MacBook Air 13" Early 2020 Lower Case Replacement

Written By: Carsten Frauenheim

Comments: 5

MacBook Air 13" Early 2020 Lower Case Replacement

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

Time Required

2 - 5 minutes

Introduction

Use this guide to replace the lower case on your Early 2020 MacBook Air, or to remove it for further repair.

Tools

P5 Pentalobe Screwdriver Retina MacBook Pro and Air

Parts

Step 1

Before starting this procedure, you should disable your Mac's Auto Boot feature. Auto Boot powers on your Mac when you open the lid, and may be accidentally triggered during disassembly. Use this guide to disable Auto Boot.
If your MacBook is running Big Sur v11.1 or later, disabling Auto Boot may not work. You can proceed normally, but make sure to disconnect the battery as soon as you're inside.
Completely power off and unplug your MacBook Air before you start. Close the display and flip the entire laptop upside-down.
Use a P5 driver to remove the following screws:
Two 7.9 mm screws
Two 7.1 mm screws
Six 2.6 mm screws
Throughout this repair, keep track of each screw and make sure it goes back exactly where it came from to avoid damaging your MacBook.

P5 is also a PL4 (so confusing) - i like the wiha 26764 thanks to @mayer for this post. P5 pentalobe and 1.2 pentalobe screwdriver

greg -

Step 2

Wedge your fingers between the display and the lower case and pull upward to pop the lower case off the Air.
Remove the lower case.
To reinstall the lower case:
Set it in place and press firmly to engage the two hidden clips underneath. You should feel and hear them snap into place.

When reassembling, the “snaps” are in the middle of the laptop (from top to bottom), and just to the left and right of center. I assumed it was near the hinge so it took a bit for me to hear the snaps.

Laurie McCall -

Laurie, the two clips are outlined in the third photo of step two. Hope this helps—happy fixing!

Carsten Frauenheim -

What tool kit should I use for this?

Lucas Lee -

the second picture is m1 air right？

the antenna cable position does not match later picture

Paul -

Conclusion

Compare your new replacement part to the original part—you may need to transfer remaining components or remove adhesive backings from the new part before installing.

To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.

Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.

Repair didn’t go as planned? Check out our Answers community for troubleshooting help.