{"id":1988,"date":"2022-01-08T20:22:54","date_gmt":"2022-01-09T00:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/?p=1988"},"modified":"2022-01-08T20:22:54","modified_gmt":"2022-01-09T00:22:54","slug":"2011-macbook-pro-a1278-keyboard-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/2022\/2011-macbook-pro-a1278-keyboard-replacement\/","title":{"rendered":"2011 Macbook Pro – A1278 keyboard replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Around 2015 we bought a used Macbook Pro for home use. It was replacing an iMac all in one that had a bad power supply. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was a real powerhouse of a machine if you look at the specs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over time it was clear that older mac wasn’t keeping up. I had done a few upgrades that helped extend it’s life. I’d put in 16GB of RAM – very worth the money. I also later swapped in an inexpensive 480GB SSD. The USB ports got wiggly over time and the keyboard slowly started to fail.<\/p>\n

By 2020 it was well past time to replace it, which I did with a Macbook Air M1 (base)<\/a>. Of course I still hung onto the old machine which still worked, but was paired with a bluetooth keyboard. I finally got around to ordering a replacement keyboard from Amazon – a Padarsey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of course one of the first places I go for help is iFixit. Unfortunately the repair section<\/a> for this laptop doesn’t seem to include a keyboard replacment. I used the upper case disassembly instructions<\/a> and they were close enough and helpful. The keyboard is hidden underneath everything, so you have to take almost everything apart to replace it.<\/p>\n

Annoyingly there are three different types of screwdrivers you’ll need: phillips, torx, and tri-wing. I’m really happy with the Kingsdun 60-in-1 set<\/a> I got recently. It’s got lots of sizes and it’s bailed me out a few times. The bits are not the highest quality, but having the right shape and size makes things possible.<\/p>\n

I ended up re-using the existing keyboard screws (there were so many of them!) instead of the ones that came with the new keyboard. I was also grateful for my magnetic mat<\/a> which helped keep all of the screws organized. Re-using the back-light wasn’t difficult at all.<\/p>\n

It was with relief that I saw the system boot up right way after I’d re-assembled it. There are a lot of little bits to get right. It was an epic repair and I’m not sure I’d rush to do it again. Now with a fully working keyboard it’ll continue to get some light use as a secondary machine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Around 2015 we bought a used Macbook Pro for home use. It was replacing an iMac all in one that had a bad power supply. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was a real powerhouse of a machine if you look at the specs. Over time it was clear that older mac … Continue reading “2011 Macbook Pro – A1278 keyboard replacement”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1988"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1991,"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1988\/revisions\/1991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lowtek.ca\/roo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}