MacBook Neo Teardown: Modular Ports, Glue-Less Battery, Zero Tape

[MacRumors]

A teardown of the new MacBook Neo by Australian YouTube repair channel Tech Re-Nu reveals what may be the most modular and repair-friendly Mac laptop in recent times.

The Neo is shown being taken apart in just six minutes, suggesting Apple has prioritized simplicity across the board, using standard Torx screws (T3, T5, and T8) and a clean cable routing design.

To open the aluminum body, eight screws on the bottom are loosened, similar to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. Inside, a tiny motherboard sits, surrounded by a stripped-back internal layout with minimal parts and no hinge covers.

The battery is secured by 18 screws and lifts straight out – there are no stretch-release adhesive tabs, and no sticky glue holding it in place. In fact, the teardown encountered zero tape throughout the entire disassembly, which is a first for a modern Mac.

The two USB-C ports, speakers, and the headphone jack are all modular, so the individual components can be swapped without replacing larger assemblies. The speakers, for example, come out with just four screws each and no adhesive. Indeed, the only adhesive found in the machine was a small amount on the trackpad where a cable connects it to the mainboard.

Tech Re-Nu does not entirely disassemble the Neo, but we know it is possible to remove the keyboard for repair without replacing the entire top case – which is a huge boost for any repairability score. Taken together, it looks like the $599 MacBook Neo is a lot more repairable than some might have expected for an Apple laptop.

Article Link: MacBook Neo Teardown: Modular Ports, Glue-Less Battery, Zero Tape

 

[kaspurr]

The peoples Macbook.

 

[adamjackson]

Apple is going to sell a metric-ton of these things. Great internet computers for $499 that are repairable and simple with MacOS? I honestly expect these things to finally move Apple's market share needle beyond 15% to 20%+

and as a shareholder, I really don't care about the hardware profit margin because at 256GB, these all be ripe for iCloud attach rates where people are paying apple $5 - $10 a month for storage. $100-$200 a year in services revenue for every single device is where it's at. Buy one of these, pay apple for Apple Music + iCloud and install Chrome + ChatGPT and iWork and you're rocking. Only pros will need more power.

In a year, this things gets the A19 and 12GB of RAM then we're cooking!!!

 

[CharlesShaw]

Congratulations to the kids who successfully reassemble it without anyone knowing. (Takes one to know one)

 

[turbineseaplane]

Apple is going to sell a metric-ton of these things. Great internet computers for $499 that are repairable and simple with MacOS? I honestly expect these things to finally move Apple's market share needle beyond 15% to 20%+

and as a shareholder, I really don't care about the hardware profit margin because at 256GB, these all be ripe for iCloud attach rates where people are paying apple $5 - $10 a month for storage. $100-$200 a year in services revenue for every single device is where it's at. Buy one of these, pay apple for Apple Music + iCloud and install Chrome + ChatGPT and iWork and you're rocking. Only pros will need more power.

In a year, this things gets the A19 and 12GB of RAM then we're cooking!!!

I would perhaps temper this a little bit.
It's cheap and feels that way the more you use it, particularly the screen, trackpad & keyboard, which are key to the experience (obviously).

Also, the colors are really "bleh" in person.
The green is the only one that feels like an actual "color". The website photos are very misleading on this.

I'm fascinated to see how well it sticks in the market past the initial interest here.

 

[mattopotamus]

While I have never had to crack open a Mac and do repairs, I have done it many times with PCs. The amount of tape and glue is diabolical.

 

[Kottu]

So,It won’t take much time for someone to fill up that empty space with more storage or replace the internal components with M3 or M4 Air.

 

[ChrisMac47]

This is a big step forward for Apple. The way forward, I hope (or, I wish).

 

[WarmWinterHat]

While I have never had to crack open a Mac and do repairs, I have done it many times with PCs. The amount of tape and glue is diabolical.

It was pretty good until the Retina era. I swapped parts on my old iBook, my 2008 Unibody, and my 2012 MBP several times. New batteries, swap the screen, add ram, new SSD. I wouldn't even bother taking the bottom plate off a new MacBook, because there is little to nothing I can do with it once open except look around.

This is a positive move, assuming you can get parts.

 

[ignatius345]

Wow, someone beat iFixit to the punch

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Wow, someone beat iFixit to the punch

They are too busy rebadging Chinese tools, guitar picks and multimeters.

 

[tonmischa]

The EU passes a law on the “right to repair,” and suddenly there are computers that are easy to repair.
Well, well. So it is possible after all.

 

[Apple_Robert]

While I have never had to crack open a Mac and do repairs, I have done it many times with PCs. The amount of tape and glue is diabolical.

I haven’t opened a Mac and done any work since the 2012 MacBook. I prefer to let the pros do the work. lol

 

[stlredbird]

Tell me again why my M5 iPad Pro can't run MacOS now?

 

[Happy_John]

This is very cool. Back to the good old days. (Meanwhile, Framework are muttering darkly to themselves).

 

[stlredbird]

While I have never had to crack open a Mac and do repairs, I have done it many times with PCs. The amount of tape and glue is diabolical.

I recently dug my old late 2008 macbook pro out of the closet and am about to replace the battery and upgrade the RAM. Maybe I should take some pics and post here to compare.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Tell me again why my M5 iPad Pro can't run MacOS now?

Because then folks might not buy both an iPad & a Mac.

This is "cooking with Tim"

 

[Corefile]

He did a teardown and did not even to any analysis of the logic board beyond saying "here it is".

 

[chrono1081]

Tell me again why my M5 iPad Pro can't run MacOS now?

Because macOS isn't built for touch. That's a very very very heavy lift if you want any kind of good user experience.

 

[sw1tcher]

Apple is going to sell a metric-ton of these things

MacBook Neo weighs 1.23 kg
1 metric ton = 1,000 kg

Shouldn't be too hard to sell 813 MacBook Neo's

 

[mattopotamus]

I recently dug my old late 2008 macbook pro out of the closet and am about to replace the battery and upgrade the RAM. Maybe I should take some pics and post here to compare.

The older Macs definitely are more repairable because certain parts were not soldered.

 

[Happy_John]

It was pretty good until the Retina era. I swapped parts on my old iBook, my 2008 Unibody, and my 2012 MBP several times. New batteries, swap the screen, add ram, new SSD. I wouldn't even bother taking the bottom plate off a new MacBook, because there is little to nothing I can do with it once open except look around.

This is a positive move, assuming you can get parts.

If the Neo shifts a large amount of units (and it probably will), sourcing parts will not be a problem. The non-retina MacBook Air and the unibody Mac Minis were everywhere during (and after) their lifespans, and there was never a problem sourcing replacement parts, either original or decent quality "clone" parts. You ended up working out the good suppliers from the bad pretty easily. The screen and the logicboard will have to be got directly from Apple (or a donor machine), but the rest will be available on the open market.

 

[Jamie0003]

Modular ports? Apple…U ok?

I love to see this, I have been wanting a framework laptop for a while but just can’t bring myself to pull the trigger as the build quality is bad (plastic screens and all that)

 

[infiniteentropy]

There is a (probably apocryphal) story about Steve Jobs throwing an iPod in an aquarium to demonstrate the wasted space internally with the resulting bubbles, upbraiding the team about wasted space inside the device.

Something tells me Jobs would have needed a bigger aquarium but he would have done the same here.

That said, this device is a winner. MacBook Neo will be everywhere.

 

[Jamie0003]

The EU passes a law on the “right to repair,” and suddenly there are computers that are easy to repair.
Well, well. So it is possible after all.

Hell yes. Apple has been saying for years that it’s impossible to make these thin devices repairable…..but we all know the real reason $$$

EU is really killing it recently. I hope they go after AirPlay, iCloud and FaceTime next.