It may only be a few days since Apple announced its new 13-inch and 15-inch Retina MacBook Pros, but iFixit has already torn the suckers apart. And while the insides are storming, taking them apart is a whole different matter.
It almost goes without saying that both computers are equipped to fly from the off. iFixit explains that the 15-inch model is “essentially the 2012 unit with a couple of performance upgrades”. Most things that have changed are for the worse, though. “Now people can’t replace their headphone jack without replacing the logic board,” explains iFixit. “So unless you’re keen on soldering, replacing the headphone jack just became a $1000 fix.” Gulp. Unsurprisingly, it still scores a pitiful 1 out of 10 for repairability.
Like its bigger brother, the new 13-inch Retina notebook didn’t fare particularly well either It’s the same old story: a firmly glued battery conveniently positioned to cover important screws, a display that’s fused inside its frame, soldered RAM, a non-standard SSD… Basically, anything that can make the process of repair trickier has been done. Again, it scores just 1 out of 10 for repairability.
One interesting fate that’s befallen both laptops is a reduced battery size. Apple is relying in the efficiency of Haswell processors and Maverick’s improved power management to eek out the same battery life from smaller cells. A shame to take that route rather than offering longer life. You can go read the full teardowns for the 13-inch and 15-inch models. [iFixit 13-Inch teardown, iFixit 15-inch teardown]