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MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2013 Repair Edit Full Screen Options

MacBook Pro 13" Retina Display Late 2013 Battery Replacement


Written By: Sam Lionheart (and 4 other contributors)

Comments: 50 Favorites: 12 Completions: 47

Difficulty Difficult

Steps 32

Time Required 45 minutes2 hours

Sections 6

Flags 0

Tools Buy these tools Parts Buy these parts

P5 Pentalobe Screwdriver Retina MacBook Pro and Air


MacBook Pro 13" Retina (Late 2013 Mid 2014)
Spudger Battery Buy
$99.95
T5 Torx Screwdriver

iOpener

Plastic Cards

Introduction
Use this guide to replace the Battery.
The battery is made up of six distinct cells adhered to the upper case. Use great care in prying the cells up from the casebending or
puncturing them can damage their performance, and may release hazardous chemicals. Only use plastic tools when prying.

Step 1 Lower Case

Remove the following ten screws securing the


lower case to the upper case:

Two 2.3 mm Pentalobe screws

Eight 3.0 mm Pentalobe screws

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Step 2

Wedge your fingers between the upper case and


the lower case.

Gently pull the lower case away from the upper


case to remove it.

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Step 3

The lower case is connected to the upper case with


two plastic clips near its center.

During reassembly, gently push down the center of


the lower case to reattach the two plastic clips.

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Step 4 Battery Connector

If necessary, remove the plastic cover adhered to


the battery contact board.

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Step 5

Use the flat end of a spudger to lift the battery


connector straight up out of its socket on the logic
board.

Be sure you lift up only on the connector itself, not


the socket, or you risk permanent damage to the
logic board.

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Step 6

Bend the battery connector up out of the way to


prevent accidental contact with its socket during
your repair.

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Step 7 Right Speaker

Remove the two 2.1 mm T5 Torx screws securing


the logic board end of the I/O board cable bracket.

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Step 8

Grasp the I/O board cable bracket with a pair of


tweezers and remove it from the MacBook.

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Step 9

Use the flat end of a spudger to pop the I/O board


connector straight up off its socket on the logic
board.

Be careful to only pry up on the I/O board cable,


not on the socket itself or you risk damaging your
logic board.

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Step 10

Lift the logic board end of the I/O board cable


straight up to bend it out of the way.

To avoid damage to the cable, fold only at the bend


in the I/O board end of the cable.

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Step 11

Carefully tuck the tip of a spudger under the right


speaker cable near the connector and lift it up out
of its socket on the logic board.

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Step 12

Carefully peel the right speaker cable off the upper


case.

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Step 13

Remove the following screws securing the right


speaker to the upper case:

One 5.7 mm T5 Torx screw

One 6.5 mm T5 Torx screw

One 3.8 mm T5 Torx screw

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Step 14

Lift the right speaker from the cable end and pull it
free from the case.

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Step 15 Left Speaker

Insert the tip of a spudger under the left speaker


cable near the connector and lift it up out of its
socket on the logic board.

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Step 16

Remove the following screws securing the left


speaker to the upper case:

One 5.7 mm T5 Torx screw

One 6.5 mm T5 Torx screw

One 3.8 mm T5 Torx screw

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Step 17

Lift the corner of the left speaker up and slide it out


the battery to remove it from the upper case.

Be careful not to snag the speaker cable on the


screw hole post in the side of the case.

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Step 18 iOpener Heating

We recommend that you clean your microwave


before proceeding, as any nasty gunk on the
bottom may end up stuck to the iOpener.

Place the iOpener in the center of the microwave.

For carousel microwaves: Make sure the plate


spins freely. If your iOpener gets stuck, it may
overheat and burn.

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Step 19

Heat the iOpener for thirty seconds.

Throughout the repair procedure, as the iOpener


cools, reheat it in the microwave for an additional
thirty seconds at a time.

Be careful not to overheat the iOpener during the


repair. Overheating may cause the iOpener to
burst.

Never touch the iOpener if it appears swollen.

If the iOpener is still too hot in the middle to touch,


continue using it while waiting for it to cool down
some more before reheating. A properly heated
iOpener should stay warm for up to 10 minutes.

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Step 20

Remove the iOpener from the microwave, holding


it by one of the two flat ends to avoid the hot
center.

The iOpener will be very hot, so be careful when


handling it. Use an oven mitt if necessary.

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Step 21 Battery

Remove the five 3.7 mm T5 Torx screws securing


the battery to the upper case.

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Step 22

Throughout this procedure, you'll be using a hot


iOpener to warm and soften a section of the
adhesive securing the battery to the upper case,
and then carefully prying at that point.

Use the hot iOpener to cover half of the two right-


most battery cells.

After about a minute, reheat the iOpener and move


it to cover the other half of the right-most battery
cells.

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Step 23

Push a plastic card between the right-most battery


cell and the upper case, cutting the adhesive
between the two.

Throughout the procedure, if you encounter any


significant resistance to prying, stop and use the
iOpener to reheat the section you're working on.

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Step 24

Use the plastic card to pry the right-most battery


cell up from the rear case.

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Step 25

Repeat this procedure with the next battery cell in.

Push the card about an inch between the battery


cell and the upper case, and slowly pry the cell up to
separate all of the adhesive.

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Step 26

Position the plastic card to keep the two right-most


battery cells from re-adhering to the upper case.

Reheat the iOpener and reapply it, this time to the


left-most battery cells.

Again, leave it in each position for about a minute,


reheating in between, to heat each half of the left-
most battery cells.

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Step 27

Insert a second plastic opening tool between the far


left battery cell and the upper case, cutting
adhesive about an inch deep.

Gently pry the left-most battery cell up from the


upper case.

If you encounter significant resistance, stop and


use the iOpener to re-heat the battery cells.

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Step 28

Continue to repeat the procedure from the right


side of the battery.

Insert the plastic card between the second left-


most battery cell and the upper case to cut the
adhesive joining the two, and pry the cell up from
the case.

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Step 29

Leave the second card in the corner between the


two left cells.

In the following steps, you can either use a third


card, or the card from the right corner. The right
corner adhesive should be cooled enough that it
won't resettle.

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Step 30

Insert the card about an inch between the left-


center battery cell and the upper case, separating
the adhesive between the cell and the case.

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Step 31

Pull the card back out and insert it about an inch


between the right-center battery cell and the upper
case, separating the adhesive between the cell and
case.

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Step 32

By this point, the outer cells should be free, and you


should only encounter resistance from the two
center cells. If this is not the case, go back and
completely loosen the four outer-most cells from
the upper case.

Pry up on the two center cells to separate the last


of the adhesive and remove the battery from the
device.

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CONCLUSION

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


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47 other people completed this guide.

Author with 4 other contributors Team

Sam Lionheart Badges: 46 iFixit


Member since: 10/18/2012 Community
229,296 Reputation 107 Members
855 Guides authored +43 more badges 4,724 Guides authored

12 COMMENTS Add a comment

Great thanks to the author for this flawless guide! I've just finished the replacement with this guide step by step, it's really useful and
considerable! Now I'm so happy to see the battery health comes back to 100%! So relieving! Thanks again!
HU CHEN - 04/08/2016

I'm having an issue with replacing the wifi antenna on a a1502 MacBook, because the socket for the wifi connector from the antenna came off
and I am not sure how to reattach it properly because it gives me a "No Hardware Detected" issue. How do I take apart the screen to remove
the antenna? Do I need to deal with heating glue to remove the screen cover?
Bobby Quinn - 05/09/2016

I have a 13" Mac book pro that sustained water damage, the laptop continued towoork bit the battery never gained charge and slowly
depleted even on mains power, once the battery reached 0% it no longer powers on regardless of mains power, I think it's an issue with the IC
would a battery replacement fix this?
Rich searle - 09/06/2016

I did this. Took me about 1 hour. The iopener required more than 30s for me to heat up, but I got it done. My macbook was damaged because
of a wine spill. Not sure how the battery got damaged as a result, as there appeared to be no liquid there, but... That was it.
Also, a bunch of the steps are not necessary, if you are careful. You do need to get the speakers out, but you don't need to do some of the other
stuff. I skipped 7-12 and 15, instead folding over the speakers carefully, without detaching them.
howieu - 09/24/2016

The procedure worked perfect. Thanks. It wasn't very difficult really, the only challenge was to get the old batteries loose from the adhesive.
Warming up the batteries and working with the card is the solution.
Ib Alstrup - 09/30/2016

Thanks to the author for making a really excellent guide! To remove the glued batteries I used an ifixit putty knife and heated it with a
miniature blowtorch. Then I placed the heated ifixit putty knife underneath the batteries which melted the glue and enabled me to lift the
batteries out.
Philip Kapp - 10/01/2016

Thanks for the guide. Very easy to follow and execute without missing any critical steps that could have caused damage for a first timer. It was
a real bear getting through the adhesive, but patience persevered. Two (sore) thumbs up.
Aaron Lorton - 10/03/2016
For the second time all is fine, delivery time and everything is working well. I replaced the battery and the display on my MacBook Pro a1502
following the tutorials. The most difficult part for me was removing the old the battery .
Thx
david - 10/04/2016

What happens when you put the new battery in? Do you have to put more glue to get the new battery to stick or is it already pretty sticky? Do
you even need to worry about putting more glue/adhesive stuff?
Pae Yung - 11/02/2016

Quick delivery ;)
Very useful guide. Everything is working great again. The hardest part was removing the old battery.
Thanks
Jaeger - 11/29/2016

Thank you very mutch, work`s perfect!


Stefan R - 12/28/2016

Fantastic guide guys - well done ! I bought a new battery on eBay and would have been in a lot of trouble without this guide. For what it's
worth -there seem to be a lot of questions about glue. I bought a genuine Apple battery, which came complete with glue strips ready to go.
Once I removed the old battery and glue strips, I cleaned it up with isopropyl alcohol and stuck the new battery to the clean surface without a
hitch.
Martin Gray - 12/28/2016

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