Upkeep: Show and discuss your MacBook Air upgrades!
The SSD in a MacBook Air is still easily replaceable as well as the battery. Show us what you did and help other users!
Here you can find working SSDs and adapters for the MacBook Air.
Share some pictures and your experience! 
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Stephan, I got my MacBook Airs from eBay and looked specifically for those that had liquid spills on them and would not power on and that no further testing was performed on them. I realize that whenever buying computers with liquid spills on them, you're taking a huge chance that they will be salvageable. My recent acquisition, an 11 inch MacBook Air, was purchased for $83 so I figured why not buy this and see what I can do. I ended up replacing the upper case/keyboard assembly for around $190 (brand new part from Powerbook Medic) and replaced this part on my MacBook Air. During the disassembly phase (I used the repair guide from ifixit.com) I noticed that the logic board was completely undamaged and that the track pad had some residue along it's edges so I cleaned them. The repair guides from ifixit are very helpful and I learned that working on MacBook Airs are very easy. With the new part reinstalled I ended up with a fully restored MacBook Air and am now waiting on the Sintech adapter so that I can install my M.2 drive.
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Hi Macdctr, that sounds like a great bargain! Good to see damaged machines run again!
I once had one with a logicboard that got water on it. Cleaned it with alcohol, and it was perfectly fine. That is my only experience with water damage though - and it was involuntary as the seller has not been completely honest.
Let us know how that M.2 drive turns out!
I refurbished a 13 inch MBA as well and swapped out the 2013 i5 logic board for a 2015 i7 2.2GHz 8GB logic board. I also swapped out the upper case/keyboard assembly for a brand new one from ifixit.com and added a Samsung 850PRO 512GB NVMe M.2 drive using a Sintech M.2 adapter (link below showing the M.2 drive installed in my refurbished MBA13).
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4788/39804237985_5c7fb4e0a0_o.jpg
The performance of my upgraded MBA is much faster than what I have with my current 2012 15 inch Retina MBP. It is amazing!
The Samsung 850PRO disk speed test (see below link) shows vast improvements in write/read speeds.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/864/40403748265_3689d651c4_o.png
Yeah, they are really fast machines! They started out like the 12" MacBook nowadays, but they became very powerful in regard of processing power.
Why did you change the top case completely? I once had to change a keyboard. Lots and lots of screws, but much cheaper.
Stephan, in both cases my MBA11 and MBA13 had liquid spills over the keyboard assembly so I felt it would be better to swap out this component preventing any issues that may come up. Also by doing so I got to learn just how easy it is to replace anything inside this laptop. I have found it is very easy to work on and to source parts from many different sources. The upper case/keyboard assemblies were sourced from ifixit.com (MBA13) and Powerbook Medic (MBA11). It is also worth noting that some parts can be sourced thru eBay for cheaper so it is still worth taking a look.
That is very true! It is a machine that is nice to work on. You are right, however, to change that parts that got damaged to prevent further issues. It can turn into a real hobby though
I will end up doing one more 2015 MBA13 sometime in the near future so that I can fully spec the laptop then give it to my daughter to replace her aging 2010 MBA she currently uses....
Whenever I finish doing these projects I always run Apple Hardware Test when starting and when finishing to make sure it does not detect any issues with my laptop....
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This is my current MBA11 before I source a new 2015 i7 8GB logic board for it this summer...
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/866/27064254697_9de7451a4d_o.jpg
The hardware test is a good tip, I will put that more prominently on the page. Very nice tool to find errors. Thank you! Good to hear the work goes on
Stephan, you go into Apple Hardware Test by holding down the "D" key during boot.
Oh, one thing to note when upgrading from 2012 to 2015 MBA you also need to change out the microphone. The 2012 microphone is single and the 2013 and later microphone are dual. Only way to get one is from ebay. For MBA11s the link is here
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?__isEmpty=&_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.X2014+MacBook+Air+11"+microphone.TRS0&_nkw=2014+MacBook+Air+11"+microphone&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=2014+MacBook+Air+11"+Airport+Card
for MBA13s the link is here
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?__isEmpty=&_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.X2014+MacBook+Air+13"+microphone.TRS0&_nkw=2014+MacBook+Air+13"+microphone&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=2014+MacBook+Air+11"+microphone
The MacBook Air WiFi/BT card for MBA11 and MBA13 are also different. If you're lucky you might find one on eBay but the MBA13 WiFi/BT cards are more frequent there. To guarantee you're getting the right WiFi/BT card for MBA11 you should go to PowerBook Medic to get them. Here is the link
https://www.powerbookmedic.com/MacBook-Air-11-Airport-Card-p-24185.html
ifixit.com sells the MBA13 WiFi/BT card but you can get them much cheaper from ebay. The link to ifixit's card is
https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/MacBook-Air-Mid-2013-to-Early-2015-AirPort-Bluetooth-Board/IF108-044-1
Ifixit's Pro Tech Tool Kit is an essential part of your computer repair if any of you reviewing this want to take on a project like this... I highly recommend you get this first before starting. Every tool you will need is part of this kit and I firmly believe if you're going to take apart and reassemble a computer you need to have the right tools before starting your project...here is the link:
https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Pro-Tech-Toolkit/IF145-307
Thanks for that information! Small things like the microphone can drive you crazy. Much appreciated!
I just found out today that you can also use the Samsung 960 PRO/EVO for your M.2 drive. I will find out this summer when I order my 960 PRO 1TB drive.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Samsung 981 M.2 drives will not work so do not buy them.
Yeah, thats true. We listed most of the compatible drives here for better overview:
https://macandegg.com/upkeep/macbook-air-ssd-storage-upgrade-replacement-how-to/
Thanks for the extensive guide! I am just wondering, if a Kingston A1000 would work in a 2013 MBA. Does any of you have experiences with it?
Thank you bbandras and welcome in the forums! Great that you did directly link to the specs! As they state, the SSDs should work in the MacBook as it is a NVMe SSDs. So you should be safe using it (with the possible little risk when going the non-official way).
What it makes very attractive is the good price. It has a reason though: The specs say: PCIe NVMe™ Gen 3.0 x 2 Lanes. So you get 2 lanes and not 4. That means you won't get the highest of speeds. Here comes the fun part for you though: the 2013 MBA only offers 2 lanes anyway.
So my tip: go for it and let us know how it turns out!
Thanks for the answer! I am only worried about the "M&B"key layout of the A1000 as the linked adapter doesn't seem to accept it.
I see. The two keys just mean that I does run in a 2 lane and 4 lane port (if used in a four lane port, just 2 are used). If it were a 4 lane SSD, it would just have one key.
The important information in the linked picture though are not the keys but the mentioning of "SATA". If you used a SATA SSDs that would not work. A NVMe SSD with two keys is no problem.