13" MacBook Pro Teardown and Unboxing Galleries

[MacRumors]

iFixit posts the first teardown images of the new 13" MacBook Pro. iFixit notes the following changes from the previous 13" MacBook:

- No access door for the battery on the bottom.
- The addition of an SD card slot (and the omission of digital/mic port) is readily apparent.
- FireWire is back!
- Computer lock is now on the other side.

Meanwhile, Gizmodo and Engadget have both posted unboxing galleries for the new machines. Just by looking at the 13 and 15-inch models together, you can tell that Apple was pretty much right when they said that they belong in the same family. The construction is almost identical. The only difference is that the 13-inch has one fewer audio jack and no side-board speakers, as been the case for the 13 for years now.Apple released the new 13" MacBook Pro on Monday and dropped the entry price to $1199.

Article Link: 13" MacBook Pro Teardown and Unboxing Galleries

 

[BornAgainMac]

Still easy access to the drive. That is important.

 

[leodavinci0]

Engadget says the single audio port on the 13" has both mic in and stereo out, just like the audio port of the iPhone. Apple's website doesn't specify. Anybody know for sure?

 

[twoodcc]

Still easy access to the drive. That is important.

that is very important. same for the ram as well. a must have

 

[Nykwil]

Engadget says the single audio port on the 13" has both mic in and stereo out, just like the audio port of the iPhone. Apple's website doesn't specify. Anybody know for sure?

The headphone jack has the same pins as the iphone, so yeah headphones with mics will work with it

 

[ibjoshua]

That is a much prettier picture than the inside of my old white 500 iBook. Working inside that thing was a mare.

 

[0098386]

Since there isn't a stereo mix recording option for these systems (none of my iMacs seem to support it), I need both audio in and out ports. It's not a deal breaker but I'm surprised to see it gone. Even my 12" Powerbook had both ports.

 

[miketcool]

Brings back fond memories of my little 12" PowerBook. Oh how I miss thee.

 

[akutad]

Since there isn't a stereo mix recording option for these systems (none of my iMacs seem to support it), I need both audio in and out ports. It's not a deal breaker but I'm surprised to see it gone. Even my 12" Powerbook had both ports.

Not sure but it may be that less than 1% of people use the mic port. I would people would use the mic more than the Expresscard port. Don't they have a USB adapter??

 

[GoCubsGo]

The headphone jack has the same pins as the iphone, so yeah headphones with mics will work with it

I was going to ask if it was mono or stereo ... but

Since there isn't a stereo mix recording option for these systems (none of my iMacs seem to support it), I need both audio in and out ports. It's not a deal breaker but I'm surprised to see it gone. Even my 12" Powerbook had both ports.

This pretty much means the input is mono? Or am I misunderstanding?

While I can record on my MP, it was always nice to have my PB around for things too. I also believe a lot of other people use their macs for recording, how does the single audio in/out port affect that possibility? Does that guarantee the need for an interface now? (opposed to before some instruments didn't need one (acoustic) and others could use the Griffin iMic.

 

[miketcool]

Engadget says the single audio port on the 13" has both mic in and stereo out, just like the audio port of the iPhone. Apple's website doesn't specify. Anybody know for sure?

Actually, the Tech Specs on Apple's web pages states that it handles Analog Audio In as well. If you want Digital, find a USB solution I guess.

This pretty much means the input is mono? Or am I misunderstanding?

It is stereo, just not Digital Audio In.

Personally, I use a firewire interface to handle my recording with logic. You can't control anything via an 1/8 jack, analog or digital. I use an M-Audio Solo as my more portable solution as any recording I do in studio is with a large rack. Yes, I said a large rack.

The only time I use the digital ports on my MBP are for connecting to my home theater system. Sometimes it's fun to turn them on and blind the cat, but that's just me.

 

[Angelo95210]

And the line-in was not so useful, I mean a mic-input would have been more useful. People recording soud can still use an interface and get better possibilities.

They did well instaurating the FW plug back !

 

[*LTD*]

Looks very well put together.

 

[odedia]

The big question is, does it have a digital out?

That is a must have for hooking up to a home theater system.

 

[dr Dunkel]

I think I might just have to grab mer one of these MacBook "Will Ferrell"...

 

[Palliser]

Got my Unibody MB in December, really weighed the options of not having firewire... but since I've found myself not using a DAW (digital audio workstation) anymore, I haven't missed the port at all. The new one looks nice but I'm completely content with the one I have.

 

[brop52]

Now where have I seen the inside of one of those before...

 

[JonHimself]

The big question is, does it have a digital out?

That is a must have for hooking up to a home theater system.

Before anyone gets crazy and starts saying things for the sake of saying them, rather than checking things (yes I'm aware that at least one person has acknowledged this). The apple web-site lists analog AND digital out from the port as well as a 'user-selectable' analog in.

I take that to mean it's NOT both in/out at the same time (or with one cable I should say) like the iPhone but that's just me thinking out loud. I hope that with the proper headphones (ie iphone headphones) you could listen to music and be able to use the mic, but their choice of wording makes it seem like it defaults to output and you can select to change it to an input.

 

[The Samurai]

How easy is it replace RAM and HDD in one of these bad boys? The previous gen, you would take the battery out and there it is. But now that the battery is fixed, how would one go about adding more RAM or replacing the HDD?

 

[talkingfuture]

I like the Unibody design so much that I am tempted to buy a 13" MBP even though I have very little need for one.

 

[andiwm2003]

i was at my apple store yesterday but they had only the old 13"MBP's there. i thought that was strange.

are the new one's available in other stores yet? i wanted to see the screen quality.

 

[brop52]

How easy is it replace RAM and HDD in one of these bad boys? The previous gen, you would take the battery out and there it is. But now that the battery is fixed, how would one go about adding more RAM or replacing the HDD?

It's no different except that you disconnect the battery power rather than removing the whole battery. You just have to unscrew everything to get to the HDD rather than the little tab. Before you had to unscrew everything to get to the RAM.

 

[bobnugget]

According to the article, not only is the battery a different shape, but also takes a different voltage to the old one (10.95v in the new one vs 10.8v in the old one), so we won't be able to "hack" it into the old unibody macbooks, which is a shame

 

[miketcool]

Before anyone gets crazy and starts saying things for the sake of saying them, rather than checking things (yes I'm aware that at least one person has acknowledged this). The apple web-site lists analog AND digital out from the port as well as a 'user-selectable' analog in.

It's confusing. Sure you can google things of question. You could also go straight to the source and find the answer awaiting you on Apple's website. Some people are just confused because this is a Rumors website. When information is available on here, maybe they just see it as a rumor and need lots of reassuring and confirmation. Furthermore, it is a Mac Rumors website. That is:

speculation + extreme fanaticism = anxiety attacks

Or at least that's how rumor has it.

 

[AppleMatt389]

According to the article, not only is the battery a different shape, but also takes a different voltage to the old one (10.95v vs 10.8v), so we won't be able to "hack" it into the old unibody macbooks, which is a shame

Was gonna say you could always chuck in a resistor to give you a voltage drop (not really suggesting you could do it, or if it's possible).

But i realised you have to step up the voltage. So really this whole post has no point and achieves nothing.