MacBook Air Models A1237 and A1304 Hard Drive Replacement

Written By: Walter Galan

Comments: 8

MacBook Air Models A1237 and A1304 Hard Drive Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

No estimate

Introduction

Tools

Step 1

Disconnect the port hatch ribbon cable from the logic board by pulling it straight up by its black pull tab.
Pull the audio out ribbon cable off the adhesive securing it to the upper case.
Use a spudger to pry the audio out ribbon cable connector board off the hard drive bracket.

I skipped the step (6c) of prying the audio out ribbon cable connector board off the hard drive bracket (& disconnecting it), since it doesn't come off real easily, and I didn't want to damage it. It only requires a little more care when removing the HD from it's bracket if you skip step 6c.

amiller770 -

Step 2

Disconnect the audio out cable from its socket on the port hatch ribbon cable.

This is not necessary and looks pretty risky too.

eugene_o -

Agreed, I encountered no issues when I skipped this on a Rev.B model.

Kyle Milnes -

Step 3

Use a spudger to pry the hard drive cable connector up off the logic board.

Reversing step 8 is where I ran into trouble. The replacement fan I had was slightly thicker than the original and caused the ZIF cable to work its way out of the tenuous connection it had to the SSD, resulting in a "?" missing boot drive error upon startup. Took me three tries to get it right! The difficulty is to get the drive connector to the logic board to reach and seat without pulling the other end out of the drive.

aaronmiller -

Step 4

Use the sharp end of a spudger to de-route the microphone cable from the hard drive bracket.
Remove the cosmetic screw cover from the adhesive securing it to the hard drive bracket.