MacBook Air 11" Mid 2013 SSD Replacement

Written By: Sam Goldheart
  • Comments: 32
MacBook Air 11" Mid 2013 SSD Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

5

Time Required

5 - 10 minutes

Introduction

Use this guide to upgrade or replace the solid-state drive in a MacBook Air 11” Mid 2013. This MacBook Air uses a proprietary storage drive connector, and is therefore not compatible with common M.2 drives without the use of an adapter.

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.

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    • 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.

    When you say:

    Remove the following ten screws:

    Two 8 mm 5-point Pentalobe screws

    Eight 2.5 mm 5-point Pentalobe screws

    Do the 8mm & 2.5mm dimensions refer to the LENGTH of those screws, or the size of the pentalobe? That is, are there other sizes of pentalobe drivers like there are for hex, phillips and torx? When only one dimension is provided, it is usually the socket/driver size, not the screw length, maybe since the length cannot be seen when the screw is installed.

    Can I suggest that you clarify your instructions so folks are confident they are only in need of _one_ pentalobe driver?

    Nerdily yours,

    Larry (whose iPhone 4S can now get through a day without 6 recharges thanks to ifixit.com ;-)

    larryleveen -

    The 8mm and 2.5mm are the length of the screws. One pentalobe P5 screwdriver suffices for all the screws (P5 is implicitly the size of the pentalobe screw heads).

    Michael Welham -

    I sourced all the parts from ifixit, plus a magnetic project mat which I found to be very useful for organising the teardown and reassembly.

    Allen -

    The magnetic mat is

    GERARD SZAREK -

    Keep the 2.5mm tiny screws away from the MagSafe connector as they will be attracted and sucked in to the magnet.

    Frank O'Carroll -

    A tip an old bench tech taught me that has saved me many times: I put clear “Scotch” tape over the case screws as they became “free”. The tape kept them in place while I lifted the lid off, cleaned it etc.

    Michael Mee -

    Thank you for a really smart tip! I will be using that countless more times!

    Lilljedahl -

    I’m confused about internet recovery and installing MacOS. Is all of this done before placing in the new ssd card or after. I don’t have any files that I would like to safe/transfer, is all of this necessary, if I don’t do it before placing new ssd, will I still be able to instal/upgrade macOS afterwards.

    It’s an old Mac and now it won’t start or charge, I know I will have to replace battery and put new battery first and turn on Mac before doing the ssd stuff. Since it won’t effing start.

    I’m really clueless about backing up old ssd, since I don’t need any files, besides MacOS(software) ,and is that related to the ssd?

    AMG -

    The answer to your question: You need to insert your SSD into the computer before internet recovery. If you start the recovery before inserting SSD, it won’t affect the setup, you won’t damage anything. But your SSD will not be detected (as there isn’t one inserted.)

    Also, a little tip: If you bought a used SSD, go into Disk Utility and format the drive with the highest security level to permanently remove all of the previous files.

    Also a FYI: Internet Recovery will load up Mac OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks, so I would recommend making a recovery drive from a Big Sur (or desired version) through another Mac, and a USB. You can visit this support doc: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

    Hope this helps! -Dan

    danielwen -

    I got a macbook air with a damaged and swollen battery. I could remove all screws, except one 2,5 mm screw. I’m afraid it got damaged while attempting to remove it, I have no grip with the P5 pentalobe screwdriver. How can I proceed?

    Robert Hermans -

    Hi Robert!

    Try some techniques found in this stripped screw removal guide. Good luck!

    Arthur Shi -

    Hello I have a macbook air they are say they do not have parts for my laptop macbook air 11 inches 2013 mid need to replace battery which one to buy

    vensilver -

    Hello! This is the part you want—maybe we’re not able to ship it to you if you’re out of the United States. The battery in your MacBook Air should be the same for all 11” between mid-2011 to early-2015.

    Arthur Shi -

    The smaller screws went in more easily when I put back all the screws along the hinge edge first.

    Rachel Slatkin -

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

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    • 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 bend back and make contact with its socket.

    When reassembling the connector wire needs to be bent to fit.

    GERARD SZAREK -

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    • Remove the single 2.9 mm T5 Torx screw securing the SSD to the logic board.

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    • Lift the free end of the SSD just enough to get a good hold of it.

    • Do not excessively lift the end of the SSD.

    • 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.

    Which type of SSD used in it…is it PCIe??

    rakesh kumar rout -

    Which type of SSD used in MacBook air 11inch..mid 2013 model???PCIe??

    rakesh kumar rout -

Conclusion

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

Author

Sam Goldheart

Member since: 19/10/12

465329 Reputation

15 comments

Is it possible to replace a 128 GB SSD with a 256 GB SSD without any problems?

Roland -

Anyone knows if you can replace the msata ssd or if it is proprietary of apple?

Felipe -

I wonder if someone can help me - I completed the installation and rebooted from a clone of the original drive on an external USB disk. I tried to clone that back onto the new SSD but that failed and now the new SSD does not appear on the desktop and does not appear in Disk Utility. Its not being recognised when I boot up. Do you have any ideas how I can get it to reappear - I assume the format is lost so is there a way to reformat?

brendanorourke -

Can i upgrade my ssd drive from 128 to 1TB ?

mohd.a2017 -

i want to know too

pulido_066 -

yes you may. You may choose either OWC or Intel 660P.

OWC: https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/S3DA...

Intel 660P*: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/...

*Intel 660P, you will require a connecter “m.2 ngff to” like this: https://tw.ezbuy.com/product/210654110.h...[EZBUYTW][PLA][CN][P].USC_Full.Product.Feed&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIytii0fbc5gIVkKmWCh3VoQ5jEAQYAyABEgI4mfD_BwE ''

tpesthh -

Is this procedure the same as it would be for the Early 2014 11.6" MacBook Air?

luvemshvd -

That guide is technically here but the procedures are functionally identical!

Sam Goldheart -

Who is making these assessments of difficulty here?!? I’ve seen some guides that are incredibly involved and require delicate cable rerouting, unseating very fragile logic board connectors, and take over an hour, rated as “easy”, while things like this, that are only 5 steps (and realistically only 4) and require nothing more than unfastening a few screws and popping two large, readily accessible connectors, and can be done even by executives with tiny hands while simultaneously watching videos on Breitbart in under five minutes, are labeled as “moderate”. There is no way the difficulty of this thing can reasonable be called “moderate” unless the only things that qualify as “easy” are “Opening the Lid of Your Mac to Use”, and “How to Type Capital Letters on the MacBook Keyboard”!

Seriously, if the goal of this site is to promote people performing their own repairs, calling trivial procedures like this “moderately difficult” only serves to scare a significant number of otherwise willing and able users off.

Mark -

Difficulty ratings are spelled out as follows: “Very easy—Does not require opening the device. Easy—Requires minimal disassembly and only basic tools like a Phillips or flat-head screwdriver. Moderate—Requires a fair amount of disassembly. This is a task most people would not perform without instruction. Difficult—Requires significant disassembly and may require specialized tasks like soldering.” Etc. It’s up to the guide author to select the appropriate difficulty level, but they don’t always do it consistently. That’s why this is a wiki—if you see a problem, you can edit it yourself and fix it. However, this particular guide’s difficulty level of “moderate” is appropriate, based on the tools and amount of disassembly required.

Jeff Suovanen -

Any news on possible 1 GB upgrades? There seems to be one from Transcend, which matches up with my MBA (11”, 6,1) . OWC has been having one for a while, but it seems it has been having some problems, so I’d rather stay away from that.

Jörg Löhken -

oooops, meant to say 1TB :-$

Jörg Löhken -

Hello, what about a screw locked by glue and too much screwed, the T5 screwdriver is faulty and the screw was now damaged.

what kind of solution may i have to dismount the ssd, please …

dominiquemachure -

RE: SSD not showing up. When you go to disk utility, make sure to click view -> view all drives in the upper left hand corner. It should then appear and can be formatted with your bootable USB.

uniquetalent -

hello..

how can i use my (toshiba SSD with 12+16 PIN) as an external harddrive? I cant find a proper enclosure.. anyone good advices/tips?

regards rene

rene -