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MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement

Introduction

Replacing the heat sink requires removal of the logic board and application of new thermal paste.

What you need

  1. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement, Lower Case: step 1, image 1 of 1

    • Remove the following ten screws securing the lower case to the upper case:

    • Three 13.5 mm (14.1 mm) Phillips screws.

    • Seven 3 mm Phillips screws.

    • When removing these screws, note how they come out at a slight angle. They must be reinstalled the same way.

    Edit

  2. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 2, image 1 of 1

    • Using both hands, lift the lower case near the vent to pop it off two clips securing it to the upper case.

    • Remove the lower case and set it aside.

    Edit

  3. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement, Battery Connector: step 3, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement, Battery Connector: step 3, image 2 of 2

    • For certain repairs (e.g. hard drive), disconnecting the battery connector is not necessary but is recommended as it prevents any accidental shorting of electronics on the motherboard. If you do not disconnect the battery connector, please be careful as parts of the motherboard might be electrified.

    • Use the edge of a spudger to pry the battery connector upwards from its socket on the logic board.

    • It is useful to pry upward on both short sides of the connector to "walk" it out of its socket.

    Edit

  4. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 4, image 1 of 1

    • Bend the battery cable slightly away from its socket on the logic board so it does not accidentally connect itself while you work.

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  5. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement, Left Fan: step 5, image 1 of 1

    • Remove the three 3.4 mm T6 Torx screws securing the left fan to the logic board.

    • In some models, these T6 Torx screws may be 3.1 mm long.

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  6. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 6, image 1 of 3 MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 6, image 2 of 3 MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 6, image 3 of 3

    • Use the flat end of a spudger to disconnect the left fan connector from the logic board.

    • It is useful to twist the spudger axially from beneath the fan cable wires to release the connector.

    • The fan socket and the fan connector can be seen in the second and third pictures. Be careful not to break the plastic fan socket off the logic board as you use your spudger to lift the fan connector straight up and out of its socket. The layout of the logic board shown in the second picture may look slightly different than your machine but the fan socket is the same.

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  7. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 7, image 1 of 1

    • Lift the left fan out of the upper case.

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  8. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement, Logic Board: step 8, image 1 of 1

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

    • It is useful to twist the spudger axially from beneath the fan cable wires to release the connector.

    Edit

  10. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 9, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 9, image 2 of 2

    • Remove the three 3.4 mm (3.1 mm) T6 Torx screws securing the right fan to the logic board.

    • Lift the right fan out of its opening in the logic board.

    Edit

  11. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 10, image 1 of 1

    • Pull the camera cable out of its socket on the logic board.

    • Don't lift upward on the camera cable as you disconnect it. Pulling upward on the cable may damage both the cable and the logic board. Pull the cable parallel to the face of the logic board.

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  12. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 11, image 1 of 1

    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the AirPort/Bluetooth connector up from its socket on the logic board.

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  13. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 12, image 1 of 1

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

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  14. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 13, image 1 of 1

    • Disconnect the hard drive/IR sensor cable from its socket on the logic board by lifting up from beneath its connector.

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  15. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 14, image 1 of 1

    • Use the flat end of a spudger to lift the subwoofer/right speaker connector out of its socket on the logic board.

    • Pry up from beneath the wires.

    Edit

  16. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 15, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 15, image 2 of 2

    • Remove the two 1.5 mm ( 1.2 mm ) Phillips screws securing the keyboard/trackpad cable cover to the logic board.

    • Lift the cover off the logic board and set it aside.

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  17. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 16, image 1 of 1

    • Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the trackpad connector up and out of its socket on the logic board.

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  18. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 17, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 17, image 2 of 2

    • Use your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the keyboard ribbon cable ZIF socket.

    • Be sure you are prying up on the hinged retaining flap, not the socket itself.

    • Use the tip of a spudger to pull the keyboard ribbon cable out of its socket.

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  19. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 18, image 1 of 1

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

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  20. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 19, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 19, image 2 of 2

    • Grab the plastic pull tab secured to the display data cable lock and rotate it toward the DC-In side of the computer.

    • Pull the display data cable straight out of its socket on the logic board.

    • Do not lift up on the display data cable, as its socket is very fragile. Pull the cable parallel to the face of the logic board.

    Edit

  21. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 20, image 1 of 2 MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 20, image 2 of 2

    • Use the tip of a spudger to flip up the retaining flap on the keyboard backlight ribbon cable ZIF socket.

    • Be sure you are flipping up the hinged retaining flap, not the socket itself.

    • Pull the keyboard backlight ribbon cable out of its socket.

    Edit

  22. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 21, image 1 of 1

    • Remove the following nine screws:

    • Seven 3.4 mm ( 3.1 mm) T6 Torx screws on the logic board

    • Two 8 mm T6 Torx screws on the DC-In board

    Edit

  23. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 22, image 1 of 3 MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 22, image 2 of 3 MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 22, image 3 of 3

    • Carefully lift the logic board assembly from its left side and work it out of the upper case, minding the optical drive cable and the I/O ports that may get caught during removal.

    • If necessary, use the flat end of a spudger to separate the microphone from the upper case.

    • Pull the I/O port side of the logic board away from the side of the upper case and remove the logic board assembly.

    Edit

  24. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement, Heat Sink: step 23, image 1 of 1

    • Lay the logic board down on a soft flat surface with the heat sink facing up.

    • Remove the six #1 Phillips screws securing the heat sink to the logic board.

    • Keep track of the small springs housed under each screw.

    Edit

  25. MacBook Pro 15" Unibody Late 2011 Heat Sink Replacement: step 24, image 1 of 1

    • Remove the heat sink from the logic board.

    • If the heat sink appears to be stuck to the logic board after removing all six screws, it may be helpful to use a spudger to separate the two components.

    • If you need to mount the heat sink back onto the logic board, we have a thermal paste guide that makes replacing the thermal compound easy.

    Edit
Conclusion

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

28 other people completed this guide.

3 Comments

I followed this guide to replace the thermal paste and clean dust from the heat sinks. That reduced my idle CPU temperature by about 12 degrees Celsius. My cinebench r15 CPU score increased from ~350 to ~450 after waiting the thermal paste break in period. Most noticeably, after replacing the thermal paste and removing dust in the heat sinks, my computer runs much quieter under load. Chrome doesn't make my fans spin up any more!

When I opened the heat sink off the cpu and gpu, it was obvious it needs replacing. So much old dried crusty paste. And I'm too not sure they did a good job with the paste when manufactured.

Done on a ~6.5 year old MacBook Pro 15” late 2011 with the 2670qm CPU (the base model). I used MX-4 thermal paste, which did great on a Tom's hardware thermal paste benchmark. I intend to keep this laptop as long as I can :)

Good luck on your repair and go slowly! Read the comments for each step to avoid ruining your logic board!

Laboose - Reply

Great tutorial, thanks! Wherever it said “use your spudger to…“ I just used my fingernails :D No issues.

Comments are useful too, some additional cautions there.

frnhr - Reply

I followed the instructions and successfully cleaned and reapplied Arctic MX-4 thermal paste on my 2011 15-inch Macbook Pro (2.2 i7/6550M). I had a little trouble removing the logic board as there is some glue holding the speaker on the top of the logic board to the top casing (next to the ethernet port). There was a forum post on this website which was critical for me in knowing how to use a spludger to carefully pry the glued components.

The existing thermal paste actually didn’t look bad, and it was still liquid/paste, not dried (except around the edges where it squeezed out on the edges. It probably wasn’t necessary to perform this maintenance, but there was no way to know that until I pulled this ~10 year-old machine apart. I used the proper tools, including plastic no-marr spludgers and proper torx precision screwdrivers just like the iFixIt specified. I would not recommend even considering this undertaking without the proper tools, patience, and plenty of time available to take your time.

Thx iFixit!

remingtonh - Reply

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