Experience Apple’s thinnovation with iFixit’s teardown of Apple’s MacBook Air.
MacBook Air’s battery is attached to the case by 9 screws. Since the bottom case is held down by 10 screws, “that’s 19 screws to remove the battery. Replacing the battery is straightforward, but not something you’ll be doing when your battery dies mid-flight,” iFixit reports.
“It won’t be long before we, along with the rest of the Mac market, will be selling replacement batteries for this machine,” iFixit reports.
“The heat sink is made of very thin aluminum and looks totally different from anything we’ve seen in a Mac before,” iFixit reports.
“We found a Broadcom BCM5974 touch screen controller chip on the interconnect board,” iFixit reports. “This is the same chip you’ll find in the iPhone and iPod Touch.”
Full teardown notes and photos here.
“19 screws” versus 1 big screw with some PC maker
Although there are a lot of screws, it seems easier to replace a MacBook Air battery than an iPod battery. At least you don’t have to use plastic “crowbars” to pry apart the case.
In the video ad for the MBA, a hatch is clearly visible on the bottom of the unit. Any idea what that hatch is for?
Time to read the article.
Okay, looked at the pictures – no hatch!
The ad must have featured an earlier prototype.
Misleading advertisement, etc.! Someone call a lawyer!
The hatch that you see is the usb port door.
Ken
who cares, just sell millions, soon.
I want to see them put that baby back together again and fire it up.
I got a kick out of the picture of the Air on top of the MacBook.
And people are pissed off because this level of innovation costs $1,799. Talk about a lack of perspective.
<i>Any idea what that hatch is for?<>
The Dharma Initiative.
@Winston -> LOL!
Do you know if the user can Locke the hatch door?
I thought you get some” snatch ” for that price too!
The Silicon Image transmitter codec suggests the possibility that the MBA could drive an external 1920x1080p wide-screen display via HDMI adapter cable.
Ummm… I’m not sure why there is such a fuss over being able to change a battery in the middle of an airline flight. Most of the longer haul planes have electrical outlets available so you can use your power adapter directly. And that includes economy class. So what is the issue here?
you are all missing the cool point.
why does the ultra thin macbook air have a touch screen controller chip built in?
will the macbook Air 2.0 be a touch screen device?
Because the toucpad in the Air has multitouch capabilities similar to the iPhone & Touch.
About the battery…won’t someone come up with an external battery pack with a magsafe adapter and put all these issues to rest?
Damn Dan, you beat me to the punch.
You are the Man.
Makes perfect sense and just as cumbersome as packing a spare battery around.
@LorD1776 I want to see them put that baby back together again and fire it up.
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Well, if I can take [crack] an old Clamshell iBook apart, change the Hard Drive, pop out the LCD screen for a cheesy “make the upside down apple logo glow” mod, replace the broken internal modem and reassemble w/o having any extra or missing screws and it is in perfect working order, that should be a breeze for them guys on the MBA!
phantasmosxmagnum,
Are you still using that toilet seat? They seemed so neat at the time, but now they look so odd. Especially next to an MBA. Our old fruity iMacs have the appearance of a Fisher-Price toy, also.
@Dan,
Has Apple licensed the MagSafe plug to any other manufacturer for 3rd party development?
ifiixit is right – it won’t be long before other compaines offer replacement batteries for this laptop like the do already for ipod batteries. Hopefully they will even have longer lasting ones than the stock battery apple is gonna stick in this guy.
LorD1776:
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> I That was my 1st OS X Mac I got off of eBay back in late 2K2.. I wanted a new Mac but I was too poor to get one and I always like the old iBooks cuz they were very different & at the time of purchase I wanted a laptop to bring to work on occasion just to goof off with. Well, the management changed, so I and a coworker weren’t allowed to bring them to work. That sucked since I really would’ve preferred a desktop at home but I’d all ready put a sizable amount of dough into the iBook so I couldn’t just let it go. Now, about 5 years later I have a 1st gen iMacIntel 20″ purchased new and w/bto options, and a MacBook IC2D refub. Those old calmshells are pretty cheap nowadays and it’s too bad I couldn’t gut it and throw some MacBook internals and a 13.3″ display! I’m not that industrious. Ha-Ha!
Are you still using that toilet seat? Nah, but I’m still hangin’ on to it. LOL I probably need to unpack it and “air” it out a bit with a battery recharge and a load of software updates for old Panther.
phantasmosxmagnum,
It will be fun to pull that iBook out 10 or 20 years from now and show it to people. Our iMacs aren’t hooked up now, but I’m hoping to hang on to them. I can’t imagine anyone having the same thoughts with one of those ugly, generic beige PCs.
I’m trying to figure out if I want to upgrade my 3 1/2 year old iBook before I install Leopard. It only has a 60GB hard drive, 768 MB RAM, and the original battery is down to 20% capacity.
I could spend $400 or more on it, which would be worth it since it still works great. But a new MacBook would run a heck of a lot faster. Too bad Christmas really racked me up financially.
Sounds like you have some nice equipment now. I hope you enjoy it for many years to come.
LorD1776,
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” /> I’ve always wanted one just for fun, [Photo Booth & Freak Show Software come to mind] not for anything else really but I just couldn’t justify the investment. Now this MB is my primary Mac but the iMac is alive & well thanx to my local Airport N base station setup, I’m diggin’ the shared screen remote control & wireless printing from my MB. 😀
That’s a tough call on the upgrade. But I suppose it boils down to your wallet and I do totally understand. That scale is a tough one to weigh since a new or Apple refurbished Mac comes with Leopard but a Family Pack is a great deal! I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina I dumped more money in the old IBook in case we were out of electricity again for a several days. I bought a new [eBay cheapo recycled?] high capacity battery and a used Airport card. Not too much to invest but now I’ve got the MacBook back in Sept. only because I had upcoming foot surgery in Nov. and I wanted the wireless freedom to do whatever while I’m off recuperating.
phantasmosxmagnum,
Wireless is definitely the reason I spend so much time online. I have my cable modem running into an older Airport Extreme, and an Airport Express in the living room hooked up to my stereo system and a small laser printer.
I can beam music to the stereo while I’m surfing or doing other stuff. I just kick back in my recliner and enjoy. No way I would be on so much if I had to sit at a desk. Then again, that might not be a bad thing. I waste a lot of time online.
LorD1776,
Well, since my recovery will take much longer than expected I found that the wireless world is great! But since I’m not at my desk in a more productive environment I tend to settle in, get comfortable and then surf, listen to lots of tuneage and then that makes time fly and I find myself procrastinating! 🙁 I just need to get busy with some probably fun Mac projects and I’ve been telling myself this for quite a long time and maybe I’ll get my tush in gear and start on some of ’em. LOL
Later!