09-29-2023, 03:10 AM
SKYLANE wrote:
(1) Should swapping the SSD from one MacBook Air to the other MacBook Air (of those listed above) work as described? Any cautions to think about?
Yes, it's that "simple". However, if he has any software that requires activation, that may not work anymore and would require re-activation (which might require pre-planning to de-activate first). I.e. lifetime licenses of Office, old Adobe CS5/CS6.
SKYLANE wrote:
(2) If we do swap out the SSD, would it make sense to replace thermal paste on the CPU? Just curious if anyone has done it here. (The reason I am asking, fan really spins up sometimes when doing things on Safari, like moving around Google Maps. Also, during macOS updates. Maybe that is typical for this model.)
Is it your machine or his that runs "hot"? I never liked the i7 in the Airs (I had one). Battery life was too short and it probably did run hotter than the i5. It looks like it's a fare amount of steps to redo the thermal paste (but not hard).
If it was me, I'd do a display swap instead. Keep him on the i5 and his SSD. Maybe figure out which battery is better and swap that too if needed (batteries are easy on those Airs, just screws, no adhesive). If he doesn't have any software issues to think about and is ok with the i7, then just clone it (or do the display swap and clone and swap the 1TB to the i5).