Ifixit Dismantles The Early 2015 Macbook Airs Finds Small Changes To Past Designs

iFixit has just dismantled the refreshed early 2015 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models that Apple unveiled earlier this week, featuring new Intel Broadwell CPUs, improved graphics and other minor tweaks. Although the models mostly remain the same apart from the spec bumps Apple announced on stage, iFixit gives us its usual rundown on changes it discovered…

Inside, iFixit found that the new MacBook Airs have the same A1465 and A1466 model numbers as their predecessors, and no noticeable changes to the laptop’s construction. That also means the Air “remains glue-free—a lone survivor among Apple portables.” iFixit notes that “battery adhesive means repair, replacement, and recycling are much more difficult.”

The new MacBook Airs also appear to include the same battery specs as last year’s models, according to the teardowns, despite improved runtimes announced by Apple.

iFixit’s teardown of the new MacBook Airs also provides us with a comparison of internals in the 11 and 13-inch models:

 • MacBook Air 11″ Early 2015 • 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 5250U processor, with integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000 • Intel DSL5520 Thunderbolt 2 controller • SK Hynix H9CCNNN8JTALAR LPDDR3 SDRAM • SK Hynix H5TC4G63CFR 4 Gb (512 MB) low power synchronous DRAM • Broadcom BCM15700A2 • Texas Instruments/Stellaris LM4FS1EH SMC controller • Cirrus Logic 4208-CRZ HD audio codec • Marvell 88SS9183 PCIe SSD controller • SanDisk 05131 016G 16 GB NAND flash memory • Samsung K4B2G1646E 2 Gb (256 MB) DDR3 SDRAM

     • Macbook Air 13″ Early 2015 • 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 5250U Processor, with integrated Intel HD Graphics 6000 • Intel DSL5520 Thunderbolt 2 controller • GL3219 Genesys Logic SDXC controller • SK Hynix H9CCNNN8JTALAR LPDDR3 SDRAM • Broadcom BCM15700A2 • SK Hynix H5TC4G63CFR 4 Gb (512 MB) low power synchronous DRAM • Texas Instruments/Stellaris LM4FS1EH SMC controller • Cirrus Logic 4208-CRZ HD audio codec • Samsung S4LN058A01 PCIe 3.0 x4 AHCI Flash controller • Samsung K9LDGY8S1D-XCK0 16 GB Flash storage • Samsung K4E4E324ED 512 MB LPDDR3 DRAM

Not many changes to construction means that both of the new models earn the same 4 out of 10 repairability score from iFixit as previous models, with removal of the exterior casing using a special screwdriver listed as one of the most noteworthy challenges for DIY modifiers.