Apple spare parts are notoriously difficult to repurpose. A 2019 screen won't work with 2018 MacBooks, even though they are both A1932 models. Batteries don't work with similar MacBooks released in the same year. Seemingly identical USB-C port boards are not interchangeable. Over the years I have compiled spreadsheet after spreadsheet with part numbers and their compatibility information. 

But the confusion has risen to a whole new level with the recent MacBook Air trackpads. Take the 13.6-inch Air models released in 2022, 2024, and 2025. They all sport trackpads with the identical part number 820-02640-A and you would assume they are interchangeable. Well, they are not.  

Close inspection of the circuit boards of these pads reveals subtle differences in components and their placement. After testing all possible combinations (and destroying several perfectly good trackpads), it turned out that newer trackpads do not work on older MacBooks. These three trackpads are often sold as "interchangeable" on marketplaces like eBay but that is only true for the oldest 2022 version, which universally works on all 3 models. Come on, Apple, can't you at least change a single digit of your parts number when you revise your laptops?