Swop logic board vs swop components (early 2011 - mid 2012)

[Southafricanrob]

Hi,

I have a mostly working mid 2012 13" i5 - keyboard and screen are cracked. I also have a early 2011 13” i5 that's in great condition but with a blown logic board.

Is it better to swop the 2012 logic board into the 2011, or to swap out the screen and keyboard into the 2012? I'm not sure if all the 2011 components like ports, WiFi etc will be compatible with the newer Logic board?

The main reason for doing it this way is that the case / battery etc of the 2011 are way better than the 2012 although it does seem a little back to front!

 

[bunnspecial]

I'd drop the 2012 LoBo into the 2011 case. It's a lot less work that changing a screen and especially changing a keyboard(not sure if you've ever looked at that on the Unibody, but there are-not exaggerating-about 30 screws or maybe more-that have to be removed and reinstalled. IIRC, it was considered time consuming enough that in-store repairs were generally a complete top case).

A couple of years ago, I was given a 2011 with a blown LoBo and put a 2012 one in it. Everything is effectively drop-in aside from the retainer on the video cable being different. The connectors themselves are the same and if you shove it in, it will work. I think I put a piece of amber tape on mine to hold it in place. I'm pretty sure @LightBulbFun was the one who let me in on the cable difference when I was thinking about doing that, as he wanted an HR-AG screen on his 2012 15" and ended up buying one off a 2011.

The keyboard will look different, since the early 2011 probably has the SL function legends while the late 2011s and then 2012s switched to the Lion-type ones, but that's a cosmetic thing and the keys still work.

 

[Southafricanrob]

I'd drop the 2012 LoBo into the 2011 case. It's a lot less work that changing a screen and especially changing a keyboard(not sure if you've ever looked at that on the Unibody, but there are-not exaggerating-about 30 screws or maybe more-that have to be removed and reinstalled. IIRC, it was considered time consuming enough that in-store repairs were generally a complete top case).

A couple of years ago, I was given a 2011 with a blown LoBo and put a 2012 one in it. Everything is effectively drop-in aside from the retainer on the video cable being different. The connectors themselves are the same and if you shove it in, it will work. I think I put a piece of amber tape on mine to hold it in place. I'm pretty sure @LightBulbFun was the one who let me in on the cable difference when I was thinking about doing that, as he wanted an HR-AG screen on his 2012 15" and ended up buying one off a 2011.

The keyboard will look different, since the early 2011 probably has the SL function legends while the late 2011s and then 2012s switched to the Lion-type ones, but that's a cosmetic thing and the keys still work.

Thanks for this. I tried today but got unstuck with the screen connector - a couple of posts out there suggested filing down the edges of the connector on the cable - but mine (2011 screen cable) just seemed too thick to go into the 2012 board. In the end I switched the entire screen back but its cracked so would like to try and get the 2011 screen working with the 2012 LoBo.

Thanks for the heads up on the keyboard - that does seem tedious. My next option is to try and pull the screen cable out of the 2012 cracked screen and use it with the 2011 screen but that also seems like quite a job!

I will try again and see if I can (gently) force the screen connector in but hard to see how it will fit...

 

[LightBulbFun]

as said by @bunnspecial I would just swap the 9,2 Logic board into the 8,1

the LCD connectors are different, but only mainly in the retention mechanism, you still can gently push a 2011 LCD's plug into a 2012 logic-board's socket

and in my case it was enough of a friction fit I did not need to do anything to hold it in place, and has been fine for many years

as you have noticed it is a bit thicker but not too much so, you just gotta gently work it in there and the extra thickness helps hold it in place