Just two notes in the beginning: (1) On this page you might find links to other web pages. clicking these links will take you to another location, which I am not responsible for.
(2) Performing the procedure described below is very risky and it is very likely that you irreversibly damage your notebook. I do not take any responsibility for anything that happens with your computer just because you have done something like described here (what might be wrong). Please understand this as a report about what is possible instead of a guide.

TAKE CARE! Notebook parts and connectors are designed for saving weight and reducing size. Do not expect anything that is as solid as for example the power and data connectors of an 3.5" SCSI hard drive in your desktop mac. Thus, cables and connectors might rip/shear/brake easily, if you do not check carefully for any cables attached while removing parts.

Intro

I had the problem that my PowerBook was damaged, so I borrowed an old iBook to continue working. First I took out the HD out of my PowerBook (which is quite easy) and put it into an external FireWire case. Quickly it turned out, that an iBook with an external HD is not fun. So I wanted to put the HD into the iBook. Because my PowerBook broke for two times (see other reports on this page) - for the second HD replacement I decided to take pictures about how annoying this is. Other companies have mounted the HD much more service-friendly in their notebooks (like IBM) ...

Replacement Main Issue

The difficult part is to open the housing - in fact, to separate the top housing from the bottom housing. The two parts are not held together by screws (as one would appreciate it) but are clipped together. I did not manage to un-clip the two parts without damaging the edges. Maybe with a softer tool (a plastic knife?) this could work very well. The good news is, under normal conditions you will not see it, but one can feel it with moving the fingertips along the edges. It is very likely that every time the housing of the iBook is opened the edges will be damaged.

All images are 640 by 480 - they must be opened in a new window for full resolution.

Replacement Procedure

The iBook I have used was a 500Mhz model with 128MB onboard. It is my guess that the replacement procedure applies to other (later) models as well, but find out for yourself ...

First the keyboard must be removed.

Then all screws must be removed: On the image the screw driver points to a screw, which is hidden below a magnet (respect, Apple!)

Also the memory shield with its two screws must be removed with its two screws.

Then all screws on the bottom side must be removed. Two are hidden at the CD tray. The tray can be opened with a paper clip put into the tiny hole. First this one ...

... and then the other one:

All screws on the bottom should be removed: three torx at the bottom and the three hidden under the rubber feet. The rubber feet can be removed by using a tiny flat screw driver. With the flat screwdriver one must find the right spot to move them out. The rubber feet are not glued, so the only challenge is not to damage the rubber when removing them. Also: there are two screws at the battery compartment (yes, the battery should have been removed in the beginning already).

Starting with bending off the bottom case works best with starting from the side between the CD-drive and the hinge. Then it worked best for me moving to the side where the ports are.

BTW: his procedure works quite well with the memory shield.

One thing, which is not shown is the latch at the battery compartment. I took me quite a while to pass this section, but with some pressing and drawing it worked finally. That said, one should not not wonder that this is difficult.

After the bottom case has been removed the shield for the logic board is visible. Now the top case must be removed. To do so, one does not need to remove the shielding, but 4 screws at the edges that are connected with the top case. Two of them are at the left side of the battery compartment. One of them is holding the sleeping LED. And the last is just a few centimeters on the right of the sleeping LED.

After this the top case can be lifted at the side of the ports first. The top case is clipped at the lower edge (hand rest area).

And the top case must be lifted at the DC connector side, which requires some caution. Before, removing the connector of the trackpad unit from the logic board is necessary. When lifting the top case, one must be cautious, because there is one cable, which connects the power button with the logic board.

After that the top case can be lifted completely and put aside the display.

As the next step the shielding must be removed. Removing the screws (one at bottom side, two at battery connector and two at the top, but they are obvious to see) and (because of lazyness) just bend up. It is not very professional, but no one will see it later on. what is not shown in the picture is that the top shield is also taped at four spots: three yellow tapes and some silver tape at the trackpad area. I have removed the tape and had no problems with applying the tape again.

Then the connector can be removed and finally the HD. The HD is mounted on some screwless brackets ... they are quite unhandy to place them in with the new HD.
Hint for people transferring the HD from the Titanium: The small black screws in the sides of the HD can be kept for assembly in the iBook as well. Just the rubber rings from the HD of the Titanium must be removed.

When assembling the top case it is important to mind the cables - otherwise they might get squeezed.

One difficult thing is to put this screw at the right place. It must be placed quite deep between the parts. But to my surprise there is a magnet, which holds the screw magically in the right position for fastening (respect, Apple!).

When assembling the bottom case, it is important not to forget the two springs, which let the battery pop up if unlocked.

This might look easy, but ... it takes quite a while. Once, after I have finished and everything was assembled together again, I realised that I have forgotten to connect the power botton. First it is really a bad feeling to press the power button and nothing happens after a procedure of this kind! But then I remembered quickly that I have removed this connector. So, I needed to remove the top case and assemble it again - it took me about 25 minutes ... is anyone faster? - Tell me how much time it took for you and I will put it on this page.

Last but not least I would like to mention that it is really a gift to use Mac OS X: I have just put the HD of my broken PowerBook into a borrowed iBook (and back) and everything was working seamlessly without any adjustments (except from the noticeably slow speed). Can anyone point out another OS, which offers the same level of freedom?

Copyright (C) 2004 [MICHAEL C JAEGER].

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