M2 MacBook Air Teardown: Too Cool for a Heat Sink?

This summer's M2 MacBook Air is looking like a Donna Summer-as in hot hot hot.
We didn't expect to find active cooling in this base model M2 Air, but we didn't find much of a passive cooling system either-not even a heat spreader? But … we are getting ahead of ourselves.

Even without the slimming wedge, the flashy new M2 Air is not only thinner than its predecessor but also manages to pack in more ports-The glorious return of MagSafe, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and a headphone jack! What else could the new M2 MacBook Air have up its sleeve?

The best tools make for easy disassembly

Want to see our full chip id? Check it out here

Check out the M1 MacBook Pro Teardown!

Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:39 M2 MacBook Air X-rays
00:48 Opening the M2 MacBook Air
00:59 Disconnecting the M2 MacBook Air's Battery
01:16 Removing the M2 MacBook Air's Logic Board
01:26 Looking at the Chips on the M2 MacBook Air's Logic Board
02:12 Removing the M2 MacBook Air's Trackpad
02:20 Removing the M2 MacBook Air's Speakers
02:37 Removing the M2 MacBook Air's Ports and Audio Board'
02:55 Removing the M2 MacBook Air's Battery

#M2MacBookAirTeardown #iFixit #Apple
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[rendeaust]

Since when they got rid of the score thing at the end? That was so iconic in their teardown :<

[lumberjackal]

I'm not skilled in computer repair however always found this channel interesting. It's cool to see what can be done without a cooling fan

[MaxTechOfficial]

Great work on the teardown! Awesome that you guys pulled basically everything out of the chassis.
I wonder what that accelerometer is for.. 🤔

[whophd]

That was a perfect video, so watchable! I totally loved the "parts bin envelope" riffing.

[imsmaug]

Ayy props for the quick chip ID. No other channel that I follow has pointed out the thunderbolt drivers and the accelerometer :)

[BioGear]

I remember previously some laptops (dell or asus) could 'sense' if it was on your lap, and would try to keep surface temperatures cooler if it detected it wasn't on the table. This Macbook may throttle if the accelerometer detects movement to keep the chassis cooler on your lap.

[rafajrichard]

The accelerator is used for spatial audio mapping. So if you turn the laptop and your head at the same time, the sound will stay pinned at the same place. It's definitely not used for Find My as mentioned here

[k.musitano]

This looks piece of art seriously, i love how Apple makes their items

[NoLoseJustLearn]

accelerometer might be to support the ipad and iPhone apps which can run on the macbook air, just a guess though.

[suzananikolovskatodorova]

The accelerometer is used for Spatial Audio with AirPods Pro, AirPods Max and AirPods, 3rd gen.

[politicalwrong]

This is a masterpiece, so fun to watch!

[dazwhit]

I hope OWC or someone else can make a proper heat sync and bottom tray upgrade kit.

[gaspassman]

some youtubers have gotten better benchmark scores by adding a few strips of thermal pads to spread the heat. eventually the whole inside gets hot though and throttling still occurs. If someone comes out with a proper heat sink/thermal kit with a replacement vented case bottom i’ll be first in line to buy one.

[Vondoodle]

I would love to see temp values from any sensors in there. That is such a neat assembly - if i hadnt already got a book - this would be the one of choice

[ahmedshihabdeen]

Accelerometer could be for Apple to figure out if the laptop has ever been dropped during repairs to see if the damage is a manufacturing defect or just carelessness.

[joshuatatro]

Lack of any real heat sink solution almost makes one wonder if the throttling behavior of the M2 Air vs. the M2 Pro is more or less intentional from Apple to help "differentiate" the product line.
Also would be interested to see someone stick a thermal pad (or even some K5Pro) between the spreader/shield and the outer aluminum case and see if it helps much. Granted, it would make the bottom of the laptop hot, but from what I've seen thus far it kind of already is...

[dannyize]

Wow, she goes so fast, I caught additional nuggets on my second viewing. "Prodigal MagSafe charger" – Hilarious!

[bsvenss]

Great video, but did you forget the score?!?

[gabrielpagan]

great video! What's the best way to open the bottom without damaging it? I'm nervous that when I open it I'm going to break the clips.

Any tips or ticks will be appreciated.
Thanks!

[WhittyPics]

Some have added some thermal pads to help with cooling