Early 2014 / Early 2015 Logic Board Swap?

[eRondeau]

I have two 13" MacBook Air's -- an Early 2014 and an Early 2015. The Early 2014 is in perfect physical condition but something's wrong with the logic board and it won't boot; the Early 2015 case is badly damaged and the keyboard/trackpad don't work but it'll boot just fine. QUESTION: Can I move the internals from the Early 2015 into the case for the Early 2014? Has anyone tried this before? Help!

 

[Audit13]

Yes, the internals and externals for the mid-2013 to 2017 13 Air are completely interchangeable.

 

[eRondeau]

Yes, the internals and externals for the mid-2013 to 2017 13 Air are completely interchangeable.

Exactly what I was hoping to hear... thanks!

 

[Audit13]

Exactly what I was hoping to hear... thanks!

You are welcome. I have personally swapped parts around to come up with
fully functional Airs.

 

[tuc]

I have personally swapped parts around to come up with fully functional Airs.

Interesting. I have two 11” MacBooks Air: 2014 one with a broken screen (or maybe just a broken screen cable) and a 2015 with a broken keyboard. I wonder if they could be combined to create a good one.

 

[Audit13]

Interesting. I have two 11” MacBooks Air: 2014 one with a broken screen (or maybe just a broken screen cable) and a 2015 with a broken keyboard. I wonder if they could be combined to create a good one.

I don't see why it wouldn't work. Parts look to be interchangeable too.

You could sell off the remaining parts to make a few dollars too.

 

[eRondeau]

Thanks for the knowledgable advice everyone! I did the logic board switcheroo this afternoon and it worked perfectly! I now have a 2014-15 MBA 13" w/ 4GB RAM + 256GB SSD running MacOS Big Sur. It's in a perfect case with a perfect screen and keyboard/trackpad. I've basically merged two computers that didn't work and now have one that works like new. I couldn't be happier! 😆

 

[xboxbml]

Thanks for the knowledgable advice everyone! I did the logic board switcheroo this afternoon and it worked perfectly! I now have a 2014-15 MBA 13" w/ 4GB RAM + 256GB SSD running MacOS Big Sur. It's in a perfect case with a perfect screen and keyboard/trackpad. I've basically merged two computers that didn't work and now have one that works like new. I couldn't be happier! 😆

Let us know how your battery life/capacity goes on Big Sur.. I'm curious. I'm staying put on Catalina for now. I've read earlier someone having issues after update on 2015 MBA.

 

[eRondeau]

One of the two MBA's came with a nearly-new "NewerTech" 55 watt-hour battery... showing only 7 charge cycles! I'll keep an eye on it and report back.

 

[xboxbml]

One of the two MBA's came with a nearly-new "NewerTech" 55 watt-hour battery... showing only 7 charge cycles! I'll keep an eye on it and report back.

Well, I'd say save your money and go with that! Not bad. Not sure about the quality of those but I have looked into them before back when I bought mine but never got one. This one I'm getting I want to see how it behaves with Catalina first before I go and update to Big Sur(if ever). I have my original 128gb SSD and the 512gb Apple SSD I did put in it after I bought it. I might go ahead and load Big Sur on the 128gb and see how it plays with this machine. I hate unexpected battery drains.. It's taken me from Mojave last update thru this last Catalina update to get this setup so it doesn't kill battery overnight. I'd rather play with Sur on a different drive first before I would update my 2tb..

 

[President-Elect Beachball]

Yes, the internals and externals for the mid-2013 to 2017 13 Air are completely interchangeable.

Hi, I was going to start a new thread but I'm glad I found this one. I'm in a similar situation. I have two 13" MBAs, one a 2013 model purchased on launch and the other one a 2015 one purchased in late 2016, so over three years apart. They are both perfectly functional, but the 2013 has the screen slightly damaged, while the 2015 has some cosmetic damage to the uppercase (the part holding the keyboard and trackpad). I'm planning to fit the keyboard/trackpad assembly of the 2013 on the 2015 MBA, and I've learned here that it is indeed possible. But I still have two questions:

- The 2013 actually has a larger ssd, 256 vs 128. I'd like to swap them as well, but I've read elsewhere that this might produce some firmware issues. Does anyone know if that's the case?

- I'd like to put a new original battery on the newer one, but I'd rather have the older 2013 battery replaced, naturally. If I place the old, OEM battery on the newer MBA will apple replace it even though it's not the OEM part it was originally shipped with?

Thanks!

 

[Audit13]

Hi, I was going to start a new thread but I'm glad I found this one. I'm in a similar situation. I have two 13" MBAs, one a 2013 model purchased on launch and the other one a 2015 one purchased in late 2016, so over three years apart. They are both perfectly functional, but the 2013 has the screen slightly damaged, while the 2015 has some cosmetic damage to the uppercase (the part holding the keyboard and trackpad). I'm planning to fit the keyboard/trackpad assembly of the 2013 on the 2015 MBA, and I've learned here that it is indeed possible. But I still have two questions:

- The 2013 actually has a larger ssd, 256 vs 128. I'd like to swap them as well, but I've read elsewhere that this might produce some firmware issues. Does anyone know if that's the case?

- I'd like to put a new original battery on the newer one, but I'd rather have the older 2013 battery replaced, naturally. If I place the old, OEM battery on the newer MBA will apple replace it even though it's not the OEM part it was originally shipped with?

Thanks!

There will be no issue with swapping the battery or SSD.

Personally, I would buy a third party battery given the age of the MacBooks.

Yes, Apple will be fine with replacing the battery as long as all the internals are OEM.

 

[President-Elect Beachball]

There will be no issue with swapping the battery or SSD.

Personally, I would buy a third party battery given the age of the MacBooks.

Yes, Apple will be fine with replacing the battery as long as all the internals are OEM.

Thanks!

I'm Europe, so the price difference between a third-party and a OEM battery is probably not that drastic, and I'd rather not risk it. Plus the 2015 has been very lightly used and, were it not for the unfortunate accidental damage, would be in mint condition. For me it's a keeper cause it supports 4k 60hz on external and will probably be supported by apple for much longer than the 2013.

The 2013 is not in bad shape, it spent more than half of its life in clamshell, but it, and particularly its battery, are just plain old by now.

 

[Audit13]

Thanks!

I'm Europe, so the price difference between a third-party and a OEM battery is probably not that drastic, and I'd rather not risk it. Plus the 2015 has been very lightly used and, were it not for the unfortunate accidental damage, would be in mint condition. For me it's a keeper cause it supports 4k 60hz on external and will probably be supported by apple for much longer than the 2013.

The 2013 is not in bad shape, it spent more than half of its life in clamshell, but it, and particularly its battery, are just plain old by now.

I think Apple will support the 2013 as long as the support the 2015. The only difference between the two is a slightly faster CPU and updated chipset, that's about it.

 

[President-Elect Beachball]

I think Apple will support the 2013 as long as the support the 2015. The only difference between the two is a slightly faster CPU and updated chipset, that's about it.

I don't know man, perhaps you're correct. I'm assuming that cause apple was still selling the 2015 model (or rather a "2017" with a 0.1ghz uptick) till fairly recently.

 

[eRondeau]

My hacked-together MBA is a 2014 case/keyboard/screen with a 2015 logic board. The 256GB RAM stick is from the 2014 but it connected to the 2015 logic board without issue. (The 2015 had 128GB RAM so I doubled it.) Also the left I/O ports are 2014 (attached to the case) and the right I/O ports are 2015 (attached to the logic board). I'm very happy I did the logic board swap -- guided by a YouTube video. It took less than an hour and it turned two crappy laptops into one that works perfectly.

 

[Audit13]

My hacked-together MBA is a 2014 case/keyboard/screen with a 2015 logic board. The 256GB RAM stick is from the 2014 but it connected to the 2015 logic board without issue. (The 2015 had 128GB RAM so I doubled it.) Also the left I/O ports are 2014 (attached to the case) and the right I/O ports are 2015 (attached to the logic board). I'm very happy I did the logic board swap -- guided by a YouTube video. It took less than an hour and it turned two crappy laptops into one that works perfectly.

Congratulations on your new "frenkenMacAir"