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Does this even exist? A1466 i7 2.2 Ghz board with 16GB RAM?

Dear All,


I am looking to bring new life into my wife's old MacBook Air (I probably won't) and came across an offer for a


MacBook Air 2017 A1466 logic board i7 2.2 Ghz with 16GB



Is that real? I thought they only went up to 8GB?


I most likely won't buy, but I am very curious wth that is!


Ideas???

Thank you and apologies if this has been covered before


MacBook Air, macOS 14.4

Posted on Sep 10, 2024 12:15 PM

Reply
5 replies

Sep 10, 2024 12:34 PM in response to sebastianfrombrueggen

I see no indication that Apple ever shipped a 2017 MacBook Air with 16 GB of RAM.


MacTracker says the CPU in question is an Intel Core i7-5350U or i7-5650U. Intel's data sheets say those CPUs can support up to 16 GB of RAM. So it seems within the realm of possibility that


  • The 2017 MacBook Air motherboard ran enough address lines to support 16 GB of RAM.
  • The chips that Apple soldered in had low enough density not to actually need the final address line.o
  • Someone hacked up a 2017 MacBook Air motherboard by unsoldering the factory RAM and soldering in higher density RAM.


Unsoldering chips from a multi-layer circuit board, and soldering in new ones, is not an operation for the faint of heart, or the unskilled. Even if the 16 GB of RAM is genuine (not a misprint or a scam), if it was installed like that, you'd be taking a chance on the skills of whomever installed it …

Sep 10, 2024 12:53 PM in response to sebastianfrombrueggen

sebastianfrombrueggen wrote:

Do you think it at all possible that someone has created a fake, "improved" replica of the board?

To clarify: I will NOT buy this for precisely the reasons you have given, but I am now interested!

I think it is very unlikely that someone has created a fake, "improved" replica of the board, at this late date. That might have made sense when the 2017 MacBook Airs were new – but where would the profit be in it now?


I once knew of a hardware engineer who DID have the skills to unsolder components from complex circuit boards and put new ones in their place. IIRC, he used those when dealing with prototype boards for new and unreleased products. I don't think that soldering more RAM onto a 7-year-old motherboard would have been worth his time.


That's why I say that while it is within the realm of possibility, I would be wary of that particular board. If it is not a misprint or a scam, how do you know that the person who did the upgrade was qualified to do it? Why would they spend their time on that, when they could get much better pay using their skills elsewhere? And if the person who did the upgrade wasn't skilled, why on Earth would you want that board in your computer?

Does this even exist? A1466 i7 2.2 Ghz board with 16GB RAM?

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