Macbook Air 11 Mid 2012 Solid State Drive Replacement Repair Guide

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

5

Time Required

                          5 - 15 minutes            

Sections

3

• Lower Case
• 2 steps
• Battery
• 1 step
• Solid-State Drive
• 2 steps

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0

• BackMacBook Air 11" Mid 2012

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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               

• 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.

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

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feinberj - Feb 2, 2017

Reply

Excellent instructions. Very easy to do. I used this screwdriver to remove the screws from the bottom of the case: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N1R…

and I used the Pentalobe-6 from this set to remove the screw holding in the OEM SSD:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FE2…

After removing the stock drive, I installed a Samsung M.2 EVO 850 512Gb drive. It is working quite well. I used this adapter so that the M.2 drive fit in my 2012 Macbook Air:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NH2…

Philippe Morin - Jun 23, 2018

Reply

How do we reinstall MacOS?

admin free - Oct 3, 2020

Reply

I am 10 years old I fixed the mac I did this even the Geek squad couldn’t do it and now it works! without your guide.