MacBook Air 13" Mid 2013 Logic Board Replacement

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!

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

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

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

So this is a legit back cover for MacBook Air?

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

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!

When putting this back together, be careful you don’t flip I/O board cable. It will fit, but the computer will not work. You’ll know it’s wrong if it covers the fan.

the instructions should really indicate you’re only disconnecting one end of the cable. you disconnect the other end in step 6.

Bonjour,quand je retire la nappe de la carte E/S , l’éclairage de l’écran s’affiche mais quand je remets la nappe de la carte E/S ,j’ai un écran noir.J’attends votre réponse.Cordialement.

I literally did this wrong just like you warned not to! Very easy to do…

pour le remontage

de mon coté tout c’est bien passé, il faut juste bien vérifier la nappe de la carte E/S soit à l’endroit, car sinon l’ordinateur refuse de démarrer ( se référer à la photo du coup )

A client was careless and used a fingernail to pry up the cable in one pull. It pulled the socket right off the logic board.

I did not find it necessary to loosed the retainer flap, unplug the ribbon cable from it's socket, or remove the fan. After removing the fan screws in Step 9, the fan was loose enough that it can be slightly moved to the side. I felt that loosening the retaining flap and removing the fan adds unnecessary potential to damage something. To the contrary, if you bump the fan while it's plugged in, you might damage the ribbon cable.

I've performed many repairs on 13" MacBook Airs ('MBA's), including two heat sink compound 're-dos' just today (on a 2014 13" and a 2015 13").

It is not necessary to remove the I/O Board to take out the heatsink. And I've done it both ways - its way easier if you leave the I/O board in place. Here's why: removing the I/O board requires dis -and re-connecting two extremely delicate connectors as well as several cables that are really tricky to get back in place, all critical connections. If you aren't experienced with this kind of work, its taxing.

Instead, once you remove the flat I/O cable, remove the 3 screws holding in the fan and the two hinge screws securing the antenna cable guide. Now the screw securing the tip of the 'radiator' end of the heat sink will be pretty easy to access. The detached fan can moved (and you don't need /want to move it much!) to disengage the rubber shroud where it goes under the fan and gently guide the 'radiator' out.

In my case the adhesive had already come undone through normal use.

lol same thing for me.

I found it easier to do step 11 before this one.

During reassembly don’t forget the ribbon cable.

It is a lot easier to insert the flat ribbon in its socket before placing the fan back in place. BUT DO NOT YET FLIP BACK the retaining flap, until you have seated and screwed the fan. This way in case you pull on the fan by mistake, the flat ribbon is free to come out, otherwise you may tear it.

I did not find it necessary to remove the fan or unplug the ribbon cable from it's socket. After removing the fan screws, the fan was loose enough that it can be slightly moved to the side. I felt that loosening the retaining flap and removing the fan adds unnecessary potential to damage something. To the contrary, if you bump the fan while it's plugged in, you might damage the ribbon cable.

If you are careful with the ribbon cable, there is no need to remove it, the fan will swing out of the way enough. I applied a small amount of sticky tape over the connector to keep it in place, just in case!

It requires a somewhat concerning amount of force. I mean, be careful, but I pulled just slightly more than I was comfortable with (for the first time)

Steps 12 through 16 are not really necessary; you can easily de-route the necessary cables without removing the I/O board. Likewise with reassembly.

When following these steps in the reverse order to reassemble the machine, I found it much easier to insert the ribbon cable before inserting the I/O board into it's place and installing the screw (Step 14). This adds potential for any sudden movement to damage the ribbon cable, so gentle care must be exercised.

Tried doing both ways when reassembling but the ribbon cable is so crimped that it won’t feed through the socket anymore. Not sure how to get it through else replace cable or run without a microphone.

I managed to get the little flap out when trying to push it back in. Now I can’t get the microphone to work…

When following these steps in the reverse order to reassemble the machine, I found it much easier to insert the ribbon cable before inserting the I/O board into it's place and installing the screw (Step 14). This adds potential for any sudden movement to damage the ribbon cable, so gentle care must be exercised.

OAT YEAH! Followed this guide to replace my Macbook Air 2014 I/O board step-by-step (thx Jeff Suovanen and contributors) with no probs…workie workie now! FYI it had stopped charging…I tried a new charger, new battery, and finally this I/O board…

Just take your time and make sure you have the torx screw + adapter bits and spudger as they do not come with the I/O board (I had them leftover from a previous iFixit battery swap).

When replacing the I/O board, be careful to gently lift the microphone ribbon cable out of the way. If you forget, you’ll have to remove the I/O board to get at it again…

One of my terminals is broken. What solutions do you recommend me

You’re actually pushing the connector from side to side toward the front of the case (or towards the track pad). It’s not a vertical motion at all.

I’d also mention to be careful taking these off and putting them back on. I also accidentally pulled a terminal off it’a cable.

You’ve missed a whole section here on removing the fan. It’s still present in Step 19 pics, but gone by Step 23. It’s not that it’s difficult to work out how to do it. But, when reassembling and following the steps in reverse, it’s handy to know when to use which screws!

Ah! –my bad. The steps for removing Fan etc. are there –up round Step 13. It’s just your photos that are slightly out of sync, as it’s back in place again by Step 19. So, while working in reverse, it looks like it’s not been covered.

On getting it on — i feel it's implied by the word "push” you can walk it out with the spudger. I couldn't wanage that, and instead walked it out by taking the cord between my index and thumb and walking it out by pulling it to the right and then the left repeatedly in a

This is the one that gave me the hardest time!!! It does pop up and out tho.

When re-assembling the motherboard, attach all 6 screws but do not completely tighten yet.

First make sure the rubber gasket is sitting properly, that the 7th screw hole (from Step 18) is properly aligned, and the Airport wire is sitting properly and also not caught under the heat sink.

Once everything is well aligned, start tightening the screws while watching out for the alignment. I found it useful to keep an eye on screw-hole from Step 18 as a reference.

Going in this order, there is a 7th screw securing the logic board to the frame; the heatsink is secured to the logic board with 4 screws, and secured to the frame with 1 more screw. Either take the heatsink off first, or remove that last screw underneath two small black wires, next to the left (as viewed when using the computer; if the computer is flipped over with the cover off and the monitor hinge end of the computer farthest from you, it is in the far right corner) set of three big torx screws that hold the hinge in place. The exact location of this screw is pictured in step 35's second picture; the screw goes through the loop visible below the rubber fan insulator. Scoot those 2 li'l wires out of the way and remove that screw, then the logic board comes right out. If this isn't clear, please let me know and I'll try to describe it better, or add a photo. If I'm posting this to the wrong instruction page, let me know; I was pretty sure I correctly identified my rig, but if not, sorry for the N00bage.

I got an extra screw hiding under the rubber gasket holding the end of the heatsink to the chassis. Ended up bending the heatsink a little cause I wasn't looking for it.

This is the same screws as step 17.

In both the online and the PDF version, Steps 17-18 and Steps 29-30 are identical. At which stage should you actually remove the display screws?

Good catch! We did some sleuthing and it looks like a couple guides did indeed have an extra section of steps! All better now =)

This step is not needed

It’s not clear what you mean by “This step is not needed.” If you want to remove the logic board from the upper case in order to put it onto your replacement upper case, you will have to remove this screw.

This step is only needed if you’re replacing the ENTIRE top case. Simply swapping out the trackpad unit does not make this step necessary. This entire tutorial assumes you’re replacing the entire top case which is an expensive mistake if you’re simply replacing the trackpad and/or keyboard. The keyboard is removable as well despite those many tiny rivets. Save money and time by not replacing the entire top case for a bad trackpad and/or keyboard. I needed to accomplish this step because I also removed and replaced the keyboard.

You don’t really *have* to remove the speaker, especially if your replacement upper case assembly already includes the speakers.

I found the same. If you already have speakers in your new upper case, you can leave them. When you put the logic board back in, it will be a tight fit. I had to start with the corner near the right hinge (the Thunderbolt port corner) and work it in to place.

If your keyboard and/or trackpad need replacing you do not have to replace the entire top case.

It’s probably worth mentioning here that during reassembly you want to tuck the rubber gasket under the extension of the heat sink that the fan slots into.

This step is REALLY helpful. I skimmed over it when disassembling and then struggled a bit trying to get the rubber gasket aligned just right.

The middle photo shows what I mean, it's exactly what I needed.