Mac Pro 2009-2012 Teardown

Step 1

To open the Mac Pro, you'll have to lift the clip on the back of the case
Leave the clip open during the entire disassembly!

Step 2

Lift the flap to put it in the unlocked position, the panel should separate from the box without forcing.

Step 3

Then to remove the hard drives, pull them towards you with a bit of force.

Step 4

Pull the DVD drives towards you, just like the hard drives.

Step 5

Press both latches to unlock the bracket and then pull it towards you.
You shouldn't need to apply much force.

Step 6

Remove the 6 or 8 pin connector from your graphics card.
This step is optional, it will depend on the graphics card of your Mac Pro

Step 7

On the power supply there is a button, press it to move the power supply to the left (see picture)
Then pull the graphics card towards you to take it out of the box
This step is optional depending on the GPU of your Mac Pro

That is not the power supply but rather just a fan shroud. It is important to move that back to release any PCIE cards that have the rear locking tab as it also moves the metal bat shown on the right side of the picture to release the lock from the tabs.

Kevin Youngblood -

Hello, the cable between the grey block and GPU is my GPU alimentation (mini 8-pins), so for unplug this alimentation, you need to move the fan shroud

Please read the whole tutorial, just after this step, I explain how to unplug this cable

remitouch - 08/07/22

Step 8

Disconnect the PCI-e cables from the motherboard
This step is optional depending on your Mac Pro

Step 9

With a screwdriver unscrew the two screws that hold the fan bracket to the board
Pull the fan towards you

Step 10

Behind the fan bracket there are 2 SATA cables, a 4 pin mini power supply and a 4 pin fan

Step 11

With a H2.5 screwdriver, unscrew the screws on the bottom of the bracket (photo 2)
With a Phillips screwdriver, unscrew the screws on the bottom of the case (photo 3)

The bottom screws are H2.5

John Zheng - 11/09/20

corrected, thk

remitouch - 24/04/21

Step 12

Remove the clip at the top of the fan
Pull on the top of the fan a bit.

Step 13

Similar to the top remove the clip at the bottom and pull out the fan.

Where tf os the clip at the bottom???????

Dan man5000 - 01/03/21

It is only necessary to move both fans about 1 cm towards the centre of the computer box. You then need to disconnect the plugs for both fans the the loudspeaker in order to slide out the cpu unit. Do not attempt to remove the fans!

frank booy - 06/04/21

Step 14

Disconnect the 2 x 4pin fan cables and the 1 x 2 pin speaker cable
Do not forget this step or you risk damaging your connectors on the motherboard and make unusable fans and speaker!

Wtf hot the !&&* do you get those out. There like stuck

Dan man5000 - 01/03/21

- You need to disconnect/seperate the retaining catch on the motherboard connecting shroud from the retaining clip on the cable connector.

- To help do this, you can Very Lightly use a spudger/prying tool or cut some piece of scrap recycled plastic off a bottle to slide between the two on the top side of the connector, parallel to the motherboard.

- Once you have to two interlocking halves held apart, then you may be able to

* wiggle the connector off

* use a small flat headed screw driver or similar tool to Again Lightly help start to push from between the motherboard and cable connectors

* and/or, Gently use a hobby plyers or large tweezers to lightly grab the cable connector from the short edges for a better grip while wiggling

- If this still doesn’t make sense, then you might try searching for images of “motherboard cable connector retaining clip” or some such.

Hope that helps.

Chris Alby - 10/04/21

Step 15

Pull the CPU support towards you
Do not use force during this step,It it does not come out easily ensure the fans are not blocking the exit.

Step 16

Remove the ribbon that connects the motherboard to the expansion card (USB, Jack, Power Off etc.)
Attention, it is necessary to remove the cable carefully so as not to bend the pins which are in the connector of the motherboard!