MacBook Neo Teardown 😃

[smoothbit]

It looks like a pleasure to work on, the battery will be easy to replace 🙁

 

[JPack]

Looks like Neo uses only a graphene pad as a heatspreader. Although expected, still slightly disappointing since it limits sustained performance.

 

[smoothbit]

Looks like Neo uses only a graphene pad as a heatspreader. Although expected, still slightly disappointing since it limits sustained performance.

View attachment 2612574

How does that compare to what was used in the iPhone 16 Pro? And would it be possible to replace it with a heat spreader made from something else?

 

[Apple_Robert]

Surprised the battery doesn't have adhesive. Nice. 18 screws to remove the battery.

 

[JPack]

How does that compare to what was used in the iPhone 16 Pro? And would it be possible to replace it with a heat spreader made from something else?

iPhone 16 Pro uses a thin metal heat spreader in conjunction with graphene. Same with MacBook Air M2-M4 and iPad mini A17 Pro.



Apple sells thermal dissipation performance as a feature, so it's not surprising, just disappointing they really did it.

 

[JPack]

VLI VL122 4-port USB 2.0 Hub controller from VIA Labs.

Apple engineers probably miffed they had to go back to a third party controller when the SoC already has one. But marketing said they needed a second port.

 

[smoothbit]

VLI VL122 4-port USB 2.0 Hub controller from VIA Labs.

Apple engineers probably miffed they had to go back to a third party controller when the SoC already has one. But marketing said they needed a second port.

View attachment 2612617

Is it effectively a built-in USB hub? Or something more complicated?

 

[JPack]

Is it effectively a built-in USB hub? Or something more complicated?

It’s a standard USB 2.0 hub. The only thing complicated was Apple needed to get USB-PD on the additional port because the chip doesn’t support it.

 

[smoothbit]

It’s a standard USB 2.0 hub. The only thing complicated was Apple needed to get USB-PD on the additional port because the chip doesn’t support it.

I just had the idea of 3D-printing something to take the place of the speaker that's on the same side as the USB ports and using it to house an M.2 2242 SSD in a USB enclosure that's hooked up to the USB-hub via some dodgy soldering… I'm not sure if there's enough vertical height in the Neo's case, but that could be a way to add more internal storage 🤔

 

[ivnj]

It's cool to see. But also why waste 599 on a thing just to take it apart. You just killed the warrantee. And even with apple care they might not fix it. Unless that falls under accidents.

 

[smoothbit]

It's cool to see. But also why waste 599 on a thing just to take it apart. You just killed the warrantee. And even with apple care they might not fix it. Unless that falls under accidents.

Unless you're unlucky, taking it apart and reassembling it won't damage the machine at all, so it would still be covered by warranty.

 

[ivnj]

Unless you're unlucky, taking it apart and reassembling it won't damage the machine at all, so it would still be covered by warranty.

Ya but you have to be very skilled not to break anything while taking it apart.

 

[JPack]

Ya but you have to be very skilled not to break anything while taking it apart.

It’s how you get online engagement for small businesses. Think of it as marketing spend for their Mac repair business.

A boring video where someone unboxes and parrots the specs gets no views.

 

[smoothbit]

Ya but you have to be very skilled not to break anything while taking it apart.

That's what looks fun about the Neo; whereas changing the battery in the 2012-2015 MacBook Pro required using alcohol to dissolve glue, and the 2016-2019 ones required completely disassembling the laptop and then dissolving the glue, all with very fiddly parts and cables, this one looks comparatively straight forward and uses only screws. I understand that not everyone would feel comfortable taking it apart, but for me it would be a joy 🙂

 

[smoothbit]

It’s how you get online engagement for small businesses. Think of it as marketing spend for their Mac repair business.

A boring video where someone unboxes and parrots the specs gets no views.

I was surprised to find it before iFixit posted their video, but it is a good idea for a repair shop indeed 👍

 

[4sallypat]

I was surprised to find it before iFixit posted their video, but it is a good idea for a repair shop indeed 👍

We are a Apple certified GSX repair facility and looking forward to being to repair in house instead of shipping the Mac to Apple using our LTSA account....

 

[Mrbobb]

No glue? Unheard of 🙂