I remember when I first held a MacBook Air; I was actually awestruck at just how thin
and how light it was, and having a hard time believing that it was a real computer.
My only real complaint about the original MacBook Air is that the hard drive was comparably
small, starting at just 80 GB with the option of adding 64 GB in solid-state storage.
Fortunately, for those enough who need more than 80 GB of storage, but didn’t spring
for the SSD drive, there’s a quick and easy DIY fix.
Hi, I'm mj with iFixit, and today I'm going to show you how to swap out the smallish hard
drive in the original MacBook Air, for a roomier 120 GB version.
This video is just an overview, and while it’s not a difficult swap, you'll still
want to follow the step-by-step instructions in the repair guide on our site.
I’m going to upgrade this MacBook Air, and while I do, I’ll give you some tips along
the way to hopefully save you some time and prepare you for any tricky parts.
This is a good time to reiterate that I’m upgrading the original version of the MacBook
Air, so just to make sure we’re talking about the same computer, take a second to
double check the model number of your computer on our site.
I love projects that don’t require a lot of tools, and this happens to be one of them.
All you’re going to need is a spudger,
a Phillips 00 screwdriver I’m using the one found in our 54 piece bit-driver kit,
and of course, your new hard drive.
I’ve also got a screw-tray, which isn’t totally necessary, but it keeps me from mixing
up all the different sizes of screws, which makes reassembly much faster.
You can find each of these things at iFixit.com
Now that I've got all of my parts and tools laid out, I can get started.
First things first: I’m going to remove all of the screws on the bottom of the computer
so I can take the bottom case off.
Once the screws are out, I’m going to gently lift up near the vents, and push the bottom
case towards the rear of the computer, and that should release the little mounting tabs.
Just because we can see the hard drive, doesn’t mean we can remove it just yet.
The hard drive has a few connectors that are kind of fragile, and we want to have full
access to them, so first I’m going to remove the battery by disconnect its cable,
and removing all of the screws securing it in place.
Now that all of the screws are removed, the battery should lift out easily.
But before I can remove the hard drive, there are a couple of more steps: I’ve got a few
cables to disconnect– some of which I can just disconnect with my fingers, and some
of them I’ll have to use a spudger -and after that there are a few screws holding
the hard drive in place.
Okay, so I’ve disconnected all of the cables and removed all of the screws; now the hard
drive should just lift out, and I can remove the bracket and the rubber shock isolator.
Next I’m going to remove the drive connector, but before I do I want you to know that the
two different models of MacBook Air have two different styles of connector, so before you
remove the connector, figure out which model of MacBook Air you have, and follow the instructions
specific to that model.
Both versions are outlined on the repair guide, so it’s really easy to find.
After I transfer the connector, shock isolator and bracket to my new hard drive, all I’ve
got to do is put my MacBook Air back together and format the new drive.
If you want instructions on formatting your drive, we’ve got a great OS X Install Guide
on our site to guide you along the way.
Of course, you can find the parts and tools you'll need for this and many other repairs
at iFixit.com.
And if you run into problems during your repairs, there are lots of solutions in the MacBook
Air repair guide on our site.
Thanks for watching, and happy repairing!