MBA rev. B, drive swap mod for 1.8" micro-sata

[hybster]

I have been able to acquire the pinout for the sata-LIF interface used in the macbook air second edition. If anyone else want to use the information to modify the mba to accept the industry standard 1.8" sata disks, please report your success here.

My plan is to split the ribbon into individual strands and solder leads from these directly to a new drive, but I will not be able to for at least a month.

There are 24 pins on the 1.8 sata-LIF connector.
Pin 2,3 : 3.3V
Pin 8: DAS (Device Active Signal)
Pin 11,12: A+ /A- Differential Signal Pair A
Pin 14,15: B- /B+ Differential Signal Pair B
Pin 1,4,7,9,10,13,16,17,24 : GND

So, a pretty simple job really, given you have the tools.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA#Cables_and_connectors

Good luck!

[NC MacGuy]

I don't think I'm up for that just yet. My 128 SSD is running beautifully.

But if you are going to do it, I suggest you buy a LIF connector and cable and make the changes on the spare cable that can easily be removed for warranty purposes. Keeping the Apple parts intact will also help with troubleshooting should it be needed.

[Scottsdale]

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH.

If this works, I may be able to NOT have to upgrade my MBA to the next revision just to get a 256 GB SSD. I love my MBA, but I really need more drive space. This is just the information that may make it possible.

When you get around to doing this, will you take photos and post them here with instructions? Do you plan to do this with an SSD drive or an HDD? I assume the HDD uses the same connector correct?

Still have to find an SSD that is the right size to fit in the new MBA. And, need to find a 256 GB SSD for a decent price.

Please keep us posted.

Cheers.

[jackfrost123]

IF it works, are we sure it's going to work, and btw what are the standard sata pin options for ssds and hdd at the moment, is there actually as larged hdd than the one currently hosted by the air?

[hybster]

I took my baby apart :)

The original 120gb hard drive measures 71 mm and the magnesium drive cage is a hand-in-glove fit, so the cage needs to go as all the 1.8" ssd drives with a micro-sata connector I have seen are about 78 mm long. We can speculate that the cage is mostly for securing a spinning hard drive to the overall chassis, so for a ssd it is of no big concern. Foam padding can be transferred to a new drive to ensure a good fit - maybe additional mounting is required.

With the drive cage removed, the available room is about 82 mm so any 1.8" ssd can be fitted as long as it is about 5 mm thin.

As for the connector, this is the tricky part of the project. The 24 pin interface is only 12 mm in width, so that makes for about 0.5 mm per lead :o The good news is that we only need to solder about 10 contacts, I doubt all the leads for ground are needed (as long as we use at least 3-4 IMO).

I will probably ebay a drive within a week and let you all know then. The drive mounting will be in reverse of the current, as to minimize strain on leads and connector.

[Scottsdale]

Just thought of something. I saw some drive enclosures on eBay a month ago that specifically said for a PATA ZIF MacBook Air drive. Now, I know that one will not work with the revised MBA, but maybe the same sellers will have it for the new MBA too. If so, it may just have the cable in it that would work???

Otherwise, how do we get an LIF SATA connector cable? Because, I don't want to risk my own by damaging it while trying to convert the cable to a SATA connector.

So, in a perfect world, as NC MacGuy says, we should use a different cable and always be able to put our drives back for any Apple warranty issues.

[darngooddesign]

You could make a mint if you provided the Rev A guys with a drive upgrade path.

[hybster]

Just thought of something. I saw some drive enclosures on eBay a month ago that specifically said for a PATA ZIF MacBook Air drive. Now, I know that one will not work with the revised MBA, but maybe the same sellers will have it for the new MBA too. If so, it may just have the cable in it that would work???

Otherwise, how do we get an LIF SATA connector cable? Because, I don't want to risk my own by damaging it while trying to convert the cable to a SATA connector.

So, in a perfect world, as NC MacGuy says, we should use a different cable and always be able to put our drives back for any Apple warranty issues.

Ifixit and others could provide extra cables, if the project is kept on a small scale. Remember, at this point we do not want the sata lif connector, we need the mba mainboard connector. To my knowledge, the sata lif is a special connector developed by Apple/Samsung, so it is very unlikely to see it on other products soon - even if it has been adopted into the sata specification.

You could make a mint if you provided the Rev A guys with a drive upgrade path.

The zif pata connector is probably easy to get a pinout for, but it has a lot more leads to solder and the data lines need shielding. I think the originial mba has more or less the same internal space for drives, so you would just need to solder the leads.

If you meant using a pata -> sata bridge as well, I think the space could get quite crammed. Given the padding on the drive I would estimate that the internal clearing is around 6-7 mm in height. Samsung produce a 128gb 1.8" ssd with a 3.5 mm height:
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/products/flash/ssd/2008/product/lineup.html

This would leave you with about 3 mm to sandwich a pata-sata bridge - this could be done, but it is of course quite a project.

[hybster]

Addendum:
I think somebody found the pinout for sata on the original mba, this is just 4 leads from the mainboard + power. This is a way more viable option.
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/21/macbook-air-usb-hacks/

[hybster]

Update: I bought a samsung 1.8" MLC 128gb ssd off eBay, waiting for it to arrive - will keep you posted, with pics and results.

Have a good weekend!

[alphaod]

Looking forward to seeing some results.

[imax2k2]

Update: I bought a samsung 1.8" MLC 128gb ssd off eBay, waiting for it to arrive - will keep you posted, with pics and results.

Have a good weekend!

Is this the drive?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Samsung-SSD-128GB-Solid-State-Drive-SATA-1-8-Micro-Slim_W0QQitemZ330296713286QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item330296713286&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

I saw that drive before and inquired with the seller if the drive would work with macbook air cause is looks to be the closest match

[hybster]

Is this the drive?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Samsung-SSD-128GB-Solid-State-Drive-SATA-1-8-Micro-Slim_W0QQitemZ330296713286QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item330296713286&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

I saw that drive before and inquired with the seller if the drive would work with macbook air cause is looks to be the closest match

Yeap, that is the one. I found it for about 300usd in Portugal though.

[Scottsdale]

Yeap, that is the one. I found it for about 300usd in Portugal though.

I will be watching this. Please update us as soon as you start the process.

Best wishes with making this happen, and thanks for doing the legwork and keeping us posted here.

Cheers.

[imax2k2]

Yeap, that is the one. I found it for about 300usd in Portugal though.

Thats a good price for it, I was almost about to buy it last month, but had to hold off. I'm gonna be getting the drive soon though, I was hoping it was just as easy to do a drive swap, I was also wondering (probably not possible), but cant we just swap the connector with the one used in with ssd's, if they are sold separately at all?

[hybster]

Thats a good price for it, I was almost about to buy it last month, but had to hold off. I'm gonna be getting the drive soon though, I was hoping it was just as easy to do a drive swap, I was also wondering (probably not possible), but cant we just swap the connector with the one used in with ssd's, if they are sold separately at all?

I don't think the connectors are available in sale, and if they are it would still require more difficult soldering. I am getting 0.2mm^2 wiring to solder directly on to the LIF connector. That way, you can desolder the setup and return to the original disk if needed. Magnifying glass will come in handy though :)

[Scottsdale]

I don't think the connectors are available in sale, and if they are it would still require more difficult soldering. I am getting 0.2mm^2 wiring to solder directly on to the LIF connector. That way, you can desolder the setup and return to the original disk if needed. Magnifying glass will come in handy though :)

I wish you the best. Please keep us updated as soon as you get the drive and start the process.

Cheers!

[hybster]

The disk has arrived, I will begin the mod now. Length of the ssd is 79mm. Expect news (good or bad) within a couple of hours :)

[bugout]

This is exciting! you need to broadcast live!

[hybster]

Success! Installing os x at the moment, will post pictures etc. when it is running. Scetchy solderjob to be honest, but it works!! :D

[bugout]

Holy crap..I gotta see this

[Tastannin]

Nice! Post photos and all that, please.

Anyone up for prepping a solder-less kit for those of us who are solder-challenged? :D

Thanks for sharing!

[DAMAC3]

I'm pretty good at soldering, but I'm not sure I can solder that small. I have modded many XBOX's, but the soldering wasn't as precise for the most part. If Hybster doesn't have any problems with his system, I may try this myself, though. I would definately do it if the drive prices were a little cheaper. With how much raving is going on about SSD in these revB models, I may be inclined to do it.

Does anyone know if there are any larger HDDs than 120GB that would fit the size specifications of the Air? If there are any that are micro SATA, then you could increase your drive size with this modification as well (because there aren't any drives that use the same LIF connector as the Air out there for sale, right?).

[hayduke]

Success! Installing os x at the moment, will post pictures etc. when it is running. Scetchy solderjob to be honest, but it works!! :D

You are too cool for school. Congrats on a great mod. More pics please. I loves me some MBA pr0n.

[hybster]

So far so good. To summarize my findings:
- The soldering on the ribbon cable is quite tricky, be careful not to stress the solder joints when mounting the other ends to the replacement disk.
- I had to kill off three ground leads because I needed additional space for the data lines.
- I wrapped the disk in electrical tape, and it actually fits very well only using this for mounting combined with the ribbons going over it.
- It has been worth it, but you need to really want to do this.

xbench etc. coming later.

[bugout]

Holy crap that is frikkin hard core.. congrats

[hybster]

Xbench scores, two to show reproducibility (I think the 4k seq write is just to the cache.. dunno):

[bugout]

What were the before scores?

[Scottsdale]

Incredible. Way to go!

I always am impressed when someone is able to think something like this out and actually follows through with an idea.

Please tell us overall the speed differences between the two and the size differences between the drives. I couldn't tell from your screen shot.

Congrats on the progress for all of us. Now just need to sell your idea to a cable company who can just make a modified cable for us MBA owners who want to swap drives. Until then, off to soldering school I go.

[tubbymac]

Wow nice! I've soldered before but that really looks like it has a tiny margin of error between the pins. That's one scary experiment. Amazing you pulled it off!

[hybster]

Incredible. Way to go!

I always am impressed when someone is able to think something like this out and actually follows through with an idea.

Please tell us overall the speed differences between the two and the size differences between the drives. I couldn't tell from your screen shot.

Congrats on the progress for all of us. Now just need to sell your idea to a cable company who can just make a modified cable for us MBA owners who want to swap drives. Until then, off to soldering school I go.

Well the speed difference is quite remarkable :) The fit is good and not too tight.
The pins on the cable are about 0.4mm *including* spacing. Test the connections and make sure your solder points are good..

It might be worth noticing that although this is probably the same ssd as apple ships with, the writes on my mod are about double of that of the apple originals. Maybe this is firmware optimization related?

[Scottsdale]

Well the speed difference is quite remarkable :) The fit is good and not too tight.
The pins on the cable are about 0.4mm *including* spacing. Test the connections and make sure your solder points are good..

It might be worth noticing that although this is probably the same ssd as apple ships with, the writes on my mod are about double of that of the apple originals. Maybe this is firmware optimization related?

I wondered about those write speeds. Much better than mine. So you went from 120 GB HDD to 128 GB SSD? Couldn't remember..

I want to go from 128 GB SSD. And I imagine will be able to get a pretty penny since an MBA buyer will buy it. Then I want to put a 256 GB SSD in it.

I haven't looked into availability yet. But I am hopeful there is one out there that will fit using same mods you made.

Cheers.

[imax2k2]

Congratulations Very well done!, the soldering does look tricky, but I will give it a shot soon!

Great to see its working great!

[ducatidoc]

kudos! am also considering upgrading when 256gb SSDs drop in price. this guide will be a TREMENDOUS help. nice work.

[fteoath64]

Bravo, well done!. One small success in so many other attempts (all pretty much disappointments) gives some hope for the rest of us.

Now only would OWC or iFixIt will do a proper kit and people will buy.
I reckon gettng one of those 2.5 inch SSDs and lose the metal casing might just squeeze in there somewhere. The bare contact of plastic to the metal casing would serve as a heatsink of sorts ...:D

[sk1nhd33t]

i was wondering if this method can be done on the REV A machine?

[bugout]

Rev A is PATA, so no, not like this..

[tsubikiddo]

thank you so so much~
I definitely would subscribe to this post and keep an eye on how things go

love to put sth like an Intel X18 in it:cool:

[Scottsdale]

Hi there OP. Any more news for us? How is it working for you? Any problems with the cable you soldered? Any improvements made?

Just wondering if I should look into a bigger SSD for my rev B MBA... I am getting anxious, but don't know if I should wait to see if April/May brings us an updated MBA with an SL9600 CPU and a 256 GB SSD and the so desired 4 GB RAM.

I really need more space than my 128 GB, but I don't want to go through all of this trouble unless it's really the only way to do it, and Apple doesn't plan to offer a BTO 256 GB SSD for the MBA anytime soon. Since Apple updated the BTO options last week for the MB and MBP but not for the MBA, I wonder what Apple is thinking???

Anyways, more news on the stability and results would be great. I assume the SSD will be fine without the removed drive cage in the MBA, but just want some verification you have had no issues.

I searched NewEgg.com and found a variety of 250 to 256 GB SSDs. Most are in the $700+ price range, in addition to finding an electronics company to modify the cable along the lines of what you did, will add another $100 or so I am sure. This is making me really think I should wait two more months and see if Apple updates the MBA or at that time the SSD prices will probably have dropped another $200. Also, the Intel SSD looks to be the best but is only 160 GB SSD. I don't think I am willing to go through the trouble for 32 GB of extra space over my stock SSD.

Anyways that is the latest for any of you considering this. I think the biggest reason to do this would be for those of you that already have an HDD who want to upgrade to SSD. There are a bunch of options in the $300 range for 128 GB of SSD.

Also note, the write speeds for the OP's tricked out version is double the standard SSD in the MBA.

[shokunin]

I really need more space than my 128 GB, but I don't want to go through all of this trouble unless it's really the only way to do it, and Apple doesn't plan to offer a BTO 256 GB SSD for the MBA anytime soon. Since Apple updated the BTO options last week for the MB and MBP but not for the MBA, I wonder what Apple is thinking???

Apple was thinking that there are no 256GB SSD's in 1.8" form factor that the MBA uses yet... All those drives on newegg are 2.5" notebook drives.

[Scottsdale]

Apple was thinking that there are no 256GB SSD's in 1.8" form factor that the MBA uses yet... All those drives on newegg are 2.5" notebook drives.

Good to note, but, I am not real sure what drive the OP used here. I know he had to remove the MBA drive protector/enclosure to make it fit.

I have not really researched other than looking at those prices.

I know the 256 GB SSD will become available for the MBA on its next revision, it's just a matter of WHEN. I would definitely rather buy a new MBA... assuming other updates are there also.

BUT, in the long run something has to happen for me, or I will be forced to figure out a way to make this happen.

Definitely will check more into the size of the drive the OP used. And will use that before ever buying one and trying this out. Also, I know I cannot do the soldering, and I would probably go to an electronics custom cable maker to get the cable modified rather than doing it myself. This would all add up to a lot of hassle.

So, please Apple, update the MBA with the SL9600 next month, put a 256 GB SSD in it, include or BTO 4 GB RAM, and use the silky smooth glass trackpad... that would make me really happy.

BUT, in the meantime, for all of the people that have a HDD rev B who want to upgrade to SSD, this thread is your possible solution. And for those of us who want more drive space, it's a starting point.

Good luck everyone.

[hybster]

So far, smooth sailing :) It really is a great difference compared to the 120gb hdd... Regarding the size of the new ssd, it is 1.8", 3.5mm thick and 79 mm long. It is a Samsung 128gb 1.8" slim ssd, as seen on www.samsungssd.com . The drive is traded a lot on ebay and can be had for as low as 168ukp (~230usd) including shipping, at least in europe.

Good luck!

[hippocratesnoah]

So far so good. To summarize my findings:
- The soldering on the ribbon cable is quite tricky, be careful not to stress the solder joints when mounting the other ends to the replacement disk.
- I had to kill off three ground leads because I needed additional space for the data lines.
- I wrapped the disk in electrical tape, and it actually fits very well only using this for mounting combined with the ribbons going over it.
- It has been worth it, but you need to really want to do this.

xbench etc. coming later.

Hi,

would you consider doing this again for me. I would send you my micro sata samsung drive as well as the needed HHD cable. You would do your magnificent work. I would pay you a fee of course. If you would agree to this, please contect me: hippocratesnoah@gmail.com

TIA
h.

[Scottsdale]

Hi,

would you consider doing this again for me. I would send you my micro sata samsung drive as well as the needed HHD cable. You would do your magnificent work. I would pay you a fee of course. If you would agree to this, please contect me: hippocratesnoah@gmail.com

TIA
h.

That's funny. I would pay $50 for a deal like that... but honestly, I think the person doing it probably deserves $100.

Wondering OP, is everything still running smoothly with it? Still have double write speeds? How do you like the SSD?

If anyone is interested in going in business together to make these cables and sell them, let me know. I have a cable supplier who can do a prototype and the actual cables really cheap. I have had custom cables made before by this supplier, and I see this as a great potential. Would be a great place like MR to get the word out on what we have for sale here. I am only interested in doing this if I have a partner, as I don't have enough time to do all work myself.

Anyone interested in being a Mac parts supplier with me? Could be fun too, to work with something we love. I have also thought about getting into iPod/iPhone accessories, as it's a larger target market and seems to be a lot of profit potential in accessories.

[hybster]

Hi,

would you consider doing this again for me. I would send you my micro sata samsung drive as well as the needed HHD cable. You would do your magnificent work. I would pay you a fee of course. If you would agree to this, please contect me: hippocratesnoah@gmail.com

TIA
h.

Sorry but I am not opening a shop for this, the point of the thread was to supply an upgrade option for the daring :)

That's funny. I would pay $50 for a deal like that... but honestly, I think the person doing it probably deserves $100.

Wondering OP, is everything still running smoothly with it? Still have double write speeds? How do you like the SSD?

If anyone is interested in going in business together to make these cables and sell them, let me know. I have a cable supplier who can do a prototype and the actual cables really cheap. I have had custom cables made before by this supplier, and I see this as a great potential. Would be a great place like MR to get the word out on what we have for sale here. I am only interested in doing this if I have a partner, as I don't have enough time to do all work myself.

Anyone interested in being a Mac parts supplier with me? Could be fun too, to work with something we love. I have also thought about getting into iPod/iPhone accessories, as it's a larger target market and seems to be a lot of profit potential in accessories.

Yea it really works quite well, havent seen any issues at all. Battery time has gone up about 15-20 min over the hdd model, so really the best 250 usd upgrade I have ever had. Thanks for the opportunity of a joint-venture, but I do not have the time for anything much besides uni at the moment.

Is it not about time somebody else did this and posted pics? :p Come on Scott...

[hippocratesnoah]

Sorry but I am not opening a shop for this, the point of the thread was to supply an upgrade option for the daring :)
Scott...

I just finished studies, left my university behind and can tell what final exams etc means. I do understand. However: Since there is absolutely no way for me to repeat the steps you did - even given the pics you uploaded - and since there is NO LIF to micro/sata adapter, NO LIF drive on free market and NO solution in sight - I would ask you one more time to have mercy with a desperate soul and do it just once again (see what I mean - I'm really in despair). All you have to do is the soldering. Everything else would be shipped to you, ready to go. Just solder, and ship back.

If you wish you can also send me your drive and keep my (new samsung micro sata 128GB SSD).

If my drive is damaged: My bad luck. I won't press any charges.

You on the other hand can make some cash for your service. If you wish in advance via PayPal.

(I'm begging right? Better stop.)

TIA
h.

[Scottsdale]

Sorry but I am not opening a shop for this, the point of the thread was to supply an upgrade option for the daring :)



Yea it really works quite well, havent seen any issues at all. Battery time has gone up about 15-20 min over the hdd model, so really the best 250 usd upgrade I have ever had. Thanks for the opportunity of a joint-venture, but I do not have the time for anything much besides uni at the moment.

Is it not about time somebody else did this and posted pics? :p Come on Scott...

My MBA was stolen. I am waiting on a rev C MBA. Problem is, there is no 256 GB SSD on the market that meets the size requirements. It's not worth doing it if already have SSD as only thing gained is improved write speed.

Like I said earlier in the thread, I know a cabling company that has made some specialized cables for me. We could get a prototype of this LIF/SATA cable made for a few hundred bucks. The problem is, there are no bigger SSDs on the market, so the only upgraders would be from HDDs. Tough market until a 256 GB SSD is made that will fit in a rev B. Then upgraders from 128 GB SSD and HDD would make the switch.

I just want a rev C MBA with SSD now. Had my rev B not been stolen, I would have strongly considered upgrading the SSD if there was one available with 256 GB.

If a rev C MBA doesn't have the extra CPU, RAM, and drive space, the rev B may continue to live on, but I expect the rev C to be a big improvement and move us all to the rev C.

[mac jones]

Those SSDs are a huge improvement over the 4200rpm drives.

I just couldn't even use the 4200rpm any longer.

I was concerned when I heard that Apple used a LIF SATA cable in the rev.B machines as I had an feeling it was going to be hard to find outside of Apple.

The rev. A situation is better these days as you can now get a Kingspec that supposedly works in the Air (can be had on EBAY: 1.8,ZIF,5mm,64GB or 128GB , $270US for the 64GB) or use the Samsung ZIF (even though they want way too much money for them still)

I have the Kingspec but am using it in another machine.

I'm totally sold on SSDs.

(ok a worthless post ...just wasting time on a Sat. afternoon :D )

[Scottsdale]

Those SSDs are a huge improvement over the 4200rpm drives.

I just couldn't even use the 4200rpm any longer.

I was concerned when I heard that Apple used a LIF SATA cable in the rev.B machines as I had an feeling it was going to be hard to find outside of Apple.

The rev. A situation is better these days as you can now get a Kingspec that supposedly works in the Air (can be had on EBAY: 1.8,ZIF,5mm,64GB or 128GB , $270US for the 64GB) or use the Samsung ZIF (even though they want way too much money for them still)

I have the Kingspec but am using it in another machine.

I'm totally sold on SSDs.

(ok a worthless post ...just wasting time on a Sat. afternoon :D )

You know I totally agree. The difference for $500 is a completely usable primary Mac as an MBA with SSD. With the 4200 rpm HDD, it isn't even fun or usable! It is extremely disappointing! Most people get pissed when I say this, but it really is worth every penny to do the SSD upgrade. And if you have a HDD, do this mod and buy a Samsung SSD for $225 now!

[mhobelsb]

hello there

so these

http://cgi.ebay.com/KingSpec-128GB-SSD-1-8-ZIF-MLC-IDE-Brand-New-RARE_W0QQitemZ260414280550QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item3ca1e69366&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

will work in an rev.b air?

[stoconnell]

hello there

so these

http://cgi.ebay.com/KingSpec-128GB-SSD-1-8-ZIF-MLC-IDE-Brand-New-RARE_W0QQitemZ260414280550QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item3ca1e69366&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

will work in an rev.b air?

That's a PATA ZIF interface. It might work in a Rev A if the shell were removed as it is 8mm (needs to be under 5mm to fit properly).

[schipa]

That's a PATA ZIF interface. It might work in a Rev A if the shell were removed as it is 8mm (needs to be under 5mm to fit properly).

I find the link below (in simplified Chinese) showing the procedure and performance of replacing the rev. A 80G HDD with the KingSpec 1.8" ZIF2 SSD 128GB:

http://news.zol.com.cn/133/1338245.html

:)

[zsnow]

I find the link below (in simplified Chinese) showing the procedure and performance of replacing the rev. A 80G HDD with the KingSpec 1.8" ZIF2 SSD 128GB:

http://news.zol.com.cn/133/1338245.html

:)

67/50 is too slow. I will waiting for 100/100 something.
I heard SanDisk, Photofast will join this battle soon.

[Mr. Zarniwoop]

I find the link below (in simplified Chinese) showing the procedure and performance of replacing the rev. A 80G HDD with the KingSpec 1.8" ZIF2 SSD 128GB:

http://news.zol.com.cn/133/1338245.html

:)
Google Translation of MacBook Air rev. A upgrade with 128GB KingSpec SSD (http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=n&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.zol.com.cn%2F133%2F1338245.html&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&history_state0=)

[mac jones]

67/50 is too slow. I will waiting for 100/100 something.
I heard SanDisk, Photofast will join this battle soon.


The specs are missleading. There is a huge boost in 'performance' with just the stock Samsung SSD which has lower specs.

It's also the multitasking aspect that can bog down the 4200rpm drives and this is virtually gone with the SSDs so you don't ever see beachball (it should perhaps be a skull instead of a playful beachball :D )

[Scottsdale]

The specs are missleading. There is a huge boost in 'performance' with just the stock Samsung SSD which has lower specs.

It's also the multitasking aspect that can bog down the 4200rpm drives and this is virtually gone with the SSDs so you don't ever see beachball (it should perhaps be a skull instead of a playful beachball :D )

I never saw a beachball on my rev B MBA with SSD. Was incredibly fast. I would recommend everyone who has the ability to do this upgrade. Too bad a cable doesn't exist to just make it simple. Nice to get double the write speed too with the Samsung drive.

[dabiscake]

Hi, newly registered user here but I've (somewhat?) slowly upgraded from both original rev.A MBAs and I currently have the MBA revB 120GB HHD.

I'd like to first congratulate the OP for his outstanding thinking and achievement with this mod, and also thank him for inspiring me to try the same. :)
I have a Samsung 128Gb en route to me right now + this connector (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260409935754&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&salenotsupported) because I didn't want to risk soldering onto the drive own pins. Hopefully I can succeed in the same way Hybster did!

Now, I just realized today that Apple updated their Macbook line-up quite a bit, so my question is this: has anybody with the new revC SSD Air benchmarked their new system, and if so, does this mod still outwrite (in speed) the shipping drive from Apple like it did the revB SSD?)

With the current major price drops and this mod available, it's made possible and affordable to really only debate which model in CPU speed to get, instead of HD vs SSD. The new top-of-the-line 2.13Ghz has to be quite amazing, blazing fast, don't you think?

I'm currently thinking real hard about upgrading, performance/price ratio between my would-be current 1.6Ghz+128Gb mod versus the 2.13Ghz+original 128Gb, given that I only spent $1500 total for my current config... tough decisions ahead I tell you...:)

[Dirac]

Found this:

http://store.era-ele.com/ziflif-ce-18-hdd-to-serialata-sata-hdd-adapter-p-251.html

Hybster, any opinion whether this would work or make anything easier than the soldering job you did? Or is this thing too big to fit inside the Air?

[hybster]

Found this:

http://store.era-ele.com/ziflif-ce-18-hdd-to-serialata-sata-hdd-adapter-p-251.html

Hybster, any opinion whether this would work or make anything easier than the soldering job you did? Or is this thing too big to fit inside the Air?

Sorry, but the sata LIF and pata ZIF connectors are not the same. Status is still that you need to solder on the ribbon cable or motherboard connector.

Best of luck to all of you!

[dabiscake]

I'm proud to report success with my mod! I ended up not using the micro-sata connector and had to indeed solder on the drive pins instead, because the drive + added plugged-in connector was a little too long... bummer.
Anyways, soldering on the ribbon was tricky but I followed Hybster's great tips and I managed to pull through, pfff!!!

I wish I had taken pics for posterity though :).

On another note, here's a question to Hybster: does your drive show up in System Preferences > Startup Disk? I don't see mine, and I think that's why it's taking a little longer at boot up to recognize the OS (while screen is gray, before seeing the apple icon, maybe 10-15 secs, then not even 10 secs after seeing the icon to get to desktop with network ready state!). I googled a few answers, and it turns out it's probably because I didn't do a fresh install from Mac OS discs, instead just cloned my previously saved image onto this drive, so it didn't initialize like it would when doing a Mac OS install. I'll probably end up re-doing that when I get a chance, re-initializing my drive with a Mac OS install disc, then re-clone my system image over it again.

Anyways, what a great improvement it has been (I already was using the revA SSD version before after upgrading from a revA HDD so I really missed the solid state of things...)

Thanks again to Hybster for leading the way! Cheers!

[dabiscake]

Oh yeah, forgot to add are my Xbench results, in par with the OP's:

Results 122.04
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.6 (9G55)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacBookAir2,1
Drive Type SAMSUNG SSD Thin uSATA 128GB M
-
-
-

Disk Test 104.51
Sequential 95.97
Uncached Write 132.30 81.23 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 125.39 70.95 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 48.51 14.20 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 180.77 90.85 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 114.71
Uncached Write 44.19 4.68 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 108.00 34.57 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1240.27 8.79 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 459.61 85.28 MB/sec [256K blocks]


I've been using the SSD for a week now and really love it, although I'm not sure I'm seeing too much battery improvement yet?
All and all a worthy mod, but in light of the price drops this past week, you might in retrospect be better off upgrading to the revC. :p

[dudeitsjay]

damn, now i'm tempted to do this too.

[Muriac]

I just got a (relatively) cheap refurbished MBA rev. B from Apple, with the intention of eventually performing this hack.

The only problem? I've never soldered anything in my life. I've got very steady hands, and I've taken apart plenty of Mac laptops before, but I really don't know what I'd be getting into in terms of equipment needed and things to watch out for.

What kind of soldering iron should I use? What kind of solder? What kind of wires are those?

Thanks in advance.

[dabiscake]

Muriac,

If you never really soldered much before, I would warn you before attempting to do this mod. The OP's pics are very good macros and can be deceiving, but look at the scale in pics with the ruler again. This is smaller than small. The smallest wire gauge I had was 24 guage, and I still had to "split" the stranded wires to fit them onto the ribbon cable.

Soldering onto the hard drive pins were manageable because although the pins are small, they are fairly far apart. The ribbon cable however is the tricky part and it's easy enough to mess up that I wouldn't recommend trying, especially so when this is the custom part from Apple that you cannot easily replace.

If you've taken apart laptops before, maybe you could get your hands on any generic ribbon cable (ex. cable for an old laptop keyboard) and try to test yourself at soldering onto the individual lines.

As far as equipment, I use a temperature controlled soldering station, but any decent solder iron with a thin tip should do. The more important thing would be good heat transfer from your iron to your components for good solder flow. I suggest soldering paste or soldering liquid/gel of some kind.

Good luck, but as the OP mentioned, this is not easy by any means and you really have to want to do this.

I just got a (relatively) cheap refurbished MBA rev. B from Apple, with the intention of eventually performing this hack.

The only problem? I've never soldered anything in my life. I've got very steady hands, and I've taken apart plenty of Mac laptops before, but I really don't know what I'd be getting into in terms of equipment needed and things to watch out for.

What kind of soldering iron should I use? What kind of solder? What kind of wires are those?

Thanks in advance.

[habi00]

http://db.xbench.com/merge.xhtml?doc1=435718&doc2=356983

Disk test!!!!:

Overall disk test score:
INTEL SSDSA1M080G2GN 204,93
APPLE SSD SM128 84,86

My 2 cents:

I ordered this the cable part so i could swap the original disk back... (for service) 922-8768 Part Number: 922-8768, 821-0681-02, 632-0740 (MacBook Air (Late 2008), MacBook Air (Mid 2009))

I tried soldering with on a hot air soldering station for 3 hours using paste solder. That is not a good idea if you have several free cables (you would have to blow them all at the same time and thats not easy, maybe you could glue the cables together and solder atonce... but its tricky). So I abandoned the idea and went with a temretured soldering station with a small enough tip. I did mostly the same as seen previousply in the pictures in this thread. I also severed the 3 ground wires on the lif-cable going beseides the data-wires so I could solder using 2 pins. This makes it much easier to solder. It is almost imposible to do it otherwise. or atleast it will take 3-4 times longer. It took about an hour to solder everything together. 4 datacables (thiner, 1 wire), power cables i used only 2 cables smallest multiwire i could find (3,3V +). BUT be carefull that your cables fitt inside. I hade trouble fitting with my intel ssd drive because the power wires i used were thicker and to long at first. One more thing: and there is no room to use and micro-data adapter. This will become too long to fit inside. I also had to solder directly on the drive microsata connector. And be shure to either electrical tape or glue the solderings/cable ends when ready/tested so that it wont break from pressure on installation. Its very delicate with this size of cableing....

[habi00]

Many thanks indeed to hybster!!!! Without the pinout of the lif-sata interface i just couldnt have done it!!! Where the hell did you dig that up?

[pheonix09]

i did it too intel x18-m g2 160 gb in my little baby ( macbook air b revision )

love it
Name Score Detail
Results
220.09
System Info
Xbench Version
1.3
System Version
10.6.3 (10D573)
Physical RAM
2048 MB
Model
MacBookAir2,1
Drive Type
INTEL SSDSA1M160G2GN
Disk Test
220.09
Sequential
136.12
Uncached Write
122.87
75.44 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write
151.55
85.75 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read
84.21
24.64 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read
360.58—>
181.23 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random
574.42—>
Uncached Write
594.10—>
62.89 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write
277.98
88.99 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read
1762.17—>
12.49 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read
896.47—>
166.35 MB/sec [256K blocks]

[Scottsdale]

i did it too intel x18-m g2 160 gb in my little baby ( macbook air b revision )

love it
Name Score Detail
Results
220.09
System Info
Xbench Version
1.3
System Version
10.6.3 (10D573)
Physical RAM
2048 MB
Model
MacBookAir2,1
Drive Type
INTEL SSDSA1M160G2GN
Disk Test
220.09
Sequential
136.12
Uncached Write
122.87
75.44 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write
151.55
85.75 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read
84.21
24.64 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read
360.58—>
181.23 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random
574.42—>
Uncached Write
594.10—>
62.89 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write
277.98
88.99 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read
1762.17—>
12.49 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read
896.47—>
166.35 MB/sec [256K blocks]

How did you get the interface to work and the drive to fit?

Those results are barely faster than the Runcore???

[jeker]

Many thanks indeed to hybster!!!! Without the pinout of the lif-sata interface i just couldnt have done it!!! Where the hell did you dig that up?

Hi. How have you managed to do that? Could you draw and desribe the scheme of lif-sata interface in details? Thanks

[SENTINAL8473]

I know this is an oldish thread, but it's very cool, I have found this device , may be of some intrest to people

http://store.era-ele.com/ziflif-ce-18-hdd-to-serialata-sata-hdd-adapter-p-251.html

[xeibix]

Even if this is an older thread. I've just done the cable soldering but the drive did not work. The problem was, that the Kingston SSDnow needs additional +5V. You can find +5V very easily on the main board: take a look at iFixit Step 8 (http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/MacBook-Air-Models-A1237-and-A1304-Hard-Drive-Replacement/860/3). There is a capacitor near the ribbon plug that goes to audio and USB below the lower left corner of the red square. The capacitor has a + mark on it, which is the +5V side. Take a voltmeter to be sure!

[Trishnalynn]

I'm looking for anyone who might know the pinout for the current 256GB SSDS

We provide internal and external removables and need the pinout and connector specs so we know how to wire our products and offer solutions. Any hlep would be great. I know OWC provides an SSD that fits too

Thanks! ~tld

[terraphantm]

Does anyone know if there's a mass-produced adaptor that accomplishes the same goal? 128GB is just not enough for me these days, so I've been thinking about upgrading to a 256GB or 300GB SSD. Thing is, I do not have the soldering skills to this myself, and I am not willing to practice on $300+ SSDs

[Neodym]

Does anyone know if there's a mass-produced adaptor that accomplishes the same goal? 128GB is just not enough for me these days, so I've been thinking about upgrading to a 256GB or 300GB SSD. Thing is, I do not have the soldering skills to this myself, and I am not willing to practice on $300+ SSDs
Market is too small so you probably won't find anything like that. I was in a similar situation and finally decided to sell the Rev.B and get a 2011 MBA. It's only a little more money than a DIY solution and a lot less hassle PLUS the 2011 will outclass the Rev.B in every aspect. Not to forget that you will have renewed warranty.

Unless you're absolutely keen on the design of Rev.B it makes no sense anymore to upgrade it, imho.

[terraphantm]

Market is too small so you probably won't find anything like that. I was in a similar situation and finally decided to sell the Rev.B and get a 2011 MBA. It's only a little more money than a DIY solution and a lot less hassle PLUS the 2011 will outclass the Rev.B in every aspect. Not to forget that you will have renewed warranty.

Unless you're absolutely keen on the design of Rev.B it makes no sense anymore to upgrade it, imho.

How much would a rev B even sell for? I was under the impression that I'd be lucky to get $1000. A 13" 2011 w/ the 256GB SSD starts at $1600... so by my estimation that'd be a $600+ loss for me. Just more money than I'm willing to spend when this laptop does everything else I need it to just fine (for real work, I use my desktop PC). I suppose I could look outside Apple...