Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Air bears a lot of similarity in name to its 13-inch sibling, and a teardown reveals relatively few internal differences between the two models. The 15-inch MacBook Air could be described as an updated version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro, based on the previous Air design with only minor tweaks. A look inside the chassis of the new model reveals even more similarities in its internals than superficial.
The results of a teardown posted by iFixit on YouTube on Friday show that the 15-inch MacBook Air can be opened in the same way as the 13-inch model, using the same tools. With the initial layer removed, the hardware is visibly similar to the 13-inch, except for a slightly different speaker configuration on the 15-inch, as the larger model has more speakers.
Disassembling the MacBook Air was a cumbersome experience, with parts assembled in a “maze” where components overlapped each other, making battery removal and getting out the logic board a tough challenge, and the logic board was “almost the same thing” as the 13-inch version.
Apple continues to rely on adhesive strips to hold the battery in place, which makes removal more difficult and is deemed unnecessary due to the large number of components that must be removed beforehand, which are themselves holding the battery in place.
The battery capacity of the 15-inch MacBook Air has a structure of 66.5Wh, with four small batteries hanging on both sides of a large battery part. It is understood that this arrangement is to allow the fast charging function to work at full capacity, and multiple batteries can be charged at the same time.
The 15-inch MacBook Air scored a 3 on iFixit’s “repairability” scale, and the new device could have scored two more points for parts and manual availability, but those scores were cut due to its “unreliable release schedule.” Not counted for the time being.
