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Powerbook Mod - The ol' change the color of the glowing apple trick... |
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 iKen stumbled across my website and has asked me to give a step by step tutorial of how to change the color of the glowing apple on Powerbooks. (I think the process is almost the same on iBooks. It is way easier than you would think it would be, you just have to get over two big hurdles: 1.) You have to have the balls the open up the display housing of your beautiful powerbook. 2.) Don’t try to rush through this. Make sure that you read through carefully before attempting the steps. Make sure you really like your choice of color before you put it all back together. But most of all, just have fun with this. It is your chance to really set your Apple Laptop off from everyone else’s. Trust me, since doing mine, the Mac users on campus can't resist coming over and asking me about it. So without further ado, enjoy.
There are a few things that you are going to need:
- 1.5mm Hex Driver (the longer the better, you will find out why in a minute)
- Small flat (jewelers) screwdriver
- A soft towel or cloth to let the laptop rest on when it is disassembled
- Printer-friendly transparencies (make sure that they are made for your ink-jet, laser, etc.)(Office Max carries their own brand of these and HP makes them as well)
- Scotch tape
- Exacto Knife
All of my writing will be based on my work with a 12 inch Powerbook. This should be fairly accurate with other models of powerbooks. For higher quality pictures of this process, visit my website.
Before we get started, just one last fair warning: This WILL void your warranty.
Ok, with that being said, lets get our hands dirty:
1.) Shut down the laptop, remove the battery and push the screen as far open as it will go.
| 2.)Take the 1.5mm Hex driver and remove the screws at the bottom corners of the screen. Make sure the screen is as far open as it will go. The screws are at a very awkward angle. Your going to have to play with the angle of the hex driver and find good way to get them out. These are the only two screws that hold the assembly together. |
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3.) Once you have the screws out and in safe keeping, take the small flat screwdriver (seriously, as small as you can get) and pry it between the silver border around the screen and the dark gray outer plastic. BE VERY CAREFUL there are little plastic nubbins on the inside of the dark gray plastic piece that latch to metal brackets on the back of the LCD. Be gentle and they will wiggle right out of the bracket. Try putting toothpicks or something small in the gap as you go so that the nubbins don’t slip back into the brackets while you are jostling the display unlatching other nubbins. The plastic nubbins start on the sides above the screws you removed.
| 4.) Once you have all of the nubbins undone (there won’t be any question if you got them all or not, should come right apart once you have got them all) let the back down gently. It will look like a pop-up book once you have laid the display backing down. BE CAREFUL not to pull the display back to far away from the display itself. There are antenna wires for the AirPort card running from the CPU part of the laptop to the display backing... don’t break these! |
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| 5.) You have now done all of the disassembling you will need to do. Here is the trickiest part. Deciding what color or design to use. I used Photoshop CS to create all of my attempts leading up to the final design. Create a document that is 145x167 pixels (wide x tall). I have put my classic apple, and my aqua design on my website for you all to download and try out. Feel free to tinker with it a little bit. All you need is any version of photoshop for it to work. |
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6.) Once you have a few designs or colors picked out. Go ahead and print them off onto the transparencies. Make sure that you are printing on the right side of the transparency, otherwise the pictures will be blotchy. Cut out the design so you only have the small rectangle with the design on it.
| 7.) Take the exacto knife and cut the tape ONLY around the top of the white gel covering the apple now. Leave that white gel there to act as a sleeve. It WON’T effect the glow of your apple in the end. Now you will be able to slide your rectangular transparency in-between the gel and the apple itself. |
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I strongly recommend at this point you carefully put the battery back in and boot the computer up. This will allow you to hold the back up to the display and get your first good idea of what your apple will look like. Be careful that the display doesn’t reattach. Check the glowing apple in the light and dark, making sure that it meets your approval.
8.)Once you have picked the design you are going to use and made sure it will work to your liking, you can tape the design down to the housing (where you cut the tape initially) and begin reattaching the display housing. Be careful not to pinch the antenna wires between the display and the housing. Also, make sure that the display housing is lined up flush around the entire display. Then go ahead and snap the housing back on all the way around.
9.) Put the two small screws in and tighten them down gently, I have found that they cant go in too far, but if you don’t tighten them enough, they will eventually come back out.
10.) You are done. Congratulations! Enjoy showing off your new and improved Apple Laptop everywhere you go. If there are any questions or comments, feel free to email me at .
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April 24 2005, 2:57 PM EDT, by |
Comments:
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| hdufour |
4/24/05, 4:59 PM EDT |
I've done this to my iBook, its pretty much the same process, except the bottom 2 screws are easier to access. I used a 6mm torx driver to open mine up. Also, i've found you can get a neat effect if you print your image in color, or on color paper. Click links for the idea...1, 2
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| trmptblwr |
4/25/05, 2:01 AM EDT |
I'm definitely gonna have to try that out. Question is, should I wait till August when my warranty runs out anyway? Either way, thanks!
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| trmptblwr |
4/25/05, 7:18 AM EDT |
Noting that I do not know how any of these will look, I made a few designs I think might look good. Okay, more than a few... feel free to use if you agree. Thanks to Digtital Blasphemy for the 'somethingblue' design.
Tiger 'X' Logo
Genius Bar
Sun
Nebula
An Actual Tiger
United States Flag
Anti-wi ndows
LOTR Fire Eye/Ring
X on tiger stripes
Just tiger stripes
"So mething Blue"
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| Adam C. |
4/26/05, 7:11 PM EDT |
Cool designs trmptblwr! thanks!
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4/27/05, 3:28 AM EDT |
No problem! If you feel like it, let me know how it turns out if you try one.
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| Berg |
5/8/05, 7:06 PM EDT |
WOOT! Ibook mod complete. Did gf's powerbook aswell
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