phillips screw securing the optical drive bracket to the upper case near the fan.

    The screw here in my laptop was stuck. If this happens to anyone else I recommend using needle nose pliers, and put rubber band over the screw, and grasp the screw by the sides with the plier to work it out slow until you can unscrew it.

    Mr Poofy -

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    • Remove the two 2.5 mm Phillips screws securing the optical drive to the upper case near the optical drive opening.

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    • Lift the optical drive near its connector and pull it away from the upper case to remove it from the computer.

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    • Pull the optical drive cable connector away from the body of the optical drive.

    Don't forget to put this connector on the new enclosure!

    Gregoire -

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    • Remove the two black Phillips #0 screws securing the small metal mounting bracket. Transfer this bracket to your new optical drive or hard drive enclosure.

Conclusion

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

Author

Walter Galan

697731 Reputation

10 comments

Step 16, check that your new drive has the optical drive bracket from step 13. If not, transfer the optical drive bracket from step 13 to your new drive.

aliautaud -

Step 4-5 There is a screw in the center of the bar that looks like it might not be a hold down. It is. Be sure to remove it along with the other screws at each end of the bar per step 4 & 5 instructions.

Steven Keplinger -

Step 4-5

There is a screw in the center of the bar that must be removed, in addition to the screws noted in the instructions for step 4 and step 5. It looks like the bar might go over the screw. It doesn't. The center screw holds the bar down. Remove it.

Steven Keplinger -

FYI, I replaced the drive and tried to cut a corner by not replacing the screw in step 8. This was a big mistake as it vibrated horribly even when level and still. Once I replaced the screw, the vibration was almost non-existent.

Nate -

Could I remove the drive completely and still use the computer?

skully557 -

Yes. You can replace it with another optical drive, replace it with an adapter containing a hard disk or leave the space empty if you wish. Obviously you would lose functionality but you would save a little weight.

John Morley -

hi,

i just removed the drive put of my 2009 MacBook pro, physically bought drives are the same except for the bracket so i did changed that one, but the plugs going into the drive are the same but the connector to the board are different so i used the cable that belongs to my a1342 . after starting up the computer i can insert and eject discs, they spin around but i still can't burn or play anything, can you perhaps tell me what to do, can i expect the same if i replace the dive with a drive from a a1342 ?thanks,mick

michelvanaar -

I did this on a 2009 white unibody Macbook with a caddy that fit well, but I couldn’t get the second hard drive to show up in Finder, DiskUtility, or with ‘diskutil list’ in Terminal. System Report’s SATA Device Tree does show two SATA connections possible, so it seems like all is good up until the connector.

The previous optical drive was '“broken” according to the owner of the computer, which I presumed was just classic optical drive breakage, but perhaps it is down to the connector between the two?

Any other guesses what might be wrong?

QuincyMB -

Great guide. I followed it all the way to the end. Too bad my replacement superdrive was a dud.

If I have any feedback for this, I would put step 7 after step 8.

I did have a heck of a time taking out the 4.5 mm Phillips screw in step 13. The blue stuff in the screw had dried and I had to use needle nose pliers plus rubber band to get enough traction to coax it out.

For step 8, “Remove the single 2.2 mm Phillips screw inserted horizontally into the side of the optical drive.” I stood the laptop vertically so I could get more torque — trying to unscrew it sideways while the laptop was flat didn’t work at all.

Mr Poofy -

Easy instructions for removing stuck CD, using tweezers to extract after removing drive.

cafe_racer -