Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

PatrickRolfsen

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 23, 2007
158
2
San Francisco, CA
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.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HeatedCane

Gav2k

macrumors G3
Jul 24, 2009
9,216
1,608
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

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 23, 2007
158
2
San Francisco, CA
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 :D
 

0248294

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2016
713
869
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

macrumors 6502
Sep 2, 2014
454
293
Midwest
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

macrumors G3
Jul 24, 2009
9,216
1,608
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

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2016
713
869
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.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gav2k

chip1

macrumors member
Jan 14, 2014
33
0
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

macrumors G3
Jul 24, 2009
9,216
1,608
For iPad conversion:
Is it feasible to merge an 9.7" ipad pro into the iClam?

I would say so... image.jpeg
 

thescotsman4

macrumors member
Nov 11, 2015
42
11

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

macrumors newbie
Aug 30, 2017
5
0
Miami
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.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.