i5/i7 Clamshell project

[PatrickRolfsen]

Hi all,

I just picked up a couple graphite G3 clamshells, one of which being just for parts that doesn't run. I also have a spare i7 MBA 11'' I wouldn't mind stuffing into the spare casing. Looks like theres a guy who's done this and charging around $3k on ebay for an example.

Anyone know of anyone else who's tried this that I could reference? Google hasn't exactly been super helpful, and while I'm confident in my skills with some direction, I'm not quite sure I could do this well from scratch.

Either way, I'm thinking of trudging forward, and if worst comes to worst I'll just put the MBA back together.

 

[Gav2k]

Yeah I remember the conversion on another forum. Required soldering for the ports to work but nothing basic soldering skills couldn't handle. I think the iPad conversion looked more difficult to be honest.

 

[PatrickRolfsen]

Yeah I remember the conversion on another forum. Required soldering for the ports to work but nothing basic soldering skills couldn't handle. I think the iPad conversion looked more difficult to be honest.

Oh yeah, totally not interested in the iPad thing, I want this to look bone stock and have modern internals

 

[Gav2k]

Oh yeah, totally not interested in the iPad thing, I want this to look bone stock and have modern internals

Well dive in lol. I'm actually tempted to do this in May when I have some time off

 

[0248294]

This is the guy who does those iBook mods, the eBay ad isn't selling pre-made ones, you pretty much get one build-to-order.

 

[CYB3RBYTE]

Haha, I considered this. Would you be able to reuse the original screen? and since there's no connection for a SATA CD drive on the MBA, how would that work? Would you just hook it up to a USB port internally?

I also can imagine some apps have a problem running at 800x640 if you are using the original screen.

 

[Gav2k]

Haha, I considered this. Would you be able to reuse the original screen? and since there's no connection for a SATA CD drive on the MBA, how would that work? Would you just hook it up to a USB port internally?

I also can imagine some apps have a problem running at 800x640 if you are using the original screen.

You replace the screen with the airs extending the cable, the CD-ROM drive you convert to USB. The charging puc can either be modified to output the correct voltage or you can modify the end of a MacBook Air charger. It's all easily done with basic soldering skills hot glue and patience.

 

[0248294]

In the original i5 mod, the Siivel guy didn't use the CD drive, he just glued the door shut and dremelled an SD card slot into it.

 

[chip1]

Yeah I remember the conversion on another forum. Required soldering for the ports to work but nothing basic soldering skills couldn't handle. I think the iPad conversion looked more difficult to be honest.

For iPad conversion:
Is it feasible to merge an 9.7" ipad pro into the iClam?

 

[Gav2k]

For iPad conversion:
Is it feasible to merge an 9.7" ipad pro into the iClam?

I would say so...

 

[chip1]

I would say so... View attachment 625700

I hope someone would do this!

 

[thescotsman4]

I would say so... View attachment 625700

I was sorely tempted to do this last year and bought a non-working iBook clamshell just for the project. iPad mod look a lot easier than the i5 mod! Here's the original blog post: http://www.applenoir.com/?p=1873

The i5 clamshell video linked in the above posts is great but the guy who completed the mod didn't go into detail about how he modded it, presumably since he's selling the service (macbook air into iBook shell).

 

[HeatedCane]

Hi all,

I just picked up a couple graphite G3 clamshells, one of which being just for parts that doesn't run. I also have a spare i7 MBA 11'' I wouldn't mind stuffing into the spare casing. Looks like theres a guy who's done this and charging around $3k on ebay for an example.

Anyone know of anyone else who's tried this that I could reference? Google hasn't exactly been super helpful, and while I'm confident in my skills with some direction, I'm not quite sure I could do this well from scratch.

Either way, I'm thinking of trudging forward, and if worst comes to worst I'll just put the MBA back together.

I was curious did you start on this project? what was the outcome? I'd always liked the clamshell so i acquired a couple of them and i acquired an original i5 macbook air. all i need is to order a hard drive for it.. but i am planning on doing the same project. lmk because once i recieve my extra parts i am planning attempting this project.

 

[SourceSunTom]

Wow this is old, since I know what you guys are looking for here :

 

[HeatedCane]

Wow this is old, since I know what you guys are looking for here :

Yea I've known about this project but I want to see if anyone else has tried this on their own yet so I can pick there mind