MBA changing hard drive and effect on warranty

[Mike84]

Hello,

My understanding, from reading here on the forums, is that the MBA can have the hard drive changed. I am not sure when, if they haven't started yet, other manufacturers are going to make replaceable SSDs, but if they were available and one were to change it, what is the effect on the Apple Care warranty?

I myself, have not gone through all the terms and conditions on the warranty, but I'd imagine that any hard drive issues would not be covered by Apple, which makes sense. However, what happens to other aspects of the computer? Will Apple simply void the warranty and you will be SOL?

 

[EggrollShop]

With previous laptops Apple has always made it easy for the user tp replace the HDD. Just because they made it a lot harder to do now a days shouldn't void the warranty. It would be wise to keepthe original HDD just incase but I think when they finally release SSD upgrades Apple will not view it as voiding your warranty. Only way to really find out though is to ask them lol.

 

[Mike84]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Ha. Your right. Thanks.

 

[pyramid6]

My understanding is that you need original parts or they (Apple Care) won't touch it. I dont know about upgrades you buy through Apple and install yourself.

 

[GGJstudios]

My understanding, from reading here on the forums, is that the MBA can have the hard drive changed. I am not sure when, if they haven't started yet, other manufacturers are going to make replaceable SSDs, but if they were available and one were to change it, what is the effect on the Apple Care warranty?

It voids the warranty.

Here's the general statement regarding user-installable parts:
Apple Warranty: Installing Memory, Expansion Cards, User Installable Parts Does Not Void Warranty

You may install memory (RAM, VRAM), and other customer-installable parts without voiding your Apple warranty.

Apple's warranty states:
"This warranty does not apply...if the product has been modified without the written permission of Apple..."

Adding memory (DRAM, VRAM) or other user-installable upgrade or expansion products to an Apple computer is not considered a modification to that Apple product.

However, that doesn't apply to the MacBook Air:
From MacBook Air (13-inch, Late 2010) - User Guide:

Your MacBook Air does not have any user-serviceable or user-replaceable parts.

 

[HelsinkiMac]

Nice info GGJ! However, does that stop an Apple authorised reseller/repairer performing the upgrade for you (assuming the Toshiba/Photofast/other blade type SSDs ever come to the market, not just OEM)? Presumably you'd pay an extra 50 or so (£$€ anyway) but people have been describing it as a 20 minute job for a decent technician... I'd be happy(ish!) paying a little extra to keep the warranty if I could upgrade my 13" MBA from 256 to 512. That was my hope when buying, that by the time I'd filled the HD, 512GB blades would be available, but the fact Toshiba seems to be OEM only, and that Apple have asked photofast to pull production of theirs, seems to make this less likely sadly.

Oh and someone somewhere said that when you get the official apple kit to strip down the inside of the MBA, it comes with the correct tool but also some plastic protector for the batteries so you don't puncture them accidentally as they have very thin walls - eeek! Have been happy with swapping HDs and Ram, airport cards etc in G3 and G4 Powerbooks, Macbooks etc, but that sounds scary!

 

[millerb7]

My understanding is that you need original parts or they (Apple Care) won't touch it. I dont know about upgrades you buy through Apple and install yourself.

This is also false. If you own a macbook or macbook pro (which has user-accessible parts according to apple) you DO NOT need to keep the original HDD and/or RAM (the only 2 parts apple considers user accessible).

The air, as was stated before, according to apple DOES NOT have user accessible parts. Therefor swapping anything voids the warranty. A big reason I DID NOT buy one.

I went with the MBP as it is much more user-friendly when it comes to upgrades/options.

 

[foiden]

Yep. Even the MBP has instructions, in the manual, about changing those user-accessible parts. One reason, I'm keeping my MBP for quite some time. I have future upgrade plans for it, and none of them involve voiding my warranty.