Macbook Air 11 Early 2014 Ssd Replacement Repair Guide

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

                          10 - 15 minutes

Sections

Lower Case
2 steps
Battery Connector
1 step
SSD
2 steps

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BackMacBook Air 11" Early 2014
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Introduction

Before you perform this repair, if at all possible, back up your existing SSD. Then, either familiarize yourself with internet recovery or create a bootable external drive so you’ll be ready to install macOS onto your new drive and migrate your data to the new SSD.

Finally, we strongly recommend installing macOS 10.13 High Sierra (or a later macOS) before replacing the original SSD from your MacBook Air. Most new SSDs require updated storage drivers not found in versions of macOS prior to High Sierra.

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

SSD

Remove the single 2.9 mm T5 Torx screw securing the SSD to the logic board.

Remove the single 2.9 mm T5 Torx screw securing the SSD to the logic board.

Step 5

Lift the free end of the SSD just enough to get a good hold of it.
Do not excessively lift the end of the SSD.
Pull the drive straight out of its socket and remove it from the logic board.
When reinstalling the SSD, be sure it is properly seated before reinstalling its retaining screw.

Lift the free end of the SSD just enough to get a good hold of it.

Do not excessively lift the end of the SSD.

Pull the drive straight out of its socket and remove it from the logic board.

When reinstalling the SSD, be sure it is properly seated before reinstalling its retaining screw.

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

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                    Sam Goldheart

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gustyn2000 - Jun 25, 2016

can I use my HD SSD from MB Air 2011MID / 13" to this one, EARLY2014 / 11" ??

Daniel - Jul 4, 2016

To keep my files from my old SSD, I backed it up using Time Machine and restored from that backup during OS installation. Wish this guide was more clear on that, but I’ve successfully upgraded my system!

Ezekiel E Cortez - Jun 17, 2018

Agree with Daniel on OS installation and transfer of files from old disk. This last step needs to be in this guide for sure, otherwise it is an incomplete fix.

Nancy D Morrison - Nov 23, 2018

The repair itself went smoothly; the advice to make sure the replacement SSD was properly seated was appropriate.

However, the essential step of transferring the OS from backup was challenging. The replacement SSD (OWC Aura Pro) requires that the computer run High Sierra (macOS 10.13) because of needed firmware, but my computer was running Sierra (macOS 10.12). I installed 10.13 on the SSD that I was about to replace, but this was not sufficient. The replacement SSD was not recognized. The backup from which the system is to be restored also has to run 10.13. I resolved this impasse by booting the computer in target disk mode with a new machine that is running 10.13 and cloning the system from that machine.

The instructions that came with the OWC Aura Pro SSD say, “MacOS 10.13 High Sierra … must be installed on the host computer before installing the OWC Aura Pro SSD.“ This information, along with the fact that the backup must also run High Sierra, should be on this website.

Amigo Foodie - Dec 29, 2021

excellent set of instructions. thank u

Introduction#

What you need#

Team#

Introduction

What you need

Team