Since 2007, we at MacKing have refurbished, repaired, bought and sold thousands of MacBook Airs as well as supplying tens of thousands of genuine Apple parts. 

A MacBook Air (MBA) is generally a well-designed and reliable machine. They're built with onboard graphics, and have no dedicated GPUs, so as a result the faults listed here are rarer than on it's bigger brother, the MacBook Pro. 

MacBook Air (MBA) machines below are listed oldest to newest.

MBA 13" 2008 - 2009

RAM failure - This problem manifests as the machine failing to power on while emitting a repeating 3-tone sound. The RAM is soldered directly onto the logic board in all MacBook Airs, so logic board replacement is often the only fix. This can be costly, but please contact us with your MBA serial number for a quote.

SSD failure - First generation MBAs were designed to use a ZIF-style storage device, (also used in iPods). Symptoms of RAM failure include flashing folder icons or incomplete booting. Replacement parts are still available for some of these models.

MBA 11" & 13" 2010 - 2012

CPU failure - The CPU in this model is considerably more susceptible to failure compared to other Macs. These issues typically manifest as complete power failure and would, therefore, necessitate a thorough inspection to confirm the problem. The only fix is a replacement board, which is possible but often economically unviable.

RAM failure - This problem manifests as the machine failing to power on while emitting a repeating 3-tone sound. The RAM is soldered directly onto the logic board in all MacBook Airs, so logic board replacement is often the only fix. This can be costly, but please contact us with your MBA serial number for a quote.

SSD failure - SSDs are more reliable (and obviously quicker) than HDs, but they can and do fail. Thankfully, they are replaceable - contact us with your serial number for a quote.

MBA 11" & 13" 2013 - 2017

RAM failure - This problem manifests as the machine failing to power on while emitting a repeating 3-tone sound. The RAM is soldered directly onto the logic board in all MacBook Airs, so logic board replacement is often the only fix. This can be costly, but please contact us with your MBA serial number for a quote.

SSD failure - SSDs are more reliable (and obviously quicker) than HDs, but they can and do fail. Thankfully, they are replaceable - contact us with your serial number for a quote.

Capacitor failure - This is not an uncommon fault and manifests as the machine failing to power on, but needs inspection to confirm this. The logic board is often repairable.

MBA Intel (all models)

Backlight failure - Unsurprisingly, this fault manifests as nothing displayed on the screen, even if it showed signs of booting up. Older models with the white Apple logo on the lid are easy to diagnose - shine a light through from the back, and you'll see a faint image of what the screen should look like. Often repairable, but model dependent.

MBA M1 (A2337, EMC 3598)

Capacitor failure - This is not an uncommon fault, and manifests as the machine failing to power on, but needs inspection to confirm this. The logic board is often repairable.

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If you're experiencing a problem with your MBA, please contact us at MacKing. We exclusively use genuine Apple parts, and pride ourselves on being cost effective, fast, efficient, and, of course, friendly. If it can be fixed, we'll fix it.

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Thinking of buying a MacBook Air from new? Think different.

Apple are working hard to reduce their carbon footprint, but computer manufacture is notoriously carbon and rare earth heavy - not to mention the sumptuous packaging. Be kind to your planet and your wallet and choose the tech Fair Trade option - buy refurbished.