Business
iFixIt tears down both new MacBooks
iFixIt.com has completed disassemblies of the MacBook Pro and MacBook.
iFixIt.com has completed disassemblies of the MacBook Pro and MacBook. They found:
- Apple's new hardware design is significantly more elegant due to their use of the new 'Brick' manufacturing process.
- The design of both machines is significantly inspired by the MacBook Air. As a result, the MacBook and MacBook Pro designs have significantly converged and are much more similar than they used to be.
MacBook Pro:
- Upgrading the RAM and hard drive is very easy, but you do need a Torx screwdriver to replace the hard drive.
- Contrary to some fears, the keyboard in the MacBook Pro is user-serviceable. It's a fair amount of work to remove (you have to remove 56 screws).
- The AirPort and Bluetooth boards are in the display assembly. The AirPort card is user-serviceable, while the Bluetooth board is not.
- They identified the dual Nvidia chips
MacBook:
- The new MacBook is really a 13" MacBook Pro. It uses the same design, and same manufacturing quality. Bridging the gap between consumer and professional model.
- The SuperDrive is the same in the MacBook and MacBook Pro.
- They showed the parts to some industrial engineers familiar with manufacturing processes. Overall, they were extremely impressed by the build quality of the machine and the cutting edge mass-produced unibody.