keys Archives

Teardown And Rebuild

M1 Teardown – Screen & Keys

M1 Arrow Key, LCD

LCD and keys, can be tedious, be careful and be aware of the process; ‘teardown’ process.

Visual Inspection, Keys

Starting with the easiest part of the refurbishment process – what is the easiest part of the build? The keys. Keys, Screen/LCD and then the touch bar. Please note, the refurbishment process required two teardowns, so to speak. First, let’s verify the working parts and inspect the touch bar on it’s own. The process, you could say, is a one-step job. However, I did this job in two parts for the sake of my own sanity.

The key here, is this: I know that if I could get the screen working, we would be in good shape. Cost aside, I was trying to avoid purchasing the M1 upper case which holds all parts associated with the computer. So, in other words, it’s a no-brainer, keys on the keyboard, LCD screen, then touch bar.

Teardown

Screws and Bottom Case

Apply Suction

Visual Inspection

Battery Cable

Remove Cable

Board Screw

A Closer Look

Screw Removed

Hinge Covers

Cover Screws

Left Main Hinge

Right Main Hinge

Internal Repair, Replace LCD

Start the teardown bell! We’ve completed our inspection and are beginning with the easiest of the three R/R (remove and replace) parts in this teardown. Keys can sometimes be tricky, so if you are familiar with them, please refer to the video below. If keys are a confusing concept to you, just focus on the left arrow key. There are several online resources available for reference, with Snazzy providing a helpful video walkthrough of the process. We breeze through the key change with ease.

For more detailed information, you can also check out Snazzy Labs, quick video on how to replace keys. It’s important to note – that there may be some differences between models, especially the M1. That’s why the video is so helpful! The key takeaway is that quick snap keys convenient but can tricky if you are not familiar with how scissor clips work. I recommend purchasing new keys (up, down, left and right) – make sure to get the ‘left arrow’ key) for a simple slide an click installation process. It’s as easy as pie.

Moving On To The Display

So, the cracked screen… We used a clamp tool and suction cups to get under the bottom case. A recommendation: iFixit has a variety of tools and parts for fixing things. We’ll talk more about them later, but we have bought a few items for them. You will also need adhesive remover, can you guess where we got ours? This is not a paid advertisement, but they have some great tools if you don’t have anything in your electric/technical toolbox.

We start by removing the bottom case when replacing the screen. Beginning with the batter cable for the M1 Screen & Key’s fix, it’s important to be carful as cables and parts are delicate and can easily break. So, remove the cable cover, battery cable, and screws. The most nerve-wracking part is dealing with the different sizes of screws, types of drivers, and prying tools required for the job (TORX, pryer(s), spudgers, tweezers etc). Once the battery cables and screws are removed, we can unscrew the hinge covers and move onto the antennas. It can be challenging to see the screws on the antennas, so good luck!

Teardown Upper, Goal LCD Removal

Locate Antennae Bay

Remove Cable(s)

Antennae Screw(s)

Remove Screw(s)

Antennae Screw(s)

LCD Removal and Replace

The antenna will need additional cables, screws and bars leading down to the antenna and LCD springs. After installing those items, we will once again remove the antenna wire cover and detach the wires. It is important to exercise caution and be mindful of leaving the piece in better condition than when we found it. When removing covers, do so gently to keep glued area clean and free of debris (we had to address some glass bits).

Teardown Continues With the Antennae and Cables

Prep Antennae

Antennae Screw(s)

Remove Cable Connectors

Antennae Cable(s) Removed

Hinge(s)

Antennae Cleared

Once, the antenna bar is clear, the LCD hinge screws will need to be removed, along with the springs and mounting hardware. Voila, the LCD has been detached.

Antennae, Hinges and Test LCD

Remove Display

LCD Hinges

Reattach LCD

M1 Screen & Keys Wrap Up

This concludes the M1 Screen & Keys section of the refurbishment process. As mentioned earlier, we will now proceed to the touch bar. We went back, replaced all screws and cables to confirm that the LCD swap and key are working as expected, and we found that the touch bar was not working. We verified all parts (sans the touch bar) continued with wiping and cleaning in the following post. If you missed the first three articles, you can find those here: 1. Self Repair, 2. Refurb, and 3. Visual Inspection, Teardown. Cheers.

Work To Identify Norms, Baseline Tests

M1 Inspection – Screen, Touch bar & Keys

M1 Inspection Report

Time will be relevant here, take your time, clean up as you go; we will be replacing several items, the screen, touch bar and keys on the M1 MBP.

Inspection, Condition

First, let’s start with the inspection. Let’s call it the M1 Visual Inspection & Teardown. Shall we begin? We will start with the physical inspection, then move into the software inspection, computational tests and gather the relevant information to start the refurbishment. So, what is the physical damage? Does this damage impact the computers ability to function or compute? In turn, we want to know where the damage is and how it might impact the machine’s performance, computing power, UI (User Interface) etc…

Visual Hardware Inspection

Top Case

Left Bottom Case Corner

Corner Right

Side Case Blemishing

Screen Issues

Touch Issues

Keys

Keys & Touch

Sand, Glass Debris

Secondly, we can observe screen issues, such as LCD problems where the screen is affected by broken glass or screen distortion. Upon close examination, scratches and broken/cracked glass can be seen in the black sublayer of the LCD screen. At the bottom of the display, near the hinge, and just about the touch bar. There may have been some debris or object inside this screen area when the computer was closed by the user. At least, that is my hunch.

Now, as for the case, the metal case appears worn but not excessively so. All corners have some damage, scratches, etc., but overall it seems okay (the case did it’s job). There is nothing that raises a red flag indicating damage that could cause internal or computing issues.

Interfaces: LCD, Trackpad and Keyboard

Thirdly, in the next step of the M1 Visual Inspection & Teardown article, let’s inspect the keyboard. The directional arrow is missing and the touch bar is no longer illuminating… I wonder if the key came off and damaged the screen some how? Not likely, but something appears to have been closed in the laptop where the touch bar and screen would meet upon closing the laptop. Another takeaway is that the machine may need an overhaul, or a new upper (upper case, which can be extremely expensive as it will include all parts ).

Finally, parting out, or fixing each piece, individually is not recommended. Now a disclaimer – this is my own machine. Typically ,items under warranty will be processed through Apple via Apple Care. Utilize Apple Care or Apple+ where you can, assuming you’ve purchased the warranty/insurance. If not, things can get expensive. There are resources out there as you can imagine. Hopefully posts like this and those following help to provide some guidance in dire straits.

Ok, now that we got that out, let’s get to the first fix; this left arrow key and LCD screen. Quickly, see other articles linked to this story: Self Repair, Refurb, Screen & Keys and Touchbar