Chosen Solution

Can anybody tell me if the unibody keyboard on A1278 fits the A1342. I want to try to light up my unibody wit the keyboard. Please help. Cheers!

You’d need more than just a keyboard to pull that upgrade off. There ’s no circuitry on the logic board to drive the A1278 keyboard backlight… and changing just the keyboard alone is IMHO an exercise in masochism. If this answer is acceptable please remember to return and mark it.

I’d like to know, barring the backlight, is it possible to make the keyboard of a 1278 work on a 1342? The solo keyboards are much cheaper and I want to create a cool hybrid. Thanks

Yes it is possible. Keyboard from A1278 works fine on A1342, but! The light layer do it Fat, and that may be problem. the light layer powered on 14-18V and need to use additional Led driver, because motherboard on A1342 not have it. you may light up A1342 but without keyboard light regulation

Removing the keyboard from an A1342 MacBook is a rather involved process. To answer those who came here wanting to know whether the A1278 keyboard keycaps will work with the A1342, I have verified that the keycaps are indeed compatible. Just be sure to use keyboards prior to late 2011 as the hinge structure changed with the Late 2011 models. The other factor is getting the backlight to work. In short, it is impossible without some serious modding. The backlight on the MacBook Pro keyboards are variable to adjustment through the backlight brightness keys on the keyboard and the ambient light sensor. There is a backlight driver on the logicboard specifically for the purpose of controlling how much power is routed to the backlight to adjust its brightness. The A1342 MacBooks lack the driver since they were never intended to run a backlight system. Despite the disparaging news in the previous paragraph, a backlight can be modded onto the A1342 MacBook. Such a project would require the following….

  1. Order an A1278 backlight and A1278 keyboard (the keyboard can be broken as, for this project, we’re only needing the keycaps).
  2. Locate a reliable power source on the logicboard to power the backlight. I don’t know the power requirements of the backlight though I would suggest using one of the 5V pins on the USB ports since the USB ports are relatively strong, pose less risk of damaging the board, and immediately receive and maintain power from the moment the computer turns on.
  3. Disassemble the MacBook and install the backlight sheet. Solder a ground wire to the ground terminal on the backlight sheet cable and the power line to the other terminal.
  4. Tape/glue the backlight in place.
  5. Move the back keycaps from the A1278 keyboard to the A1342 MacBook. This is important as the MacBook Pro keycaps have transparent plastic with paint. The letter title on the keycap lacks paint which allows the backlight to illuminate the keycap title while the MacBook keycaps are just grey print on the keycap. You can leave the regular keycaps but then the backlight will only shine around the perimeter of the keycaps not through the keycaps. Note, the end result will be an invariable backlight that is always on at full brightness. If you want a variable backlight, try using an arduino and create your own backlight driver. I bet you can find an ambient light sensor for arduino. You can also get creative and use an arduino controller and custom lights and color sheets to make colored backlights. I haven’t completed this on my own though I contemplate doing this some day. I just upgraded from an A1181 MacBook to the A1342 MacBook and I still depend too much on the new MacBook to try this process. I plan to sell my old A1181 MacBook.