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Add Note Edit Step 17  ¶ 

  • We found Intel's new Core 2 Duo chip right beneath the heat sink (no surprises there). A temperature sensor sits on an external board glued between the CPU and graphics chips. A high-resolution image is available here.

  • There are 16 RAM chips (eight one-gigabit chips on each side of the logic board) for a total of 2 GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM.

  • The large microchip in the center of the picture is a low power Intel North Bridge GS965 integrated graphics chip with the markings LE82GS965.

  • Three chips adjacent to the North Bridge/graphics controller have a semi-transparent blue epoxy covering them, as part of the HDCP hardware requirement for digital video signals.

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Add Note Edit Step 18  ¶ 

  • The reverse side of the logic board. Many of these chips are for power management. A high-resolution image is available here.

  • You can see the second half of the Micron RAM chips.

  • We identified the Silicon Image SIL1392CNU HDMI video chip and Texas Instruments TPS51120 dual current mode synchronous step-down controller (power management).

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Add Note Edit Step 19  ¶ 

  • We found a Broadcom BCM5974 touch screen controller chip on the interconnect board.

  • This is the same chip you'll find in the iPhone and iPod Touch.

  • This board also contains an SST 25VF020 Serial Flash chip, likely containing machine code for a nearby chip. There are a few CYPRUS chips nearby, one of which we identified as the CY7C638 low-speed USB peripheral controller.

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Add Note Edit Step 20  ¶ 

  • The display assembly is attached to the case with 19 small screws:

    • Four (relatively) large Torx which screw into the hinges.

    • Thirteen #00 Phillips which hold down the clutch cover.

    • And two #00 Phillips which screw into cable ground loops.

  • Apple made no compromises on the Air's display. Amazingly, the entire display assembly weighs only 465 g (slightly more than a pound), 34 percent less than the functionally-equivalent display assembly on the MacBook.

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Add Note Edit Step 21  ¶ 

  • Unfortunately, getting into the display assembly isn't as easy as cracking open the lower case. There are no screws holding the front bezel to the display, only (very, very sticky) double-sided tape.

  • We bent the bezel a bit getting it off. Things aren't as bad as they were with the Titanium, but it's no cakewalk.

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Add Note Edit Step 22  ¶ 

  • The LED display. The display is manufactured by AU Optronics and is model #B133EW03. The actual panel is less than 3mm thick.

  • Thanks to the LED display technology, there is no inverter board. A single cable provides the data and power to the display.

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Add Note Edit Step 23  ¶ 

  • The antennas, perhaps the most under-valued components of a modern laptop.

  • Apple obviously expects everyone to be using wireless on the Air, so a substantial engineering effort went into designing robust antennas.

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Add Note Edit Step 24  ¶ 

  • We're left with 88 screws and lots of parts. It's hard to believe everything here weighs in at only three pounds. A high-resolution image is available here.

  • If you have any additional information about components in the MacBook Air, or interesting information about its construction, please drop us a note. We're happy to post additional information.

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