MacBook Air 13” Mid 2011 Teardown
Although today is an exciting day for consumers, it is a sad day for consumer repair. Apple decided that the “svelte and sexy” MacBook Air would replace the “simple and serviceable” white plastic MacBook (for consumers at least– the white plastic MacBook is still available for educational use). While this means that your book-bags will be significantly lighter, it will also mean that you won’t be upgrading or servicing your computer anytime soon.
As iFixit tears down the MacBook Air this afternoon, they’re equally sad to see the plastic MacBook leave Apple’s consumer lineup (it will still serve a purpose in the education sector for students around the world). I still have my old black MacBook, and I don’t plan on getting rid of it anytime soon. Thunderbolt machines are still young, Lion is new, and there’s still some shifts to be made in Apple’s product line before I’m willing to commit to a new machine. (I’m waiting for the optical drives to be removed from the MacBook Pros, which would likely happen with a redesign). That said, I’ve been keeping my MacBook alive thanks to the great folks at OWC. Already, they’re looking to support the new 2011 MacBook Airs. OWC Grant writes:
If I’m right about this, and the clues certainly make it appear so, then once again, OWC offers an upgrade path that offers up to four times more capacity (480GB) than the size of the typical choice stock drive (128GB) from the factory in the new machines.
If I’m wrong…and the flash storage is truly soldered in, there are two possible options. One, get your hands on a Refurbished 2010 model instead and drop an OWC Aura Pro Express in there for the capacity you truly need and want. Two, we always could (note that “could” term there!) offer a Turnkey Program where you would send your 2011 MBA to us and we’d send it back with higher capacity and likely faster flash storage.
According to iFixit’s update this afternoon, there should be no need for the Turnkey Program. Apple’s latest MacBook Air should accept the OWC Aura Pro Express so you may add more storage if needed to the lightweight machines.