Macbook Air 13 Early 2014 Solid State Drive Replacement Repair Guide

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Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

5

Time Required

                          15 minutes            

Sections

3

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

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• BackMacBook Air 13" 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               

• Before proceeding, power down your MacBook. Close the display and lay it on a soft surface, top-side down.
• Use a P5 Pentalobe driver to remove ten screws securing the lower case, of the following lengths:
• Two 9 mm screws
• Eight 2.6 mm screws

Before proceeding, power down your MacBook. Close the display and lay it on a soft surface, top-side down.

Use a P5 Pentalobe driver to remove ten screws securing the lower case, of the following lengths:

Two 9 mm screws

Eight 2.6 mm screws

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 Connector               

• To ensure that everything is de-energized and won’t turn on while you’re working, it is recommended that you disconnect the battery.
• Grab the clear plastic pull tab attached to the battery connector and pull it parallel to the board toward the front edge of the Air.
• Do not lift upward on the connector as you disconnect it or you risk damage to the connector socket.

To ensure that everything is de-energized and won’t turn on while you’re working, it is recommended that you disconnect the battery.

Grab the clear plastic pull tab attached to the battery connector and pull it parallel to the board toward the front edge of the Air.

Do not lift upward on the connector as you disconnect it or you risk damage to the connector 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

• Gently lift the end of the SSD about half an inch and pull it straight out of its socket on the logic board.
• Don’t lift the SSD more than half an inch—doing so may damage the SSD or its socket on the logic board.
• When reinstalling the SSD, be sure it is properly seated before reinstalling its retaining screw.

Gently lift the end of the SSD about half an inch and pull it straight out of its socket on the logic board.

Don’t lift the SSD more than half an inch—doing so may damage the SSD or its socket on 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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                    Jeff Suovanen                     

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Jesse Collis - Jul 30, 2014

Reply

Fairly straight forward once you get the right screwdrivers. Took me less than 10 minutes.

rickhendricks - Dec 26, 2014

Reply

Very simple and straight forward replacement. First-party SSD replacement can be found on ebay (typically removed from parted-out MacBook Airs). Currently they’re aren’t any third-party parts available.

phil - Oct 10, 2015

Reply

Don’t forget to re-attach the battery cable before closing up the underside… not that I did or anything ;-/

carnthehawks - Feb 28, 2016

Reply

The Relevant Parts list all has incorrect links. Bait & Switch??

Examples:

“$199.95 Macbook Air 11” and 13" (Mid 2013/Early 2014) SSD, 256 GB"

Actually supplies: 128GB USED

“$349.95 Macbook Air 11” and 13" (Mid 2013/Early 2014) SSD, 512 GB"

Actually supplies: 256GB USED

Sam Goldheart - Mar 17, 2016

Whoops! Looks like we didn’t update the details on those parts when we updated the part itself, sorry about that!