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

[slimothy]

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

Comparing*

 

[Hustler1337]

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%.

I'm still with my 2011 MacBook Pro and it's still a solid machine, using it day-in, day-out. Since putting in a Samsung Evo 850 SSD a few months ago, it feels like a new machine and runs very fast. Any performance improvements with the latest MacBook Pros aren't significant enough to warrant a new purchase for me especially when considering the price we have to pay for the 2016 models.

 

[Thunderhawks]

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.

I put the OWC 1 TB SSD into my 2014 MBP, works great and whatever is in your machine you can get an enclosure to keep on using that one.
Before I bought that one I searched all over, but what you can usually get is SAMSUNGs from repair jobs or
whatever source.
Obvious that Apple doesn't want anybody to bypass them for SSDs.
Most likely OWC will work on 2GB SSDs and whatever is needed for the NO ESCAPE MBPs.

 

[aeshaettr_]

Source please?

Sweet lord ...

 

[Hustler1337]

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.

Just because you've personally stopped looking inside a machine it doesn't mean others don't. I think you're forgetting that people's needs may change over time and with the peace of mind of knowing that you can increase the storage and ram of your machine without having to fork out a shed load of cash later and sell your old machine or having to pay Apple a significant amount of money for something you would have been able to upgrade for a lot less, you're more likely to make a purchase. Even batteries eventually die out over time and knowing that you can easily replace it also gives you that piece of mind.

Not only that, I enjoy looking at the internals of a machine without having to do it myself

 

[Gudi]

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.

It's like the Playboy, you read it for the photos.

Look, the dual microphones are still there. They just hide behind a fake speaker grill.

 

[macduke]

Sweet lord ...

They also responded to my post correcting me, so I no longer assumed they were being sarcastic.

 

[swordfish5736]

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.

It took OWC a few years to come up with a replacement for the 2013+ models. It's possible for an aftermarket to come out but I wouldn't go in expecting to be able too down the road. In a few years when these are more common you'll probably be able to buy one on the used market though.

 

[Gudi]

Just because you've personally stopped looking inside a machine it doesn't mean others don't. I think you're forgetting that people's needs ...

Give him a break, he said "I" about seven eight times.

 

[Macrolido]

Does it have Magsafe connector?

 

[bobdobalina]

edit

 

[gnipgnop]

Hmmm…what exactly would make iFixit think that "advanced thermal architecture" only refers to the motherboard? That same area of the press release specifically mentions the thinner enclosure, which to me would also bring in the fan designs etc. Plus, isn't Skylake itself more thermally advanced?

 

[NT1440]

Love em or hate them, I've never seen more beautiful internal engineering than from Apple's Macbook teams....

 

[Starfyre]

If the battery life doesn't obliterate the touch bar equivalents that have additional power draw for that touch bar... it can only mean one thing. Apple probably included removables that have higher power draw than soldered equivalents among other things to help push the touch bar. Practically, this should be the best macbook pro yet for battery life.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Source please?

Pics from keynote. Looks completely different:

 

[2457282]

Just because you've personally stopped looking inside a machine it doesn't mean others don't. I think you're forgetting that people's needs may change over time and with the peace of mind of knowing that you can increase the storage and ram of your machine without having to fork out a shed load of cash later and sell your old machine or having to pay Apple a significant amount of money for something you would have been able to upgrade for a lot less, you're more likely to make a purchase. Even batteries eventually die out over time and knowing that you can easily replace it also gives you that piece of mind.

Not only that, I enjoy looking at the internals of a machine without having to do it myself

The three little faces at the end of my post was intended to indicate that I was making my statement "tongue in cheek." I guess humor is hard to translate in text for some folks.
[doublepost=1478013955][/doublepost]

It's like the Playboy, you read it for the photos.

Look, the dual microphones are still there. They just hide behind a fake speaker grill.

Ooooohhhhhhh..............hot grills!

 

[calzon65]

I like the larger butterfly keys on the recently updated MacBook, but always thought the keys felt a bit "hard" when typing. It sounds like the butterfly 2.0 keys on the new MacBook Pro might indeed be updated, hopefully they have a "softer" feel when typing.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

It's like the Playboy, you read it for the photos.

Look, the dual microphones are still there. They just hide behind a fake speaker grill.

So it's a "real microphone grill", not a "fake speaker grill"?

 

[Brookzy]

Source please?

Obnoxious much...

As @keysofanxiety alluded to, the non-Touch Bar model has one fan, and no vents in the sides of the chassis (image from iFixit).



The Touch Bar models, by contrast, have two fans and retain the vents in the chassis, as shown below (image from Apple).



In the design video, Jony Ive talks about "variably-spaced fan blades" pushing air "through a nearly-solid enclosure". Now, only the 15-inch MacBook Pro has variably-spaced blades (as per Apple.com), so he was obviously discussing the 15-inch model in this point of the video devoted to talking about thermals.

We can reasonably assume, given 1) the lack of vents on the non-Touch Bar model, 2) Ive's video obviously only referencing a Touch Bar model, and 3) iFixit's findings that basically nothing has changed thermally in the non-Touch Bar model, that the new thermal architecture is exclusive to the Touch Bar models.

 

[NT1440]

"Advanced thermal architecture" translates to relocated screws?

It actually has to do with the way the components are configured along with the shell of the computer to create essentially a wind tunneling effect. Nobody seems to be reporting that properly (and like iFixit, just stupidly looking at the fans as if that's the whole picture) but Apple's patents in the past make it seem like they've put a lot of thought into how to get this done.

 

[magicschoolbus]

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

Where can you find these?

 

[anson42]

It took OWC a few years to come up with a replacement for the 2013+ models. It's possible for an aftermarket to come out but I wouldn't go in expecting to be able too down the road. In a few years when these are more common you'll probably be able to buy one on the used market though.

This. I fully expect OWC to jump on a SSD upgrade path for the new MBPs, assuming of course that the 13" Touch Bar and 15" models also have removable SSDs. I opted for 1TB when I submitted my order because I could not justify the price of the 2TB option. I fully expect OWC to have 1.5TB and 2TB options in the near future if the architecture allows.

 

[Iconoclysm]

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.

You're buying the wrong cars, then.

 

[jerryk]

Wake me when they tear down a 15" with 4 USB-C, quad core processors and 2TB SSD.

 

[npmacuser5]

I purchased a new TV, took it to the best tech in town, had him tear it down so I could see the cool technology I purchased. Very impressed by the way. Watched a cool show last night that was much better with my new knowledge. I plan on doing this with my new car.