MacBookAir 4.2 2011 - SSD Finally Gone

[jonny decker]

Hi, I need to replace the ssd in my MBA but because its so old I thought I'd ask a few questions here to help me find the correct parts here in the UK. A few threads have mentioned OWC kits only this company don't appear to supply for my model anymore.

The machine is only used for the internet so I figured it would be more cost effective to try repair it myself with a new drive.

So, can anybody here please point me to a reliable replacement drive? The model and ID of my MBA are A1369 (EMC 2469) MacBookAir 4.2

And I assume the OS is on the broken drive so how do I reinstall the OS once the new drive is in?

Thanks

 

[Audit13]

How do you know it is the SSD that is defective?

Have you looked on ebay? I believe the 11" and 13" 2011 Air use the same SSD. Since the machine is only used for the internet, a 128 GB drive should be fine.

You can re-install the OS using Internet recovery.

 

[jonny decker]

TBH I can't be 100% it's the drive. The cursor pad would stop working then the machine started to freeze. This was over a few days then it stopped booting completely and had a white screen with black Apple logo and a black progress bar that would just hang. I took it to an Apple store and the guy there said it needed a new storage chip and there would be no guarantee that replacing this would fix it. Ive never heard the term Storage Chip but I assume it can only mean the ssd.

I cant imagine me being able to save any data from a broken drive so an enclosure/upgrade kit is probably unessessary and I might look at your 128gb suggestion as the cheapest gamble.

thanks

 

[Audit13]

To help verify that the SSD is the problem, are you able to remove the SSD and run the Air from an external drive to see if it freezes? It won't be as fast as using an internal SSD but it won't be that bad for surfing.

 

[TokMok3]

To help verify that the SSD is the problem, are you able to remove the SSD and run the Air from an external drive to see if it freezes? It won't be as fast as using an internal SSD but it won't be that bad for surfing.

Hi,
I did not knew that a MacBook Air could run from an external hard drive if the internal hard drive was pulled out? Could you explain a little bit more and how to achieve that. Does the external har drive need to be formatted and clean or does it need to be formatted with a macOS installed? What about running from those live linux cds or ruining from a usb? can this be done?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Audit13]

You can connect a spare external USB drive, press the power button, hold command+option+R keys which should start internet recovery, enter disk utility, partition and format external drive, install mac os to the external. To boot from the external, press power button, hold option key, and select external drive as the boot drive.

If you have a usb Mac os installer, use that to install the os to the external.

 

[TokMok3]

You can connect a spare external USB drive, press the power button, hold command+option+R keys which should start internet recovery, enter disk utility, partition and format external drive, install mac os to the external. To boot from the external, press power button, hold option key, select external drive as the boot drive.

Thank you so much for your fast response. What about running from a live linux pen drive?

 

[Audit13]

That can work too but running Mac os would be the better test imho.

 

[TokMok3]

That can work too but running Mac os would be the better test imho.

Thank you!

 

[tubeexperience]

Transcend sell the SSD for your MacBook Air

JetDrive 500

 

[jonny decker]

Very clear instructions. Thanks so much for this Audit13, I feel much better about doing this.
Do you know the minimum size external drive I would need to hold Mac OS as using a USB stick would be a better option for me if possible?
Thanks

 

[jonny decker]

All fixed with the Transend JetDrive 500 kit. I booted my MBA from an external drive like suggested here to help diagnose and it turned out to be an ssd issue.
Just a little investigation here saved me a lot of money as Apple led us to believe it was a £400 fix with no guarantee's and had us looking at replacing the note book for £800.
I also formatted the original ssd drive and it works fine so not quite sure what happened to it but I think Apple could also of suggested trying that as the 1st and cheapest option.

Thanks again for support.