Ultimate 11-Inch MacBook Air Upgrade

In this video, I perform both a CPU and RAM upgrade on this Early-2015 11-inch MacBook Air, making it the best possible 11-inch MacBook Air that can exist. I upgraded the CPU to a 3.1 GHz Intel Core i7-5557U, and the RAM to 16GB of 1866 MHz memory. While the CPU upgrade ended up not really being all that worth it, as I expected, the 16GB RAM upgrade will make a huge improvement to the usability of the system.
DS-908 BGA stencil kit: www.unionrepair.com/ds-908-ma...

[@tobyglyn]

Somebody now has the ultimate 11inch early 2015 Macbook Air. Love your work Collin!

[@janrynkevic377]

that i7 upgrade will make macbook air to work like a toaster

[@gamersinghking4167]

@@janrynkevic377 It might be able to cook an egg, in which case it will probably be a good thing.

[@vadim6742]

I think that macbook 12 is much better, especially 2017 year model with i7

[@gamersinghking4167]

@@vadim6742 Yes, I am thinking about getting one. I haven't actually owned one, so I hope it's as good as I think it is.

[@RaXXha]

@@gamersinghking4167 The MacBook 12" is a horrible design and overheats regardless of configuration (m3, i5 or i7) causing the logic board to delaminate making it about as usefull as a block of aluminium. Do not buy one, ever. 😅

[@jozsefizsak]

It's very satisfying to see it maxed out like that even if it isn't a practical proposition. Nice work!

[@Samtagri]

My beloved 11 inch MBA is a special machine. I understand your client 100%. I was extremely sad when I tried to use it again at work a few weeks ago and saw it struggle with Microsoft teams, which is now a necessity in the office. I used my 11 inch MBA for work all the way until the pandemic hit and it was perfect. Tiny, yet extremely capable. Purchased 8 years ago, it still looks futuristic. I wish I can afford the upgrade your client did to have it working a few more years.

[@barbadolid5170]

thanks to the guy who ordered it, probably so that everyone can see this piece of art!

[@mircomputers1221]

It's easy to make the i7 worth, just use Voltageshift to undervolt, and let it shine.

[@danandrei96]

Amazing work Colin. Somehow these projects and upgrades that "aren't worth it" are always my favorite. I think the GPU upgrade will make a significant difference to be honest, you should've run heaven or some other GPU benchmark. Sure, they're both weak by modern standards but it's still an improvement. Keep these upgrades coming haha, maybe upgrade a GPU next on one of the 15" machines would love to see something like that

[@Ben79k]

I love this kind of video. Its not about how big of an upgrade. Someone loves that machine and wants it to be as good as it ever could have been. Bravo

[@memadmax69]

I Love maxing out old computers. It provides the experience cheaply(albeit late) that it would've been when it was new and without the boatload of money(usually).

[@SalemTechsperts]

Love these videos man. Keep it up!

[@charliekuhn1544]

For the owner it is most likely all about making his MacBook Air rare and unique. The performance upgrade is not huge but it is noticeable however probably not worth all the work and cost to do this upgrade but amazing work to see this done nevertheless! I would pay Collin to have my 2015 11 inch air upgraded like this . . . just sayin'

[@andylee7862]

Go for it and also upgrade the GPU if possible

[@travosk8668]

The ultimate carry around laptop

[@t-dog7401]

I have owned one of those, 4gig of ram and 128gig of flash. That 1366x768 display was why I upgraded for a newer air, but I really envy the owner of this ultimate 11inch MBA! The screen of this gen of MBAs was not good for sure but as I recall if you search online for a specific color profile for the display you can get a much better color representation out of that old-ass TN panel. The 4 gig ram was surprisingly capable and the overall performance was never an issue for me. I wish Apple would make smaller macs again sometime - not likely due to their current product strategy with iPads. Fun fact: Apple didn't stop the production of 11inch Airs until late 2017, and the later produced ones have a slightly better ssd.

[@BrianJones-wk8cx]

Very fun little upgrade, great to see your process and in-depth explanation on this. Maybe the upgrade itself isn’t entirely practical, but seeing it done and explained so well is more than worth the price of admission. Thanks for sharing!

[@iicaie]

More like a fun MASSIVE upgrade lmao😅

[@BrianJones-wk8cx]

@@iicaie ah yes, too true! I definitely misspoke!

[@mmadrigal]

This is insane... I loved it. Thank you for posting it... great work.

[@Spazza42]

Imagine this little 11" unit with an M1 chip, what a dream.

[@kokohenker9439]

An M1 With 16gb of Ram and 512GB of SSd. A Dream Mac

[@shepherd29]

I watched the video ‘til the end when I realized you are THE dosdude1. All I want to say thank you for making my 2007 iMac usable again. I changed the CPU just as you recommended on your website, I installed 5 GB RAM and using your Catalina patcher I installed a relatively new Mac OS. I use that computer everyday for browsing, listening to music and other various light tasks. Thank you for making my Computer not-ewaste! Do you have any plans making a Big Sur or Monterey patcher, even if it won’t be compatible with my iMac?

[@alexcrawford1189]

There already is a utility for Big Sur and Monterey, it is called OpenCore Legacy patcher. The setup is quite simple if you have supported hardware (they have a compatibility chart on their website).

[@wojiaobill]

Hey man, that's stencil you have is really.. baller

[@Capt.Marco-Hawk-L.L.A.P]

I'm very impressed with your skill

[@oscarmarfori613]

Nice view of the hands in front of the camera

[@saf6996]

This is amazing work Colin!

[@piropetka]

Totally amazing! 😍 I guess difference is big enough to make this machine pretty usable and still in 11" size 🤩

[@natasjailnyckyj2674]

im actually having this done soon! super excited

[@bjornmaier9131]

Perfect Work! Thats great, the Person has an Ultimate Air now :D

[@cromulence]

This is awesome. I love the 11" machines because they are perfect as a work machine that is tiny so you can chuck it in your bag and have it on you at all times. For everything else I use my 16" Pro, but I love my 11" Air. How much would the RAM upgrade cost to do?

[@dougieshizzle]

After recently hunting down a i7 8gb model I'm super envious :) great workmanship.

[@MrPnew1]

I love that you can hot rod an A1465 Collin

[@simonstergaard]

your work is inspiring !

[@JoshuaBoyd]

The geekbench shows a 26+ % improvement, which may not be worth the effort, but is a reasonably significant improvement in performance for many jobs.

[@yurymleh]

This. It's in the definitely noticeable territory right there esp. because it definitely was a bottleneck along with just 4GB of RAM. I bet this machine has become lightning fast in comparison to itself before the upgrade and the owner is happy.

[@DocTime56]

I have an 8GB version of the same machine with the i5, I get closer scores to the i7 than the ones he had on the same i5 (I got 901 and 1744) I'd bet most of the performance gains came from the base 4Gb of ram not being enough, and a fraction from the extra cache on the i7, I doubt the machine can keep the i7 above baseclock (or even above the 2.7 boost on the i5) for long enough to make a real difference

[@brainout5852]

Amazing! I subscribed. I didn't see how you actually changed the resistors on the board, hopefully I can find that technical detail in your other videos

[@PeterPan-gy6kq]

Genius at work.

[@MarkVictorson]

A VERY SATISFYING UPGRADE!!!

[@CaseyFriday]

So glad I found your channel. You do the coolest shit.

[@heavypizzas6004]

Good to see this is all stuff that I can do at home on my dining table!

[@Yozak]

Watched the video and then saw that it was made by the legendary patcher himself! Love the youtube content.

[@nicknorthcutt7680]

Bro you are a wizard! Crazy impressive!

[@Mac84]

Great job! What a lovely 11 inch MBA!

[@billgates3699]

🫃🏻🤣

[@OscatA]

I used to have a school issued Early 2015 11" MBA with a 1.6GHz Core i5 / 4GB RAM a few years back. Wish my Mac was this fast!

[@ahmetsarkis6313]

You rock man... Great job. God bless you.

[@namcojr]

Awesome job and a slap in Apple's face. Very well done!

[@martinszulc8192]

I would actully be intrested in this type of upgrade for my 13 inch macbook air

[@jirafagrande]

I really liked seeing this video. You are really Awesome. I wish I knew all the stuff you know to do those things here at my Apt to my old laptops, and upgrade them. Thanks for the Amazing Videos.

[@cybcarr]

watching a "good" mac upgraded on windows pc is priceless.

[@hairypancake4425]

Yeah try upgrading cpu on Microsoft laptops

[@Saphykitten]

I always enjoy your videos.

[@midiandirenni8315]

Amazing work!

[@OrionToth]

This guy is half-god for me. For so many years. Cheers!

[@ripe_apple]

Excellent video

[@miguimau]

Whoa!!!!! Great work.

[@AlMarche90]

Would have liked to see how much of a difference there was between graphic chips, because that’s where I feel there might be a bigger jump. I mean, sure, no miracles, but I would expect a decent jump from the HD graphics to Iris graphics.

[@SterkeYerke5555]

I thought that too, but it turns out the only difference between the HD6000 and the Iris 6100 is a minor bump in clock speed. The 6200 was the one that got eDram, so that's probably the one that would've made a significant improvement.

[@NapTuazon]

Nice work!

[@zjimenez2885]

Hey dude, I'm new to soldering in general. I was wondering if you had any tips or advice on newbies when it comes to electronic soldering or if you have any videos on the subject.

[@mrrolandlawrence]

i can understand the upgrade. if you dont have a massive demanding app & you really can get on with the new mac keyboards.. this is a way to keep it going a bit longer. maybe you are a screen writer, maybe a comedian on the road writing new material. little mac. perfect company.

[@SwaggingWithBen]

Fantastic! I’ve heard of re-balling BGA stuff but never watched it. I assume you work as an electronic engineer? Anyway, great video and well done sir! Subscribed 👍🍻

[@PCBWay]

That's really SOMETHING!! 👍

[@InstantLuc]

This is spectacular handy work! I would love to buy one from you

[@cannedchocolatesinwater]

Lovely video! Would there be plans for a 32GB MacBook Pro 2015 mod anytime?

[@give_me_my_nick_back]

out of curiosity, how much was the service excluding the cost of parts? I think with new thinkpads having RAM soldered in and models with more RAM sold as P series costing 5 times more than L or T series with the same CPU, replacing the soldered-in RAM might actually make a lot of financial sense.

[@mikepxg6406]

Very good job. I can solder but this is a different league.

[@th0m]

A bit late now, but would be pretty cool to see geekbench and cinebench before/after with the temperatures during the runs from intel power gadget or similar. Then a followup video trying to deal with keeping the thermals somewhat under control, probably another project not worth doing but that's exactly what we want to see lol.

[@steelhorseman2482]

Yes. Very true.

[@MDCrabTank]

you decked that SOB out of hell.

[@alfyer5]

What I do for alignment before I remove the chip I use an exacto knife or something and draw out a corner of the chip on the ground layer of the pcb. This makes it so much easier to align

[@chris_cheon]

Dude, what?! You are nuts!!!

[@chris_cheon]

Also, thanks for sharing these videos. It’s always fascinating and amazing to watch your work.

[@davidg5898]

Another great job. People ask for weird things sometimes but if they're willing to pay then what's the harm, right? What happened to your website? I tried to grab one of your patchers the other day and it keeps giving me a "too many redirects" error.

[@philippeggmann9809]

Love the work!!!!

[@MatSpeedle]

Crazy that Apple never offered a 16gb option on the Air given that it was clearly supported and ready to go. Usually they love to charge us a stupid amount of money for extra Ram. Awesome work on this dude, I'm amazed!

[@NaveenGanesan]

OMG! This is just WOW level work...

[@georgef1176]

That is pretty damn cool bud! I’ve never seen that before..

[@beobungbu1504]

great work 👍🏻

[@tommybally03]

This so awesome!

[@brandonspies]

I only wish I could be this BADASS!

[@mauticom]

Great nerdy video. I love it. Since I just upgraded my 11 inch to Sonoma using the Open Core Legacy Patcher I would have loved to see some Intel Power Gadget data what frequencies the i7 really runs under stress. The little original 1.6 can stay under full load at 2.5 - 2.6Ghz out of 2.7 top speed. Also differences in wattages CPU and package would have been interesting and if the 11inch has enough headroom for the additional heat.

[@paololololol]

Hi Colin so how much did it cost to end up performing this? Pretty neat overall !

[@RetroAnachronist]

I loved the 11”

[@Tech_Champ]

I think the Jump in performance from 4GB of ram to 8GB of ram is a lot more noticeable than 8GB to 16GB.

[@edumacat3d]

why not mark the position of the last cpu before removal? Would make lineup ez, no?

[@mikhail-pletnev]

Scratching minor grooves around 2 or more corners of the chip using a thin needle prior to removing the chip helps a lot with aligning the new chip later on. :-) Just in case... These work as a placeholder, so you can always see where the chip was despite Apple not wanting you to. :-)

[@viktorkovarik]

Can you share with us which soldering iron, pre-heater and hot air station are you using?

[@WarrenGee100]

Hi, can you send a link for SPI Dump Jig for Programmer, nice tool, just what I'm looking for, nice work and regards

[@israelpa123456789]

pleas add a thermal pad to help processor dissipate heat not just by heat pipe...

[@sirkojac]

Are the outside edges of the cpus the same? Could you outline the original cpu before removing to help with alignment?

[@Supercon57]

Imagine taking this into apple and them being super confused at the hardware configuration lol Also that is going to be the hardest working MBA heatsink ever

[@olivercorrodi3340]

lol, i survived my CS studies with a crappy 2013 i5 mba with 4 gigs of ram this year, i'd have killed for that macbook, i love these 11" models

[@jeepinjakear15]

Still holding on to my frankenbook 11” MacBook Air 2015 i7 8gb of Ram 2tb Samsung 970 evo split 1tb is for windows 10 and 1tb for Mac OS Monterey. Hard for me to shell out for a new one that doesn’t have x86 support.

[@robbirobson7330]

i think this guy is better than louis rossmann and northridgefix combined what do you think?

[@maxmigliore8691]

For the 8th gen intel cpus they did make quad core processors like like i7 8550u so intel did make quad core u series processors but they probably won’t work in that MacBook Air. Btw I like your videos

[@dosdude1]

Yeah, these will only work with 5th gen.

[@COMPUTERRD]

this amazing... i have macbook air just 4Giga Ram... this upgrade 16Giga Ram, very good ... how can i buy this macbk

[@Alex-Lys]

Well, apart from being still more than capable casual use carry around machine, it's gonna make a great souvenir as well, a one-of-a-kind Mac is not really something you'd see that often) So, you're probably not quite so right, I'd rather consider this "a fair sponsorship" in appreciation of your time and skill, rather than a waste of money $$ ;) Great job!

[@chadwickcloister5143]

You are the Apple Genius

[@jcfawerd]

I wished that there will be a retina display mod for MBA

[@sinoperture]

Can't you trace around the outside edge of the old CPU before removing it to make some marks on the PCB for later alignment use?

[@supercrazymario404]

I’m very curious about one thing. Does the SSD connect with PCIe 3.0 now rather than 2.0? I was looking at the schematics of the MBP 13” and MBA 11” both from 2015 and the connections of the SSD are identical so I’m wondering if the PCIe 3.0 capability is on a chip level

[@kovacspis]

Almost 200 score jump in geekbench 5 single core test at this level of a score is a lot more significant than you said dosdude1! That literally differentiates gargabe from usable.

[@brunosuperman]

Is it possible to upgrade the screen somehow? Put something like, less borders and higher resolution?

[@frankli7035]

Hi man, amazing job. Just a guessing is It possible to make old 15inch MacBook pro year 13-17 to update to 32g RAM by hacking the bios spi rom

[@Fallen608]

Not practical at all but I always have my eyes open for a cheap 2015 11" air. It's the perfect little travel laptop.

[@kv3513]

Awesome video! But since you do such cool and technical stuff you should really upgrade the video quality

[@Zel912]

I have 11" 2013, i7 8GB 512GB. its battery is dead. Planning to replace battery with apple. But hope there is oem lcd screen to make resolution better.

[@androsmorin]

Since i have work machine shop, mostly computers drive one i mostly work with pc, but for the mac i have they are personal machine only. they're not one in the shop that are mac compatible. still the only machine i am nearly never far away from, is my little mac air. a bit like some people with their phones, i do everything that is not work related with its, even watching this video and answer now in 2023. i update the SSD every two years in average, BootCamp to Tiny windows11 on a 1 tetra partitions and 1 tetra for mac lately,..an upgrade to i7 with Iris video, gosh dreamy idea..

[@gachipper]

That very great and amazing!

[@spottedtango]

Where do you offer services like this Dosdude? I know you help a ton of people on a bunch of forums. I think I'd very much like to get my 11' 2015 MBA upgraded, I love this form factor and the fact that this thing has more ports than almost a decade of newer models. It's also a really decent editing machine as is with an eGPU but that ram capacity has always been just not quite enough. If you want the work, please let me know how I can reach out for this exact service. Thanks for all you've done for the intel-mac community!

[@joshuapinter]

You're a god amongst peasants. That was my favourite MacBook of all time. I quickly became attached to this machine over a quick trip to Mexico when my 15" MacBook Pro failed on me and was in for repairs. I ended up not returning it and using it as my primary machine for years. It's still running as the wife's laptop. Only now we're upgrading her to a M2 MacBook Air and only because she's going back to work after having kids and needs a better webcam/microphone/etc.