Macbook Air 13 Mid 2011 I O Board Replacement Repair Guide

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

                          30 - 45 minutes

Sections

Lower Case
2 steps
Battery Connector
1 step
I/O Board Cable
3 steps
Fan
4 steps
I/O Board
6 steps

Flags

BackMacBook Air 13" Mid 2011
Full Screen
Options
History
Save to Favorites
Download PDF
Edit
Translate
Get Shareable Link
Embed This Guide
Notify Me of Changes
Stop Notifications

Introduction

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

As a precaution against accidental discharge or shock, disconnect the battery connector from the logic board.
Grab the clear plastic pull tab attached to the battery connector and pull it toward the front edge of the Air to disconnect the battery from the logic board.
Be sure to pull the connector horizontally toward the battery, and not straight up from the Air, or you may damage the socket on the logic board.

As a precaution against accidental discharge or shock, disconnect the battery connector from the logic board.

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

Be sure to pull the connector horizontally toward the battery, and not straight up from the Air, or you may damage the socket on the logic board.

Step 4

              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 5

Carefully peel the I/O board cable from the top of the fan.

Carefully peel the I/O board cable from the top of the fan.

Step 6

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 7

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 8

Peel the rubber gasket off the adhesive on the top of the fan.

Peel the rubber gasket off the adhesive on the top of the fan.

Step 9

Remove the following three screws securing the fan to the upper case:
One 3.6 mm T5 Torx screw
One 2.7 mm T5 Torx screw
One 3.6 mm T5 Torx screw with a short head

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

One 3.6 mm T5 Torx screw

One 2.7 mm T5 Torx screw

One 3.6 mm T5 Torx screw with a short head

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

              I/O 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 right 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 right edge of the Air.

Step 12

Pull the camera cable parallel to the face of the I/O board toward the corner of the Air to disconnect it from its socket, using the tip of a spudger to help push the connector out of its socket.
Do not lift upward on this cable as you disconnect it, as its socket may break off the logic board.

Pull the camera cable parallel to the face of the I/O board toward the corner of the Air to disconnect it from its socket, using the tip of a spudger to help push the connector out of its socket.

Do not lift upward on this cable as you disconnect it, as its socket may break off the logic board.

Step 13

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the left speaker cable connector up and out of its socket on the I/O board.
Pry up from beneath the wires.
De-route the left speaker cable from its retainer on the I/O board.

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

Pry up from beneath the wires.

De-route the left speaker cable from its retainer on the I/O board.

Step 14

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the microphone cable connector up and out of its socket on the I/O board.
Pry up from beneath the wires.

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

Step 15

Remove the single 3.6 mm T5 Torx screw securing the I/O board to the upper case.

Remove the single 3.6 mm T5 Torx screw securing the I/O board to the upper case.

Step 16

Carefully lift the I/O board from its edge nearest the logic board and remove it from the upper case.

Carefully lift the I/O board from its edge nearest the logic board and remove it from the upper case.

Cancel: I did not complete this guide.

                                                                                      83 other people completed this guide.

Author

                                      with 3 other contributors

                    Andrew Bookholt

575,478 Reputation

                                      618 Guides authored                  



                       Badges:
                       47







                                                        +44 more badges

railroads12345 - Aug 20, 2014

just replaced i/o board,quick and easy,great guide

ephraim - Nov 6, 2014

My I/O board USB socket was dead with a bent pin. Replaced it following this guide, everything went perfectly, and I’ve got working USB again.

Diagnosis procedure: shine a flashlight into your suspect USB socket. If you can see a pin against the back of the socket, there’s your problem.

jbejarano79 - Apr 24, 2015

so easy ,tks ifixit

jsheats - Apr 21, 2016

Emmanuel Malikides - Sep 2, 2016

Just followed this guide to replace a burnt out/corroded power socket. I bought the part from this site. Now the power is fixed, but the USB socket does not seem to mount anything, as in it doesn’t work. I have not tested the headphone port. An interesting observation: the first time I turned my macbook back on using battery power it said battery not available. I turned it off and on again and this resolved the issue.

Does anyone have any ideas about the USB port not working? Have I bought a faulty I/O board from IFixit?

Introduction#

What you need#

Introduction

What you need