Macbook Air 11 Late 2010 Logic Board Replacement Repair Guide

Difficulty

Difficult

Steps

Time Required

                          1 - 2 hours

Sections

Lower Case
2 steps
Battery
1 step
Solid-State Drive
2 steps
I/O Board Cable
2 steps
Fan
3 steps
Battery
2 steps
Logic Board
10 steps
Logic Board
4 steps

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BackMacBook Air 11" Late 2010
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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Lower Case

Before proceeding, close your computer and 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 eight 5-point Pentalobe screws can be found here.

Before proceeding, close your computer and 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 eight 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.
Remove the lower case and set it aside.

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

Remove the lower case and set it aside.

Step 3

              Battery

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 contact 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 contact its socket.

Step 4

              Solid-State Drive

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

Use a spudger to help lift the free end of the SSD just enough to grab it with your other hand.
Do not lift the end of the SSD excessively.
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.

Use a spudger to help lift the free end of the SSD just enough to grab it with your other hand.

Do not lift the end of the SSD excessively.

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.

Step 6

              I/O Board Cable

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the I/O board cable connector upward out of its socket on the I/O board.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the I/O board cable connector upward out of its socket on the I/O board.

Step 7

The following connector has an especially deep socket. Use care when disconnecting it.
While gently pulling the I/O board cable upward near its connection to the logic board, use the tip of a spudger to pry upward on alternating sides of the connector to help “walk” it out of its socket.
Remove the I/O board cable.

The following connector has an especially deep socket. Use care when disconnecting it.

While gently pulling the I/O board cable upward near its connection to the logic board, use the tip of a spudger to pry upward on alternating sides of the connector to help “walk” it out of its socket.

Remove the I/O board cable.

Step 8

Fan

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 9

Remove the following three screws securing the fan to the upper case:
Two 5.2 mm T5 Torx screws
One 3.6 mm T5 Torx screw

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

Two 5.2 mm T5 Torx screws

One 3.6 mm T5 Torx screw

Step 10

Lift the fan out of the upper case and carefully pull the fan ribbon cable out of its socket as you remove it from the Air.

Lift the fan out of the upper case and carefully pull the fan ribbon cable out of its socket as you remove it from the Air.

Step 11

              Battery

Remove the following five screws securing the battery to the upper case:
Two 5.2 mm T5 Torx screws
One 6 mm T5 Torx screw
Two 2.6 mm T5 Torx screws

Remove the following five screws securing the battery to the upper case:

One 6 mm T5 Torx screw

Two 2.6 mm T5 Torx screws

Step 12

Do not touch or squeeze the six lithium polymer cells when handling the battery.
Lift the battery from its edge nearest the logic board and remove it from the upper case.

Do not touch or squeeze the six lithium polymer cells when handling the battery.

Lift the battery from its edge nearest the logic board and remove it from the upper case.

Step 13

              Logic Board

Disconnect the I/O board by pulling the power cable away from its socket on the logic board.
Pull the cable parallel to the face of the logic board toward the front edge of the Air.

Disconnect the I/O board by pulling the power cable away from its socket on the logic board.

Pull the cable parallel to the face of the logic board toward the front edge of the Air.

Step 14

Use the tip of a spudger or your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the trackpad ribbon cable ZIF socket.
Be sure you are prying up on the hinged retaining flap, not the socket itself.
Pull the trackpad ribbon cable straight out of its socket toward the front edge of the Air.

Use the tip of a spudger or your fingernail to flip up the retaining flap on the trackpad ribbon cable ZIF socket.

Pull the trackpad ribbon cable straight out of its socket toward the front edge of the Air.

Step 15

Use the tip of a spudger to de-route the right speaker cable from the slot cut into the logic board.

Use the tip of a spudger to de-route the right speaker cable from the slot cut into the logic board.

Step 16

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the right speaker cable connector up and out of its socket on the logic board.
Pry up from beneath the cables.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the right speaker cable connector up and out of its socket on the logic board.

Pry up from beneath the cables.

Step 17

Gently push the tip of a spudger under the black plastic flap stuck to the display data cable lock to make the lock pop upward and away from the socket.
While holding the lock away from the socket, use the tip of a spudger and your fingers to gently remove the display data cable from its socket.
Do not pull upward on the display data cable as you disconnect it, as its socket may break off the logic board.

Gently push the tip of a spudger under the black plastic flap stuck to the display data cable lock to make the lock pop upward and away from the socket.

While holding the lock away from the socket, use the tip of a spudger and your fingers to gently remove the display data cable from its socket.

Do not pull upward on the display data cable as you disconnect it, as its socket may break off the logic board.

Step 18

Remove the small rubber gasket from the corner of the upper case near the display data cable.

Remove the small rubber gasket from the corner of the upper case near the display data cable.

Step 19

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry both antenna cable connectors up and off their sockets on the AirPort/Bluetooth card.

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry both antenna cable connectors up and off their sockets on the AirPort/Bluetooth card.

Step 20

Gently de-route the antenna cables from the slot cut into the logic board.

Gently de-route the antenna cables from the slot cut into the logic board.

Step 21

Remove the three 3.6 mm T5 Torx screws securing the logic board to the upper case.

Remove the three 3.6 mm T5 Torx screws securing the logic board to the upper case.

Step 22

Gently lift the logic board assembly out of the upper case, minding the fragile heat sink and any cables that may get caught.

Gently lift the logic board assembly out of the upper case, minding the fragile heat sink and any cables that may get caught.

Step 23

              Logic Board

Remove the single 2.9 mm T5 Torx screw securing the AirPort/Bluetooth card to the logic board.

Remove the single 2.9 mm T5 Torx screw securing the AirPort/Bluetooth card to the logic board.

Step 24

Slightly lift the free end of the AirPort/Bluetooth board and pull it out of its socket on the logic board.
Remove the AirPort/Bluetooth board from the logic board.

Slightly lift the free end of the AirPort/Bluetooth board and pull it out of its socket on the logic board.

Remove the AirPort/Bluetooth board from the logic board.

Step 25

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

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

Step 26

If the heat sink seems to be stuck to the logic board after removing all eight screws, use a spudger to carefully separate the heat sink from the faces of the CPU and GPU.
Remove the heat sink from the logic board.
Logic board remains.
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 eight screws, use a spudger to carefully separate the heat sink from the faces of the CPU and GPU.

Remove the heat sink from the logic board.

Logic board remains.

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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Author

                                      with 7 other contributors

                    Andrew Bookholt

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ubenice - May 21, 2014

Another Great Guide by you guys! Thanks

Aprimus - Mar 11, 2016

This Logic board is compatible with a macbook air 11inch 2011 model?

igorfeghali - Nov 16, 2016

Just so you guys know I could successfully reaplace the A1370 Core2Duo Late 2010 board for a A1370 i7 Mid 2011 board. you are going to need the heatsink and battery from the newer model as well. the problem I am facing right now is the wifi/bluetooth antenna been too short for the new position of the airport card. as soon as I get a chance I’ll try to re route the cables and try to fix it.

kautame - Feb 18, 2017

Igorfeghali, another question: why do you need the battery too?

Chris - Dec 22, 2019

Hello everybody,

I made it too: I replaced my 2GB RAM C2D-logic board in my native 11” 2011 MBA for a 2nd-hand “ i5 1,6 GHz / 4GB RAM” logic board. The same here: you will need a 2011 battery (the connector of the 2010 battery is too far left for the connector of the 2011 logic board). My logic board luckily came w/ native fan and heatsink, so my only challenge will now be to get BT and WIFI antenna cable long enough to fit the new place of the bt/wifi-card.

@igorfeghali, and others: How did you manage this problem? Any idea for an adapter-cable? Any suggestions, anybody?

Thank you, alle the best,

Chris

Introduction#

What you need#

Introduction

What you need