Major surgery, but not too bad if you're familiar with all the different types of connectors. FYI, the screw that's behind the logic board (accessed through the hole in the middle of the board), mine stayed in the bracket after it was unscrewed. The instructions implied that we needed to pull that screw out through the hole, but you might not need to, as I didn't.

Thanks, great guide!

I don't understand how people can say that you don't need to remove the speaker, unless all they were doing was replacing the SATA drive with a 2.5-inch SSD. If you're using this guide to replace the SSD on the back side of the logic board, you definitely need to remove all the components.

Max & Stephen are correct. Not difficult at all if you start at the right end (either end, probably, but I liked staying away from the power supply), and use a magnetic driver.

What fixed it for me was dusting off an old OWC Thunderbolt dock that has power. From some of the posts above, it seems that after a while the Apple adapter needs some added power to function. Definitely seems odd to me. (And mine still has trouble waking sometimes, but an unplug/re-plug usually wakes it again.)

Care to share a link to the dock you're using?

What I don't understand is why the Apple adapter worked for awhile, and then quit working. It's definitely the weak link though...

It's been a long time since anyone posted on this topic, but here's a funny one for you. A client recently retired a Thunderbolt Display, so I decided to repurpose it by putting a vesa mount on it and hooking it up to my M1 Mac mini via Apple's "Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter". It worked great for a few weeks, then started taking awhile to wake up, and this morning wouldn't wake at all. I hooked it up to a 2015 MacBook Air, which doesn't require the adapter, obviously, and it works fine.

I've tried two different adapters, as well as a Thunderbolt 2 cable, connected to the Thunderbolt port on the back of the display, then to the mini with the adapter. I also tried unplugging everything for a bit and waiting 30 minutes or so. Either way, no go.

Any thoughts? I'm guessing that it doesn't like the adapters for some reason, but why did it work for awhile then stop? The display is fine, as evidenced by the fact that it works when attached to the older MacBook Air with Thunderbolt 2.

Color me puzzled.

An even better way is to use an "Xacto" knife with a #11 blade. It's a flat blade, perpendicular to the handle, and makes clean, short work of removing the remnants of the tape!

Another great tip for removing the old adhesive tape: use a #11 Xacto knife blade. It's basically a very sharp flat blade (the edge is perpendicular to the handle, like a mini paint scraper), that works beautifully to remove the adhesive remnants!

Thanks @jompo! Great tip... no, awesome tip! Worked like a charm for me, and saved a ton of work/mess. I've never done the solvent method on any of the batteries I've replaced with the help of iFixIt's excellent guides; I use a plastic card with a 'sharpened' edge to work the batteries loose. Way, way easier than having to take all the innards out (and risk breaking something) and using the solvent.

Another tip: the best tool for removing the remaining double-sided adhesive tape is a #11 Xacto blade; it's basically a super sharp tiny 'paint scraper' shape, and removes the tape remnants beautifully.

Also, quick note to the great folks behind iFixIt: I finally wised up and am buying all my batteries from you now. I learned my lesson about buying cheap knock-offs on Amazon that had to be replaced again in a year. No more; from now on, you get all my business!

Huge thanks all around!

UPDATE: I completed the job, rebooted, and all is well, wifi and all. Thanks anyway; gotta love iFixIt!!