Just finished changing the keyboard on an 11in Macbook...

Just finished changing the keyboard on an 11in Macbook Air 2013. Went well!
It is SO nice to have the tab, caps lock, R, 4 and } keys working again!

Like 18 Nov 2023 at 20:17 | Open on merveilles.town

12 comments

R E K

In the end the 'r' key kept popping out of its slot >_<... was driving me nuts.

18 Nov 2023 at 20:19 | Open on merveilles.town

R E K

I had to have a guide open on another computer (ifixit guide). Wanted to use my 2010 Macbook Pro but it wouldn't boot XD... keeps doing 3 long beeps while off. Had to use the little Chromebook instead.

Seems like Dev & I are endlessly accumulating computer problems...

18 Nov 2023 at 20:22 | Open on merveilles.town

Tendigits

@rek well done though. I imagine that's not a trivial fix. And yay for iFixIt - such a great resource.

18 Nov 2023 at 20:26 | Open on merveilles.town

R E K

@tendigits yea basically took every little bit out, which is pretty intimidating. The guide is very good tho :>

18 Nov 2023 at 20:52 | Open on merveilles.town

[DATA EXPUNGED]

R E K

@yngmar salty air isnt the culprit here I'm afraid, although it has claimed many other electronic bits over the years >_<...

19 Nov 2023 at 0:33 | Open on merveilles.town

R E K

Seems like the problem with the Macbook isn't with the ram itself, but the bottom ram slot :/. Good news is both modules still work, but I can now only use one (i can upgrade the working one for larger capacity).

19 Nov 2023 at 1:48 | Open on merveilles.town

J|.

@rek i had the same problem on a non-Pro 2010 Macbook (unibody white) [or maybe it was on my 2012 MBP, not sure anymore], one of the two ram slots was faulty too.
A few times when i opened the laptop, removed & put back the ram, it worked again for a while (or the opposite when it was working before i opened it >__>) ...
IIRC i ended up using only 1 ram slot too similarly, with one 8gb module

19 Nov 2023 at 2:32 | Open on merveilles.town

R E K

@ghostlevel seems like a common issue :/... sucks, but glad it can still be usable! Getting a module upgrade is rly an ok option.

19 Nov 2023 at 4:45 | Open on merveilles.town

J|.

@rek Yes! it's still better than a dead laptop.

19 Nov 2023 at 19:04 | Open on merveilles.town

[DATA EXPUNGED]

R E K

@elliot i just did a few tests, trying each module in each slot and booting the machine each time.
Boots fine when both are in the top slot, but no go when either modules are in the bottom one... was just gonna use one slot instead of the two.
Wonder if a pram reset would help in this case. May give it a shot anyway just for the hell of it.

19 Nov 2023 at 1:57 | Open on merveilles.town

rostiger

@rek Hah, wow, what a satisfying relief that must be.
I'm impressed that you dared to take it apart AND were able to reassemble it. 💪

18 Nov 2023 at 21:28 | Open on merveilles.town

R E K

@rostiger Yaaa feels so nice ^^! Having to copy/paste r's got a bit tiresome.
Doing the fix is rly not that bad, just have to be gentle with all the components.
I replaced the whole uppercase and keyboard(still requires taking all components out, found a refurbished set on ebay) though i considered replacing just the keyboard but THAT seemed like a crazy endeavour (requires a lot more replacement parts and the process is a bit more brutish).

19 Nov 2023 at 0:30 | Open on merveilles.town