Macbook Flappy Bottom Repair Hack

If you own a white Mac book, chances are the rubberized bottom is falling off, This particular laptop in the picture has had it bottom replaced 3 times, and yet its falling off again.

In this instructable Ill show you how to fix it forever by fitting a silver Macbook Pro bottom to it.

You wont need too much stuff just some tools and a Mac book pro bottom, I picked a used one from a computer repair shop for $10. You can also pick them up on ebay on aliexpress.

• Blow torch (no im not kidding)
• Small screw driver
• Macbook Pro bottom and screws (if you can get them)
• double sided tape

The bottom of the Macbook pro has a grate the runs along the edge nearest the screen. This is glued on and has to be removed. You can see from the second photo the inside of both bottoms are very similar.

To remove it you will have to use a blow torch and put a fair amount of heat into the grate and the base to soften the glue. Be careful not to burn the rubber feet, and I found it needed way more heat than I expected, once the glue is soft the grate will come of with hep from a screw driver.

Removal of the bottom just requires a small Philips head screw driver and there are eight screws to remove. The bottom also has three locating clips, but it only takes a small amount of force to release the clips, by prying the bottom open.

If you have access to a bit of compressed air or a vacuum cleaner, you might want to consider blowing all the dust out while you have it apart.

Now you can fit the Pro bottom. This can be a little challenging as the pro bottom does not have the clips to align the bottom properly. Also the holes are not perfectly aligned on one side. Apart from that it is a very good fit.

I fasten the in the four screw at the front edge of the laptop, and found the screws on the hinge side will not line up correctly. (see the photo) Also there are two extra screw holes on the Pro bottom that are not on the white macbook bottom. You can see in the photo the edge near the hinge can be pulled up as its not fasten to anything.

You have a couple of options here, you can use a small drill or file and carefully slot the holes, and fit the screws, or you can use some double sided tap to hold the bottom in place on the hinge side.

Both methods work well, but it is realy difficult to file out those tiny holes correctly. Ive done a couple of these laptops and the double side tape works fine.

You need four small pieces of double sided foam tape and position the tape near the screw holes near the hinge.

Once you have the tape down the backing can be removed and the bottom can be placed on. Take care to get the four screw started on the front of the laptop before placing the bottom down on the tape. Once the screw are in you can push down on the bottom and the double sided tape will stick it down, and your done.

Just a note on the screws, the white mac book screw have a larger head on them and don't sit as nicely as the mac book pro screws. So if you can pick up some screws with your new bottom, its worth putting them in.