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I've got a MacBook Air (original edition) whose internal hard drive seems like it's beginning to fail. Rather than just replacing it under warranty, I'd rather upgrade to a solid state drive. Does anyone have any idea whether this is actually doable?

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Yes this is doable. Some things to keep in mind:

  • That model of the MacBook Air uses 1.8 inch drives.
  • PATA interface, not SATA: I believe the orginal used 1.8inch pata drives. Many of the SSD's are SATA drives though, so you need to make sure it is compatible.
  • Keep physical drive height in mind: Apple likes to make things as slim as possible sometimes limiting you to the thinner drives.

You said you wanted to replace while its under warranty? This will void your warranty if you replace it yourself and not by Apple. It is not an easy process to do yourself. My advice is to take advantage of your warranty. There is a very high chance you will leave a warranty voiding trail upgrading the drive yourself.

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  • +1 for the warranty bit. Apple's warranty (all things considered) is pretty good. Would hate to ruin the warranty and screw up the HDD-SSD transplant.
    – osij2is
    Sep 10, 2009 at 21:35
  • Also, one more thing to add. 1.8inch drives are not that common, so there is not many choices out there when you go to that size, let alone one that will work in that laptop.
    – Troggy
    Sep 10, 2009 at 23:35
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    Replacing the hard disk yourself will not void your warranty.
    – Coxy
    Sep 11, 2009 at 7:51

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