How do you replace or upgrade the hard drive in the MacBook Air? Can you swap the hard drive for an SSD?

Officially, the hard drive in the MacBook Air is not designed to be replaced or upgraded by the end user, and given the particularly tight tolerances in the MacBook Air, this is not the best system for a new user to attempt to upgrade.

However, the always excellent AnandTech and iFixit tore apart the original MacBook Air and found that it is possible, but not particularly easy to upgrade the hard drive.

Photo Credit: iFixit

In a great "First Look", that should be read in its entirety, iFixit found that a "hard drive swap is definitely possible, but it's no longer a trivial procedure like in the MacBook" and also noted that "just like the 80 GB iPod classic, the hard drive is 1.8" wide and 5 mm tall. Unfortunately, 80 GB is the largest drive in this form factor currently available [in February 2008]".

AnandTech went perhaps a step further in their own teardown, discovering that for the original model there is "no accessible SATA interface on the motherboard, clearly for space constraints. Instead of a standard PATA connector Apple uses a 40-pin ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) connector, which Samsung offers as an option on its drives."

The site also speculated that "replacing [the hard drive] with a 1.8", 5mm thick SSD should be possible as long as you opt for the 40-pin ZIF connector. It looks like Samsung also makes the SSD for the MacBook Air so the swap shouldn't be that hard to do."

Subsequent models use SATA drives, but the upgrade procedure is roughly the same.

Ultimately, experienced users should be able to upgrade the hard drive in the MacBook Air models or swap the hard drive for an SSD as prices continue to drop.