MacBook Air 13" Early 2015 Dual Microphone Replacement

Step 1

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

Pulling the fan cable out was terrifying but you actually just pull on the cable itself. No way to get any leverage at the connector to dislodge it. Did come out easily but like I said, scared me!

allison - 20/07/15

Draai de schroefjes voorzichtig los en leg ze op een stabiele plek neer en let erop dat de schroefje een verschillende lengte hebben.

bwgvanderveer - 01/11/15

I thought I could replace my 256 Gb SSD with 512? regards

ola m - 20/11/15

Do you have good Test Point Voltages? It appears there are silver colored Test points on the I/O Board. I am working on a water spill and trying to troubleshoot if both the I/O board and the Logic need replaced.

andrew - 10/01/16

It's probably not necessary but may be a little safer to completely discharge the old battery before replacing it.

Larry Smith - 11/01/16

tell a model that was not inferior to the speed of the one in the laptop.

Thank you

ilyabuhov - 13/01/16

Do i need to order tools separately to replace the battery i just ordered?

anne uhlir - 07/09/17

im looking for a Logic Board for a

Apple - MacBook Air® - 13.3" Display - Intel Core i5 - 8GB Memory - 128GB Flash Storage (Latest Model) - Silver Model: MQD32LL/A

Any help is appreciated.

Jamie Comstock - 03/12/17

P5 pentalobe screwdrivers are too big! The correct size for these screws are p4 pentalobe. P5 pentalobe was just able, with difficulty, to turn some of the screws. If the screws were at all tight, my p5 was unable to get them out, and started to strip the screws. A p4 screwdriver fit better and removed the screws with ease. (I was using high quality Wiha brand screwdrivers.)

William Skinner - 20/08/18

I had same experience (with MacBook Air 13-inch Mid-2012) … had to get P4, which worked swimmingly

eric - 03/08/19

Very simple installation. The screwdriver heads were exactly what we’re needed, one head for the outside case screws, the other for the screws holding the battery in place. The computer started right up. Now to see how the battery holds up, but I have a good feeling about this!

Dennis Eaton - 22/08/18

My P5 and the T5 worked perfectly with my early 2015 Air 13”! And it is super fast! Thank you iFixit!

Pennny Beach - 13/10/18

The supplied kit and instructions worked perfectly!

Nikolay Andreev - 12/01/19

Comments that the P5 pentalobe are too large are absolutely spot-on. There is no way the P5 pentalobe bit I have will work with the MacBook Air without destroying the screws. Hard target search for P4 pentalobe bit in progress…..

joemoog - 24/03/19

Bonjour j’aimerais changer mon SSD de 128 Go pour en mettre un de 512 Go. Je ne sais pas ce qu’il faut prendre car il faut qu’il soit compatible avec le macbook air A1466. J’aurais vu un Samsung Evo 970 500 Go mais si je ne me trompe pas, il faut un adaptateur.

Merci pour votre aide.

chicco33 - 21/04/19

oui, vous aurez besoin d’un adaptateur, pour completez le changement.

Dan - 13/06/19

The tool kit should include tweezers for re-inserting the battery connector.

Andre Clement - 19/05/19

P5 pentalobe worked perfectly for me. Instructions were spot-on. Antenna connections were a bit fiddly to refit but got them in ok.

michaelquinnell - 02/07/19

Maybe the problem some are experiencing is that the designations are confusing (blame Apple rather than iFixit). the P2 is also known as PL1. The P5 is also known as PL4. The P6 is also known as PL5. So it is possible to mistake the P6 (PL5) for the P5 (PL4), meaning it (P6-PL5) will be too big, while the P5 (PL4) will be just right. Sort of a 3 Bears explanation, but it is very confusing.

Thomas Lewis - 05/07/19

To add to this. In searching for the P5 screwdriver to buy in UK, as far as I can tell, it is also known as

Pentalobe 1.2(mm)

also

P4 = 0.8

P6 = 1.5

Just unscrewed the back case of MacBook Air 13” mid 2011, with no problems using Pentalobe 1.2

nijafe - 02/10/20

I have not replaced a display on the A1369 but have done many A1466 which is a newer 13” model. They seem really similar and its not clear why one needs to remove the logic board to remove the display. The antenna cables on the A1466 dont have to rest under the logic board but can be tucked in the hinge crevice. Cant this same thing be done with the A1369?

Sean Love - 22/10/19

Did mine today - but new battery wasnt charging. Went back in and noticed the battery connector cable was not quite 100% “seated. It was sticking out by less than a millimetre! - you need to give it quite a firm push in to get it seated properly. Otherwise - all ok .

John Brennand - 30/01/20

Just installed on a MacBookAir6,2 (13-inch, Early 2014).

Was very easy.

New iFixit battery looks great so far:

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 4922 -> 7333

Jonathan Cross - 08/03/20

can you tell me which size of screwdrivers you’ve used to crack it up, please? I have the same model and size,

hawk_lpc - 13/06/20

Screw P5 Pentalobe 1.2

Mario Verlent - 15/05/20

Install went flawlessly. Only challange was reattaching blue tooth antennas. Those sockets are so tiny.

Joel Sebastian - 21/08/20

Installation was a little challenging at first because the instructions on this site did not perfectly match my model (late 2013 to early 2015).

Found this video on YouTube which described the procedure perfectly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lue6lVWh...

Also the Ifixit kit I received was well put together with everything I needed and more. The calibration went perfectly and I am very pleased. Will buy again!!

Donald Niamath - 02/09/20

Gently pulled out connector of old battery, then pressed and held the power switch for 1 minute. Unscrewed and removed the old battery. Pressed and held power switch for 1 minute again. I know from previous work that this helps drain charge from spontaneous recharging as the dielectric recovers. Gently “fine tuned” leads from new battery to connector till connector stuck out at right angle to the edge of battery. Held the battery by the edges and let the connector slide into the socket. Set the battery down and put the screws in all the way. Then checked that the connector was completely seated before tightening the screws. The laptop come on immediately and showed 98% charge and registered normal (checked in “About this Mac”. Very happy to this point. Now for calibration.

Amir Zaidi - 27/09/20

Thank you very much for the guilde. My MBA2011 had reborn !

Billy Wong - 20/11/20

Allow for electrostatics, otherwise you may cook components on the logicboard /motherboard (like I did with one of these!)

See great advice: Electrostatic Discharge

Fletcher Cole - 25/11/20

… und wenn du eines von diesen wirklich kleinen Schräubchen vermisst: bevor du den Boden aufkehrst oder mit einem starken Magneten absuchst, schau mal am seitlichen (magnetischen) Ladekabelanschluss nach … ?

... and if you miss one of these really small screws: before you sweep the floor or search it with a strong magnet, take a look at the (magnetic) charging cable connection on the side … ?

Blatt - 17/02/21

Fot All People ha ing trouble finding their SSD

DONT PRESS CMD +R + POWER

instead press

OPTION+CMD+R +POWER

I just installed Monterrey with WD black sn 770 SSD in m'y macbook air 2015

Albert -

IFixit just had me submit "my story" re. fixing my MacBook Air 2013.

This repair was NOT difficult. The battery is enclosed in a plastic frame. It is NOT glued in like the newer models of Apple laptops. And unlike older laptops, the battery is not totally enclosed in a plastic housing. So once you remove the screws holding the batterie's frame, you can remove the battery.

Follow the instructions. Read the comments. Also read the comments re. installing a new battery.

Good luck. - Eric J.

ECJohansen -

On the back of the laptop, notice that each screw is angled a little bit inward, aiming toward the middle of the laptop. Keep your screwdriver lined up with the screw (angled a bit outward as seen at 01:23 in the video: https://youtu.be/tToAwO6f-SY&t=83). This will help you get a good bite on the screw to get it out and avoid stripping the head of the screw.

Use the same angle when putting each screw back in. If the screw is in line with its hole it should not feel like you are fighting to screw it in. If it does, check your angle and back up a little; you should feel the screw fall into line.

Rich Garella - 30/10/23

IFixit just had me submit "my story" re. fixing my MacBook Air 2013.

This repair was NOT difficult. The battery is enclosed in a plastic frame.

shrhh -

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.

There is a nub on the inside of the case which is attached to the battery. When you try to pull it open, it appears to be attached to the plastic casing of the battery, which sometimes splits. I gently unhooked the nub from the battery before removing the case fully. This seems to happen if the battery has suffered some drop damage (plastic parts broken around screws and parts of plastic frame split). Just an FYI in case your lower case doesn't pull away easily.

Jeannie Crowley - 25/05/17

To add - the slim 1cm tab “nub” is on the centre of the back cover & fits into a hole in the battery frame. I ran my fingers around the whole of the cover to eventually here it click out.

nijafe - 02/10/20

When closing this back up make sure that the antenna cable is tucked away neatly

Gabriel - 12/04/18

So this is a legit back cover for MacBook Air?

ASHANTI SMITH - 25/06/19

What about disconnecting the battery?

Luke - 06/08/20

I bought the part and tools from iFixit and followed the directions. The mechanical part went smoothly - maybe 10 minutes to disassemble/replace/reassemble.

Getting Catalina (the current MacOS) to install was not working until I used Cmd-Opt-R (as noted in the OWC paper sheet that came in the box) which brought up the proper installer - I believe from a pre-prepared bootable SD card but it’s hard to say. From there the install succeeded taking ~1.5 hours.

Beware that (a) the install requires a working internet connection for verification and updates, and (b) the system must have been running at least macOs 10.13 (High Sierra) before the install in order to have an EFI BIOS that recognizes the SSD.

Lance Berc - 23/10/20

As noted by others, be a bit careful removing the lower case. There is an oblong black plastic locator very near the center of the lower case. Unless you gently pry the bottom cover pretty much straight up, you will break the ends off of the locater.

BobY - 15/03/21

Thanks for the detailed photos. When repairing equipment, I don’t really like to disassemble plastic parts, they can be damaged, but your screenshots help a lot. For my studies, I am writing an essay comparing the reliability of laptops from various manufacturers and the complexity of their repair, maybe it will be useful for someone to check the essay for plagiarism here essay checker, when comparing different manufacturers, I understood why people love Apple so much. The minimum number of failures. Of course, repairing it in an official service is not cheap, but with the help of such detailed instructions, you can do it yourself and save a lot.

Nexus -

The screwdriver bit to use on these case screws is not named, but I found that my "CR-V 1.2" did the job nicely.

The driver for the screws inside the case are named, as "T5".

Jim Henderson -

Step 3

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.

after disconnect the battery, press and hold 5*10 seconds the powerbutton on your keyboard to unload the capacitors

Marcel - 07/02/19

how does a person put the battery connector back in?- that is the only thing i’m afraid of touching after putting new fan in.

a smith - 20/09/19

I found it was possible to put the battery connector back in as the last step, however having gone through that and found it to be a little challenging, I would actually recommend attaching the battery connector before screwing back in the bracket. That way you’ll put a lot less stress on the connector cable.

Kevin Epstein - 14/01/21

When you are plugging the connector back in, make sure to give it some extra pressure to make sure it is all the way in. It may look like it’s in but needs to be pushed harder!

Connor Dougherty - 26/01/21

After disconnecting the power, you may skip directly to step 18. I don’t know why someone would think it necessary to disconnect all the other stuff. There is no need whatsoever to do so. The more things you disconnect, the more things you risk damaging. Many of the parts in steps 4 through 17 are quite delicate, and easy damaged.

The screw in step 18 is easily accessed without removing even the rubber gasket. Regarding step 18, only remove the screw. (This screw is rather long, with long threads.)

It’s helpful to take photographs of this area before removing the screw, so you’ll know what it’s supposed to look like when you put it back together.

AnnoniMoose -

There are only 16 steps in this repair process. I wonder whether you are commenting on a different repair.

rmccord23 -

What if your battery doesn’t have that clear tab?

Carla Tisdale -

Yep, exactly the issue that I have

Martin Adams -

Where can i buy the battery connector?

Bernie-Khay Dabu -

Macbook air 2015 battery connector where can I purchase?

Bernie-Khay Dabu -

Connector socket came off, can I just glue it into place?

Lisa Mac -

Step 4

Remove the following five screws securing the battery to the upper case:
Three 6.9 mm T5 Torx screws
Two 3.0 mm T5 Torx screws

what is that little hole or clip in the middle o battery?

Edy Surpat - 17/12/16

There’s both a hole for a screw and a clip to hold the bottom case

maccentric - 08/11/18

Hello,

the battery is now delivered with a transparent plastic taped allover the new battery.

is it needed or shall it be removed

kind regards

Maes Michel - 28/01/21

Hello,

If the plastic is easily removable from the battery, it should be removed. However, if the plastic is glued onto the battery, do not remove the plastic.

Arthur Shi - 29/01/21

The centre screw (of the three 6.9mm T5 described above) seems to be a bit thicker diameter than the other two corner (6.9mm screws - although I don't have a tool to make precise measurement). Replace this thicker screw to its centre position on the battery.

Beren Robinson -

Step 5

When handling the battery, avoid squeezing or touching the four exposed lithium polymer cells.
Lift the battery from its edge nearest the logic board and remove it from the upper case.
Your replacement battery may arrive with a plastic film lightly adhered to the top surface. Remove this film when you install the battery. However, if the film is glued on and is difficult to remove, you should leave the film in place.
If you're installing a new battery, you should calibrate it after installation:
Charge it to 100%, and then keep charging it for at least 2 more hours. Then, unplug and use it normally to drain the battery. When you see the low battery warning, save your work, and keep your laptop on until it goes to sleep due to low battery. Wait at least 5 hours, then charge your laptop uninterrupted to 100%.
If you notice any unusual behavior or problems after installing your new battery, you may need to reset your MacBook's SMC.

Personally I would like a short description on why we have to calibrate a brand new battery for what reason?

Albert - 05/01/18

@albertnumber1 You can find a detailed explanation of calibration here. The short(ish) answer is that the battery charge % reading on your device is really just a guess, one that is generated by a mathematical model of what’s going on inside the chemical battery. That model needs data points (like full charge and discharge flags) in order to work correctly. Without calibration, nothing bad will happen, but you may get some unreliable battery % readings.

Jeff Suovanen - 16/01/18

1. Glad someone was able to clear up the reason we need to calibrate

2. During the process, if for some reason, say my cat waltzing all over my desk, disconnects the magsafe for a moment while in the final full charge cycle, what impact would this have?

Josh Fiddler - 29/07/19

The replacement battery’s connector didn’t align with the port as easily as the original’s. Instead of pointing straight back from the battery, the cable pointed at a significant angle. In order to connect the new battery, I had to hold it a slight diagonal angle while connecting it, before placing the new battery into the chassis and securing it.

After replacing the battery, the laptop (MBA early 2015) shut off immediately whenever it was unplugged from the MagSafe connector, despite reporting a full charge. To resolve this, I performed an SMC reset: I re-opened the case, unplugged the battery, held down the power button for 5 seconds with the battery unplugged, then re-connected the battery, re-attached the lid, and pressed the power button again. It immediately booted up as expected on battery power.

Garrett Guillotte - 01/12/19

I found these two little broken tabs under the battery. Not sure where they came from, but Ididn’t put them back in anywhere.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!As3YRQaTlkClgcgS6Hhl...

Norm Hils - 30/11/20

These are from the old battery. Not totally necessary.

Scott Baker - 06/02/21

Good opportunity to blow or brush away some accumulated dust from a unit like mine (5 -6 years service) when the battery is out. Also at this time, used the thin probe tool to ream out some debris from the rim of the base.

The replacement battery cable seemed too long to fit well but when I examined the original, I noted a distinct v kink downwards in that one. A gentle push down in the middle formed a V and permitted the new cable to fit Presumably without harm..

howardmat3 - 05/03/21

The instructions on this step say to remove the plastic film on the replacement battery, but the introduction says to leave it on. Which step is correct?

William Davis - 06/03/21

Hi William!

Good question! If the film is lightly adhered, you can peel and remove the film.

Arthur Shi - 08/03/21

Hi how can I discharge the battery (MacBook air 2017) quickly as the battery has swollen and I need to get it out, at the moment I am running lots of apps but it still shows 6%?

John MacMahon - 26/04/21

max screen brightness and run some cpu benchmark

Daniele Carminati - 26/04/21

Shorting the battery is very dangerous. Leave the computer on until it shuts down on its own.

Manuel Jesús Flores Jiménez - 26/04/21

The fix kit for this battery comes with a spudger. What is it for?

mobya45 -

Good morning, I just replaced my first battery. The light on the magnet is red now. Will that color change to green to inform me that it is fully charged? Thanks, Julie

juliecongleton -

Re: leaving it unplugged for 5 hours after the battery goes flat - isn't that a bad thing? I thought Li-ion batteries get damaged by letting them go completely flat?

Cool_Breeze -

I have the same question, but from what i read the battery is still on 10% when the mac shuts down (to keep the battery healthy, so the 0% on the mac display is actually not the real battery charge)

Robert Borck -

Does anyone know what the four white (or red) dots on the underside of the battery mean?

Jeffrey Utz -

I've got a problem with the second MBA 2017 I did a battery replacement on. Replaced the battery, charged to 100%. Drained the battery and waited 5+ hours. Now it's stuck on 1% and won't charge. I've tried SMC reset by opening it up again, disconnect the new battery, hold the power button for 5 sec, connect the battery again but without any luck. Any suggestions?

Gustav Svedung -

Seems like a power cycle fixed the issue (turning the computer off, unplugging the MagSafe, holding the power button for 10 sec, plugging MagSafe back in).

Gustav Svedung -

Installing and conditioning the new battery was a breeze with your instructions and tool. But I get a message saying the date/time was set incorrectly. I could not reset it using the date/time in system preferences and the laptop was running hot with the fan running at full blast. Instead I had to shut it down and restart it in safe mode by pushing the shift button when I heard the start up chime and releasing it when the Apple logo appeared. Once in safe mode the date/time was correct and I restarted in normal mode. It's all good now. iFixit's comments allude to chip dependent issues and your should look at their detailed comments if you are having issues on restart after install. Thanks for a great product!

Jonathan Kott -

Step 6

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.

How can I order that ribbon cable that goes over the fan housing?

Chris Maki - 01/02/17

MacBook Air 13" (Mid 2013-2017) I/O Board Cable

dreamknotter - 24/12/19

Step 7

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the left speaker off the adhesive securing it to the upper case.
Remove the left speaker from the upper case.

Step 8

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry the I/O board cable connector up out of its socket on the I/O board.
You do not need to remove the I/O board cable, simply bend it out of the way.
Carefully peel, but do not remove, the I/O board cable off the adhesive securing it to the top of the fan.

Step 9

Use the tip of a spudger to carefully flip up the retaining flap on the microphone ribbon cable ZIF socket.
Make sure you are flipping up the retaining flap, not the socket itself.
Carefully push the microphone ribbon cable straight out of its socket on the I/O board.

Step 10

Use the tip of a spudger to pry the microphone off the adhesive securing it to the left side of the upper case.
Remove the microphone from the upper case.

i want this product where can find it ?

the Microphone

Waseem Rifai - 11/01/17

I just wonder are there alignment holes to help get this centered.

Denver morgan - 29/08/19

There aren't alignment holes, so I used a marker to mark on the edge of the case above the microphone holes where each hole was. Then centered the two gold microphones on those holes. Worked great first time.

blackketter -

MacBook Air 13" Early 2015 Dual Microphone Replacement

Introduction

Tools

Parts