Macbook Air 11 Early 2014 Heat Sink Replacement Repair Guide

Difficulty

Difficult

Steps

Time Required

                          30 minutes - 2 hours

Sections

Lower Case
2 steps
Battery Connector
1 step
Fan
5 steps
Heat Sink
2 steps

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BackMacBook Air 11" Early 2014
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Introduction

Be sure to apply a new layer of thermal paste before reinstalling your heat sink.

What you need

Step 1

              Lower Case

Shut down and close your computer. Lay it on a soft surface top-side down.
Remove the following ten screws:
Two 8 mm 5-point Pentalobe screws
Eight 2.5 mm 5-point Pentalobe screws
The special screwdriver needed to remove the 5-point Pentalobe screws can be found here.

Shut down and close your computer. Lay it on a soft surface top-side down.

Remove the following ten screws:

Two 8 mm 5-point Pentalobe screws

Eight 2.5 mm 5-point Pentalobe screws

The special screwdriver needed to remove the 5-point Pentalobe screws can be found here.

1024

Step 2

Wedge your fingers between the display and the lower case and pull upward to pop the lower case off the Air.

Wedge your fingers between the display and the lower case and pull upward to pop the lower case off the Air.

Step 3

              Battery Connector

In this step you will disconnect the battery to help avoid shorting out any components during service.
Use the flat end of a spudger to pry both short sides of the battery connector upward to disconnect it from its socket on the logic board.
Bend the battery cable slightly away from the logic board so the connector will not accidentally bend back and make contact with its socket.

In this step you will disconnect the battery to help avoid shorting out any components during service.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry both short sides of the battery connector upward to disconnect it from its socket on the logic board.

Bend the battery cable slightly away from the logic board so the connector will not accidentally bend back and make contact with its socket.

Step 4

Fan

Use the tip of a spudger to carefully push on each side of the iSight camera cable connector to loosen it out of its socket on the logic board.
We recommend you gently “walk” the connector out of its socket.

Use the tip of a spudger to carefully push on each side of the iSight camera cable connector to loosen it out of its socket on the logic board.

We recommend you gently “walk” the connector out of its socket.

Step 5

Peel the iSight camera cable up off the adhesive securing it to the fan.

Peel the iSight camera cable up off the adhesive securing it to the fan.

Step 6

Use the tip of a spudger to carefully flip up the retaining flap on the fan cable ZIF socket.
Be sure you are prying up on the hinged retaining flap, not the socket itself.

Use the tip of a spudger to carefully flip up the retaining flap on the fan cable ZIF socket.

Be sure you are prying up on the hinged retaining flap, not the socket itself.

Step 7

Remove the following three screws securing the fan to the upper case:
Two 5.5 mm T5 Torx screws
One 4.6 mm T5 Torx screw
In some models this is a 3.6 mm T5 Torx screw.

Remove the following three screws securing the fan to the upper case:

Two 5.5 mm T5 Torx screws

One 4.6 mm T5 Torx screw

In some models this is a 3.6 mm T5 Torx screw.

Step 8

Lift, but do not remove the fan out of its recess in the upper case.
Carefully pull the fan ribbon cable out of its socket as you remove the fan from the Air.

Lift, but do not remove the fan out of its recess in the upper case.

Carefully pull the fan ribbon cable out of its socket as you remove the fan from the Air.

Step 9

              Heat Sink

Remove the four 2.5 mm T5 Torx screws securing the heat sink to the logic board.

Remove the four 2.5 mm T5 Torx screws securing the heat sink to the logic board.

Step 10

If the heat sink seems to be stuck to the logic board after removing all four screws, use a spudger to carefully separate the heat sink from the face of the CPU.
Remove the heat sink from the logic board.
When reinstalling the heat sink, be sure to apply a new layer of thermal paste. If you have never applied thermal paste before, we have a guide that makes it easy.

If the heat sink seems to be stuck to the logic board after removing all four screws, use a spudger to carefully separate the heat sink from the face of the CPU.

Remove the heat sink from the logic board.

When reinstalling the heat sink, be sure to apply a new layer of thermal paste. If you have never applied thermal paste before, we have a guide that makes it easy.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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                    Sam Goldheart

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John W - Oct 5, 2016

you should seriously note the danger of the cpu screw holders. apple for some reason decided to attach the fricken screw receivers/standoffs via surface mount. they dont have a bottom cap either. use a screw slightly too long or turn too far and pop(screw pushes against motherboard and pops the holder off)… one corner is unable to be screwed in. ask me how i learned this…lol…I cant see how this design decision helps anything but apples wallet. the other side of the board has components smds as well so its not like a really short through hole was undo-able.

Bogdaniec Ze Zbyszka - Nov 5, 2018

There is step missing between 3 and 4. There is another ribbon cable over fan that is still there in step 3 but gone in step 4.

ChiKen - Apr 3, 2020

The step 3 and 4, there should be a step removing the I/O cable. I/O cable must be removed or disassembled to access iSight camera cable. The I/O cable is covering the entire iSight cable, and without removing, accessing the iSight cable will extremely difficult.

Introduction#

What you need#

Team#

Introduction

What you need

Team