I've got an early 2009 macbook pro, and I accidentally broke the white plastic mechanism underneath the S button. They are labeled 130 and 140 in the picture.
Does anyone have a clue what the white things under the key are named and where I can buy a cheap replacement?
They are sometimes called scissor clips. I have bought them from thebookyard.com, which is a Mac parts seller based in the UK. Apple is known to replace them for free as a walk up service at the Genius Bar and you of course can order official repair parts from a variety of sources.
Be aware that different keys on the same keyboard can have minute differences in the layout and size of these supporting clips even when the key cap size is identical.
Alright, it turned out that I'm looking for a so called B-Clip
The number of this piece is 221159039672 If you type in this number on eBay, you'll find the right white clip.
The other number, which didn't fit for my Macbook Pro is 221159039824
I hope this solves anyone's question in the future, as it was really a pain to find the right result.
221159039672 isn't listed anywhere on google except for once here and once on eBay. Can you link to some source documenting these names/numbers?
Apparently these are called scissor clips and there are various types, identified as type A, B, C etc.
It's important you identify the type you need. To do this, use this handy reference
Full Product Page of Scissor Clips
I have a Unibody MacBook Pro early 2011, which is actually the first item on that page. What isn't immediately obvious is that if you click on the image, a new window opens up showing you images of the various scissor clips for the keyboards of the designated Mac products.
You can then double-check the type against the one you're replacing. So in my case, I can now confidently go ahead and order a bunch of type G standard clips.
I had expected there to be a link from that page to the product listing, but if there is, I can't see it. So instead, go to this page and choose your clips according to the type number you've now identified: SEE BELOW
Giving any link or code to a specific product is misleading since the 2009 MacBook Pros, like almost all Apple laptops, could use one of two different clip types. Apple sources it's keyboards from two companies, Darfon and Sunrex, and although they look identical, underneath the key caps they have their own different clip/mechanism designs and these are not interchangeable. The only way to be sure you are getting the right clip or key cap is to visually identify the clip type of your existing keyboard. That is why thebookyard.com show the photos of the different clip types.
There is no industry standard name for the different clips so companies like thebookyard define their own names for each variant. On Apple's service spare parts list they refer to them as type D or S (referring to Darfon or Sunrex) but this is not that helpful since these two companies also redesign their own clips over time, so a Darfon clip for a 2009 MacBook Pro will be different from a Darfon clip on a 2012 MacBook Pro. To uniquely identify the clip design, thebookyard designate a new letter to every new clip variant that Apple uses. Anyone who is claiming to sell a clip for a 2009 MacBook Pro without allowing you to identify which of the two types it is, is just taking a gamble. Although it is true that within certain geographical areas, one keyboard make is sometimes much more prevalent but it's still a gamble.
Before buying any clip or key cap for your Apple laptop, make sure you visually compare a clip from your existing keyboard to the clip you are buying. Note that each keyboard uses 4-6 different clips for different shape keys (arrow, shift, space, a-z etc) so you need to compare like for like, not necessary exactly the same key but the same type of key i.e. All alphabet, number and punctuation keys use the same standard clip.
I hope this helps explain what is a deceptively complex subject.
I would say double check your clip. I have a key on a Macbook Air that does not match E or G. I think Type-K is what I have purchased to fix the loose key.
