iFixit Tears Down Battery, Improved Keyboard, and Removable SSD of MacBook Pro Without Touch Bar

[MacRumors]

iFixit has published a teardown of the new 13-inch MacBook Pro without Touch Bar, which the site calls the "Escape Edition" because of its adherence to the traditional row of function keys, along with a tangible Escape key. In the teardown, iFixit delves deeper into the MacBook Pro, uncovering a battery that is 27 percent less powerful than last year's model, along with the Butterfly 2.0 keyboard that's been slightly updated since the 2015 MacBook.

After removing the extra-large new trackpad from the body of the laptop, iFixit gets a better look at the MacBook's battery. Rated for 54.5 watt hours, the 13-inch MacBook might include less battery life than last year's generation, but it does come in above the Touch Bar MacBook Pro model, which clocks in at 49.2 watt hours. In a recent performance comparison provided by Geekbench, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro sans Touch Bar's 15-watt chip was proven to be more energy efficient than the 28-watt chip in last year's entry-level model.

A new spring mechanism is discovered housed next to the MacBook Pro's hinge protector, which "rolls a flat cable up when the display is closed, and unravels when the display opens." This not only seems to make it easier to close the lid of the MacBook, but suggests the overall lighter body of the MacBook Pro needed extra help and couldn't "rely on gravity to close nicely as much as previous models have."

One of the last points iFixit focuses on is the updated Butterfly 2.0 keys on the MacBook Pro's keyboard. Comparing it with the 2015 MacBook, iFixit describes the new MacBook Pro's keys as "a little taller at the edges," so it's slightly easier to find each key with your fingers without looking directly at the board. The dome switches hiding under each key also appear to have more heft than the 2015 MacBook's, further supporting the overall better feel and increased travel on the MacBook Pro.

iFixit also looked at the MacBook's removable SSD, powered by SanDisk 64GB NAND flash memory and Apple's custom SSD controller. Then, the site dove into the logic board to hunt for the "advanced thermal architecture" described in the MacBook's press release. The board appeared mostly the same as previous MacBooks, with Apple's new architecture apparently describing the "relocation of the heat sink screws to the backside of the logic board."

Other interesting tidbits from the teardown include the MacBook Pro's fans, and the single modular unit taped to the bottom of the notebook's fan, which houses the 3.5mm headphone port. Its location, and Apple's removal of the same port on the iPhone 7, means it "could easily be dropped in favor of a Lightning or USB-C connector" in future MacBook Pro generations. Ultimately, iFixit gave the 13-inch MacBook Pro without a Touch Bar a repairability score of 2, with a 10 being the easiest to repair.

Check out the full teardown on iFixit's website.

Article Link: iFixit Tears Down Battery, Improved Keyboard, and Removable SSD of MacBook Pro Without Touch Bar

 

[Brookzy]

Then, the site dove into the logic board to hunt for the "advanced thermal architecture" described in the MacBook's press release. The board appeared mostly the same as previous MacBooks, with Apple's new architecture apparently describing the "relocation of the heat sink screws to the backside of the logic board."

*Sigh* Come on iFixit, get with it - the new thermal architecture is only on the Touch Bar model.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Well at least the SSD is removable.

Wondering when 3rd parties will get involved. Apple's prices are insane to up the memory in their laptops.

 

[pat500000]

Another word: dead fish. This is one of those "buy the maximum spec you could afford" move. To get 10 hrs experience, might as well do FaceTime once and put it in sleep mode for the rest of the day...lol.

No ram upgrade. Thanks to ifixit. This is locked down/prison.
Yes...I would get 15 inch top tier if that's the case.

 

[pike908]

So does this mean that one can upgrade the SSD on their own??? Or has Apple put some special circuitry somewhere in the machine meaning it will "reject" an aftermarket SSD.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Tried out the new keyboard yesterday and have to say it is improved and quite usable. Still not as much travel and feel as I'd like but it didn't slow down my typing like the original butteryfly keyboard does. New large trackpad is nice too. I couldn't even tell it had no moving parts.

Ultimately though the RAM and stock SSD are deal killers for me. I'm just glad my 2012 rMBP is so solid that its carrying me along just fine. Maybe next round Apple/Intel will be more on top of things and push out something more appealing for the price tag.

 

[newdeal]

interesting that the non-touchbar version has a bigger battery. I wonder if the battery life on the non-touch will exceed their ratings since both seem to be rated the same 10 hours

 

[kstotlani]

In the teardown, iFixit delves deeper into the MacBook Pro, uncovering a battery that is 27 percent less powerful than last year's model

That is how it became 24% less in volume. Innovation at its peak. It would be good to see some battery benchmarks on heavy applications like Lightroom or Photoshop.

 

[Jim]

bottom line: they reduced the size of the battery to save the mm and the 1/2lb. Happier now more than ever that I bought the 2015 model 6 months ago. 10 hours does not equal 10 ACTUAL hours any more than the mileage sticker on the cars guarantees you'll get just that. Leave it at 3-1/2 pounds and give me 13-14 hours of battery life please.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Apple should sell a Raspberry Mac Mini.

 

[peter2]

iFixit has published a teardown of the new 13-inch MacBook Pro without Touch Bar, which the site calls the "Escape Edition" because of its adherence to the traditional row of function keys, along with a tangible Escape key.

So the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar is now officially called "No Escape Edition" ;-)

 

[Gudi]

interesting that the non-touchbar version has a bigger battery. I wonder if the battery life on the non-touch will exceed their ratings since both seem to be rated the same 10 hours.

• Testing conducted by Apple in October 2016 using preproduction 2.0GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-based 13-inch MacBook Pro systems with a 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM (wireless web test, iTunes movie playback test, and standby test). Testing conducted by Apple in October 2016 using preproduction 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-based 13-inch MacBook Pro systems with a 512GB SSD and 8GB of RAM (wireless web test and iTunes movie playback test) and preproduction 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-based 13-inch MacBook Pro systems with a 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM (standby test). The wireless web test measures battery life by wirelessly browsing 25 popular websites with display brightness set to 12 clicks from bottom or 75%. The iTunes movie playback test measures battery life by playing back HD 1080p content with display brightness set to 12 clicks from bottom or 75%. The standby test measures battery life by allowing a system, connected to a wireless network and signed in to an iCloud account, to enter standby mode with Safari and Mail applications launched and all system settings left at default. Battery life varies by use and configuration. See www.apple.com/batteries for more information.

My guess is for some reason the difference makes for less than one hour?

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

Pffft. iFixit forgot, yet again, to mention which Intel chipset is being used.

 

[magbarn]

Well at least the SSD is removable.

Wondering when 3rd parties will get involved. Apple's prices are insane to up the memory in their laptops.

Considering that no one has come up with a good 3rd party solution for 2013-2015 rMBP/MBA ssds you're chances are pretty low. OWC does have one, but putting 2 sata ssds in a raid 0 setup is not an ideal replacement due to lack of TRIM/bootcamp support/half the performance. You're basically stuck buying used Apple ssds on bidding sites.

 

[BootsWalking]

Have to say it looks beautiful inside.

 

[indychris]

Man, our family is sitting on 2 late 2011 MBP's and one 2014 retina, as well as several mini's that we use for media servers, web servers, and whatnot. I was really hoping that this release would bring something worthy of "Christmasing". After putting Crucial SSD's in place of my 5400 HDD's in my MBP's, I can't find one compelling reason to look at anything new at this point.

In other non-related news, I did pick up a 256GB Sim-free iP 7 Plus last week, and I have to say I'm loving the extra capacity and actually really starting dig the new style home button, so I'm not 100% down on Apple right now; just about 73%.

 

[twa440]

Have to say it looks beautiful inside.

Wish they had put that effort into making it more functional.

 

[TonyC28]

"Advanced thermal architecture" translates to relocated screws?

 

[macduke]

Then, the site dove into the logic board to hunt for the "advanced thermal architecture" described in the MacBook's press release. The board appeared mostly the same as previous MacBooks, with Apple's new architecture apparently describing the "relocation of the heat sink screws to the backside of the logic board."

I guess "We relocated the heat sink screws to the backside of the logic board" just didn't have the same ring to it. True innovation in this magically courageous device.

 

[nt5672]

Man, our family is sitting on 2 late 2011 MBP's and one 2014 retina, as well as several mini's that we use for media servers, web servers, and whatnot. I was really hoping that this release would bring something worthy of "Christmasing". After putting Crucial SSD's in place of my 5400 HDD's in my MBP's, I can't find one compelling reason to look at anything new at this point.

In other non-related news, I did pick up a 256GB Sim-free iP 7 Plus last week, and I have to say I'm loving the extra capacity and actually really starting dig the new style home button, so I'm not 100% down on Apple right now; just about 73%.

Certainly not if he only innovation is smaller and lighter.

 

[Brookzy]

"Advanced thermal architecture" translates to relocated screws?

I guess "We relocated the heat sink screws to the backside of the logic board" just didn't have the same ring to it. True innovation in this magically courageous device.

See my post above - the new thermals are for the Touch Bar model only.

 

[AirunJae]

Tried out the new keyboard yesterday and have to say it is improved and quite usable. Still not as much travel and feel as I'd like but it didn't slow down my typing like the original butteryfly keyboard does. New large trackpad is nice too. I couldn't even tell it had no moving parts.

Ultimately though the RAM and stock SSD are deal killers for me. I'm just glad my 2012 rMBP is so solid that its carrying me along just fine. Maybe next round Apple/Intel will be more on top of things and push out something more appealing for the price tag.

Good to hear that the keyboard isn't terrible. It seems like everytime Apple releases a new laptop design, the price jumps up initially, then drops down over the years and specs get bumped up. My 2013 rMBP is solid too, so I'll probably be looking at the 15" in a few years once software for the touchbar is mature (wouldn't mind them making it a little bigger actually) and the RAM is up. I got five years out of my first MBP, but I really went for the high-end specs on my current one so I'm hoping to hit 6-7 years on it before I start to look at upgrading.

 

[SBlue1]

Well at least the SSD is removable.

Wondering when 3rd parties will get involved. Apple's prices are insane to up the memory in their laptops.

I thought the same then saw the special shape and checked the prices for those custom shaped SSDs.

 

[macduke]

*Sigh* Come on iFixit, get with it - the new thermal architecture is only on the Touch Bar model.

Source please?

 

[2457282]

I don't get it. I stopped building PC about 10 years ago. I don't even remember the last time I actually looked inside a computer. And yet I love to read though these ifixit reports. their ratings don't matter. their snarky remarks are hit or miss. But somehow I read every word excited to see what comes next. I think I need help.