Base 2019 13-Inch MacBook Pro Teardown Reveals Larger Battery, Soldered-Down SSD, and Updated Keyboard Material

[Grey Area]

Soldered parts do make them more robust. Less moving parts mean less permanent harm from physical damage.

Toughbooks use non-soldered RAM and drives. I dare say any force strong enough to loosen those components would obliterate a MacBook, regardless of whether its insides are soldered or not. They are way too flimsy for soldering to make a difference.

 

[LordVic]

This is exactly the point, instead of giving us 20 models of Mac laptops that are basically the same, provide one model that is larger, heavier, more expensive, and with replaceable parts. In essence a laptop that is a portable workstation and does not have to be thrown away as soon as it runs out of warranty.

Yes, But Apple's Computer lineup shifted to aim for the consumer and prosumer market primarily. Even their "pro" computers are more in line with Ultra-books than workstation replacements. The problem is, Apple USED to have a workstation replacement named the "pro". Now that same moniker is on the prosumer desktop replacement. With nothing currently occupying the space previously occupied by the old "pro"

 

[Zdigital2015]

I expect user replaceable ram, ssd, battery and ports (2 x USB-A, 2 x USB-C, HDMI, SD card, ethernet) and good thermal performance.
If Apple genuinely cares about the environment, this is the minimum they would do.

Prepare to be disappointed is all I can say...

 

[Pearple]

I'm not buying.

Solder my Ass, Phil, You greedy *%$§!

 

[CarlJ]

If the machine is user serviceable, you'd take it to an Apple store to get fixed.

If the machine isn't user serviceable, you'd take it to an Apple store to get fixed.

In every previous MacBook Pro I've owned, after a few years, when the machine starts seeming constrained by the amount memory and storage it had, I unscrew the bottom cover, unscrew the original RAM and storage, and replace them with third party parts that are 2+ times the capacity of the originals, giving the machine a new lease on life. And when buying those parts, years down the road, the going rate for disk/ssd storage is drastically lower than the same capacity would have been at the time of original purchase. (I also did this for numerous relative's Apple laptops.)

When all the parts are soldered down, you have to pay up front, for as much RAM and storage as that machine is ever going to have. At Apple's premium prices, but also at prices based off the costs today, rather than the drastically lower costs a few years in the future. It means spending more money now, and it also means guessing how much storage you'll ever need (how much you'll regret not getting originally, a few years out in the future).

And to your point of "If the machine is/isn't user serviceable, you'd take it to an Apple store to get fixed"... try taking a modern soldered-together MBP to an Apple store and saying, "I'd like you to upgrade the RAM/SSD please" - you won't be happy with the answer - it'll involve buying an entirely new machine, even if the screen / keyboard / CPU of your current machine are fine for your current needs.

I don't think Apple is soldering these parts down, in order to force people to buy new machines (I know that's a popular theory here), I think they're doing it because it makes the machines a tiny bit more reliable (a part can't jostle out of a connector if there is no connector and the parts are soldered to the board), and because not having the connectors takes less room. Well, I don't mind having my laptop be a quarter inch thicker, if it means a removable bottom cover, and replaceable batteries, RAM, and SSDs, and room for more ports along the sides of the machine. Those were qualities of all of Apple's previous "Pro" laptops, up to a certain point, that seemed to justify the "Pro" moniker.

 

[psingh01]

The majority of "people" perhaps, but not the majority of businesses (especially enterprises). There's a reason why brands such as Latitudes and Thinkpads are so popular with enterprises and other large organizations: repair-ability. And soldiered parts don't necessarily made them more robust.

When I had a Thinkpad for work and it needed repairs, they'd ship me a replacement or loaner and I'd just swap the hard drive out and ship the bad one back. Didn't miss a beat.

Now I have a MBP for work and have to go through Apple for service. No loaners. When I had an issue with the keyboard I was quoted a 14 day turn around time. So I kept using it for another 6 months with a messed up keyboard until the turn around time improved to 2 days. That was a lot of lost productivity.

 

[cube]

I expect user replaceable ram, ssd, battery and ports (2 x USB-A, 2 x USB-C, HDMI, SD card, ethernet) and good thermal performance.
If Apple genuinely cares about the environment, this is the minimum they would do.

Yes. If a battery is non-removable (bad call) it should be at least replaceable (no glue).

 

[ETJ]

Firstly your experience is anecdotal. Don't forget that. You are not the mojority. Most people's batteries dont expand.You can make choices from your experience.Secondly I disagree with your statement about battery replaceability.When a battery is user replaceable it needs to be larger for users handling it making it less efficient.Plus the space inside machines cant be used properly like in modern MacBook & Air. Amount of glue, I am not sure. But making batteries non user replaceable has definitely had positive consequences for majority of users.

Sure it's anecdotal, but the repair shop themselves said that swollen batteries are a common problem amongst all laptops. This repair shop even offered a deal, and made a blog post about it, for customers with swollen batteries since it was so common. Maybe glued batteries are a good thing (I don't think so) but there is no reason for Apple not to replace batteries (because their own aggressive glue), as I said Apple only replaces half of the computer at that point.. and charge you accordingly.

 

[Mactendo]

This is the manifestation of Jobs' vision. SJ advocated "closed" Macs going back to the original Macintosh from 1984.

I think it’s the manifestation of Cook’s greed and Ive’s obsession with thinness. Under Jobs machines were upgradable and repairable.

 

[andiwm2003]

The soldered SSD is a step backwards :/

But I thought this was all changing now that Jony Ive is gone.

I thought the same It will take a few years to undo the damage Jony has done (if Apple wants to do that)

 

[Mactendo]

Sure it's anecdotal, but the repair shop themselves said that swollen batteries are a common problem amongst all laptops.

I don’t think your experience is anecdotal. It’s a common enough problem with batteries. I had such issue myself. When a battery on an old MacBook got swollen I just took it out and continued to use the laptop without battery until I could get a new one. With modern MacBooks that’s impossible. Bad battery immediately makes it unusable.

 

[Never mind]

A lot of manufacturers are going the soldered route, at least with the ultra-portables. I know Lenovo is doing it with their X1/Carbon, and I believe the Extreme...? Even the Lenovo T series [480/490] have memory soldered, and an open slot to add more, but upgradable drives.

I think DELL XPS series are similar, but not positive. Unfortunately, this is the path a lot are going to keep the revenue stream rolling along. They don't want people buying entry level, and doing their own upgrades. Doesn't make sense to me, but then again I don't sell them

My X1 extreme Lenovo has upgradable memory, SSD, WiFi card and you can take the keyboard out and replace it, plus the battery can be replaced. It’s not soldered down.

 

[Robnsn2015]

Yes. If a battery is non-removable (bad call) it should be at least replaceable (no glue).

At least!!!

 

[product26]

Soon the circuit boards will be etched in to the aluminum case, the keyboard and trackpad will be a single touch screen and the battery will be soldered in. I'll keep my 2012 Air for now then put Windows on it once Apple stops supporting it.

 

[Robnsn2015]

I think it’s the manifestation of Cook’s greed and Ive’s obsession with thinness. Under Jobs machines were upgradable and repairable.

Yes, but the MacBook Air happened under SJ's watch. That was the beginning of the end, in my opinion. It just took time for the thinness craze to infect the MacBook Pro.

 

[andiwm2003]

I disagree. This is the manifestation of Jobs' vision. SJ advocated "closed" Macs going back to the original Macintosh from 1984.

Plus, legend has it SJ went to the Mac team, threw down an iPad, and asked the Mac team why they couldn't make something similar.

I think it’s the manifestation of Cook’s greed and Ive’s obsession with thinness. Under Jobs machines were upgradable and repairable.

I think in the 80's SJ's vision of a closed mac was a response to the IBM x86 computers that where collection of random parts stuck together without labeling any ports or connections and incompatible parts everywhere. Ram, HDD, floppy disk drives, and other parts where still quite easily exchangable in Mac at that time.

I hope now that Apple creates a "pro" line that is a bit thicker and has better heat dissipation, exchangeable parts, longer battery life and is overall cheaper because the're easier to manufacture.

 

[Rogifan]

I think it’s the manifestation of Cook’s greed and Ive’s obsession with thinness. Under Jobs machines were upgradable and repairable.

What iPod or iOS devices were user upgradable and user repairable? MBA is clearly where Apple was going with notebooks.

 

[Bornee35]

In every previous MacBook Pro I've owned, after a few years, when the machine starts seeming constrained by the amount memory and storage it had, I unscrew the bottom cover, unscrew the original RAM and storage, and replace them with third party parts that are 2+ times the capacity of the originals, giving the machine a new lease on life. And when buying those parts, years down the road, the going rate for disk/ssd storage is drastically lower than the same capacity would have been at the time of original purchase. (I also did this for numerous relative's Apple laptops.)

When all the parts are soldered down, you have to pay up front, for as much RAM and storage as that machine is ever going to have. At Apple's premium prices, but also at prices based off the costs today, rather than the drastically lower costs a few years in the future. It means spending more money now, and it also means guessing how much storage you'll ever need (how much you'll regret not getting originally, a few years out in the future).

And to your point of "If the machine is/isn't user serviceable, you'd take it to an Apple store to get fixed"... try taking a modern soldered-together MBP to an Apple store and saying, "I'd like you to upgrade the RAM/SSD please" - you won't be happy with the answer - it'll involve buying an entirely new machine, even if the screen / keyboard / CPU of your current machine are fine for your current needs.

I don't think Apple is soldering these parts down, in order to force people to buy new machines (I know that's a popular theory here), I think they're doing it because it makes the machines a tiny bit more reliable (a part can't jostle out of a connector if there is no connector and the parts are soldered to the board), and because not having the connectors takes less room. Well, I don't mind having my laptop be a quarter inch thicker, if it means a removable bottom cover, and replaceable batteries, RAM, and SSDs, and room for more ports along the sides of the machine. Those were qualities of all of Apple's previous "Pro" laptops, up to a certain point, that seemed to justify the "Pro" moniker.

with all the soldered hardware thrill seekers can begin to upgrade starting at 250 degrees Celsius.

 

[HVDynamo]

If the machine is user serviceable, you'd take it to an Apple store to get fixed.

If the machine isn't user serviceable, you'd take it to an Apple store to get fixed.

In warranty, yes. Out of warranty, I'd like to be able to replace Ram, Battery, and storage on my own without a ton of effort. Hell, I'd be ok with the soldered storage since Apples SSD's are super fast and seem to be decent. But then add a standard M.2 port for expand ability or a backup option for an older machine that had the main SSD die. I understand the soldering of everything on the Air and whatnot, but on a "Pro" machine I think some legacy ports and some upgrade ability should be standard.

 

[Rogifan]

I think in the 80's SJ's vision of a closed mac was a response to the IBM x86 computers that where collection of random parts stuck together without labeling any ports or connections and incompatible parts everywhere. Ram, HDD, floppy disk drives, and other parts where still quite easily exchangable in Mac at that time.

I hope now that Apple creates a "pro" line that is a bit thicker and has better heat dissipation, exchangeable parts, longer battery life and is overall cheaper because the're easier to manufacture.

Apple isn’t creating machines for hobbyists and tinkerers. This isn’t about worshiping at the shrine of thinness. The previous Mac mini was sealed up and that’s not a thin device. Any new “pro” laptop from Apple is going to be super expensive.

 

[ThatGuyInLa]

Oh good, even small heatsink. UGH.

I really hope now that Joby has moved on we can see a return of a little more function over form. The next generation of MacBooks being a tad thicker to allow for better cooling as one example. Especially with next generation version for M.2s running so hot.

 

[BeforeTheMeds]

If the machine is user serviceable, you'd take it to an Apple store to get fixed.

If the machine isn't user serviceable, you'd take it to an Apple store to get fixed.

Only within the first year. After that I fix my own laptops.......which is why I own none of these. My mac is older.

 

[Robnsn2015]

What iPod or iOS devices were user upgradable and user repairable? MBA is clearly where Apple was going with notebooks.

The problem is, iPods and iOS are generally consumers. A MacBook Pro was for, you know, Professionals.

 

[deconstruct60]

I see from the image, there is only one fan. The existing touchbar models have two. The lower processor might need less cooling, but surely more than half as much. I wonder what thermal throttling will be like, or fan noise in general.

The previous two port model just had one (and a 15W CPU) so this is really not much of a change.

I don't think the fans in the two models are the same size, so it isn't necessarily '1/2' the thermal handling because there are two fans they seem to be individually smaller than the one

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Two+Thunderbolt+Ports+2019+Teardown/124676

2018 Touch Bar tear down.
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+13-Inch+Touch+Bar+2018+Teardown/111384

. It isn't a huge difference, but all three above don't appear to be the exact same size fan. So having one incrementally bigger on is not quite loosing "half" to the cooler 'power'.

The other issue that with one fan they get to spread out the other components a bit more. The T2 subcomplex is farther away. And the batteries a bit more spread out. ( speakers take a hit on volume. )

 

[Dirtfarmer]

Steve is gone. Jony is gone.

Apple is dead.

Long live Apple!

#FIRETHEACCOUNTANT