New 12-Inch MacBook Teardown Reveals Tweaked USB-C Hardware and Tamper-Evident Screws

[bladerunner2000]

I'm unstable enough as it is while I work, I don't want to be messing with drivers and trying to keep my machine working

I've had my hackintosh running problem free for almost a year. Runs circles around any macintosh I've come across. Huge bonus is the fact that I get to play a boatload of PC only games on it as well.

Money well spent

 

[b0fh666]

oh well.

my latest 'mac' is a hack made out of an HP notebook - works surprisingly well and has cool stuff like a PCIe SSD and an internal 1TB HDD, ethernet, 4x USB3, wireless, bluetooth, battery lasts for hours, etc.

and in the plus side you learn a lot of stuff

the cost is dirt cheap compared to whatever disposable crap apple is selling now.

only downside is that the trackpad sucks, but whatever, just put the magic mouse to use and that's OK.

hope I can avoid buying a computer that can't be upgraded/fixed for a while.

 

[drumcat]

We rate it the lowest possible score. Also, here are 12 DIY videos.

Whaaaaat?

 

[Michael Anthony]

Trying to make the Macbook serviceable would be a customer support nightmare

It's not that, it's that they're deliberately taking steps to compromise people that do have the tech knowledge to service parts of a Macbook.

 

[friedkimchi]

oh well.

my latest 'mac' is a hack made out of an HP notebook - works surprisingly well and has cool stuff like a PCIe SSD and an internal 1TB HDD, ethernet, 4x USB3, wireless, bluetooth, battery lasts for hours, etc.

and in the plus side you learn a lot of stuff

the cost is dirt cheap compared to whatever disposable crap apple is selling now.

only downside is that the trackpad sucks, but whatever, just put the magic mouse to use and that's OK.

hope I can avoid buying a computer that can't be upgraded/fixed for a while.

You can also get OS X running through VMware. If you're cool with *cough* pirating stuff *cough*.

Was really hoping for another port, since I'm always connected to an external monitor. I'll probably get the Air (If they're ever updated) or the 2016 rMBP 13".

People still use their webcam on their laptops? I assumed that people would rather Skype using their mobile devices.

 

[Garrod]

You can also get OS X running through VMware. If you're cool with *cough* pirating stuff *cough*.

It's okay for basic OS X functionality but for most other things it's bloody rubbish, be it VMware Fusion or VMware Workstation.

 

[Godzirra]

Maybe there is no 'anti tamper substance' for the display screws, but a new adhesive that holds the clutch covers in place?
And if Apple were going to put 'anti tamper' stuff in screw heads, wouldn't they do it to all the screws inside the device?

 

[maflynn]

I've had my hackintosh running problem free for almost a year

I've gone the hackintosh route myself, but I grew tired of it. I ran into minor headaches here and there. While many people can run it problem free, I prefer running OS X on actual Apple hardware, if not just for the peace of mind.

And if Apple were going to put 'anti tamper' stuff in screw heads, wouldn't they do it to all the screws inside the device?

No need, once you can see someone opened the computer up, there's no need for further evidence.

 

[Godzirra]

No need, once you can see someone opened the computer up, there's no need for further evidence.

The display screws are covered, so you could open the machine and remove the logic board, USB C board, and audio board, and Apple wouldn't know, as these parts use normal screws. The same as the bottom case screws, just normal screws with no 'anti tamper' indicators anywhere. So they wouldn't be able to tell if the machine had been opened, unless the clutch covers and display screws had been removed, or someone had damaged any of the screw heads, etc.

Maybe if ifixit had shown a picture of the inside of the clutch cover, we'd have a definitive answer as to anything 'anti tamper' or just a replacement adhesive from the normal little sticky pads?

 

[b0fh666]

It's okay for basic OS X functionality but for most other things it's bloody rubbish, be it VMware Fusion or VMware Workstation.

problem is, for some odd reason vmware does not support graphics acceleration for OSX as a guest (and no 'piracy', since mavericks it is OK to run it in a VM only the older versions are restricted. le sigh).

I do run some osx VMs to test stuff but the performance is nowhere near windows VMs in the same host. sad state of affairs.

the hackbook on the other hand runs flawlessly after you patch the DSDT. was checking everymac the other day and found no broadwell MBPs, is that right? the HP is at least a year old by now and is broadwell. EL capitan is really polished, no kernel panics while yose-crap would panic often (on real MBPs!). wish they finally fix the bluetooth issues on .5 it's almost perfect.

 

[WinstonRumfoord]

I've had my hackintosh running problem free for almost a year. Runs circles around any macintosh I've come across. Huge bonus is the fact that I get to play a boatload of PC only games on it as well.

Money well spent

gahhhh you're killing me

I might have just found a new summer hobby project - build a "gaming/work hackintosh" to putz around on and learn on at home? Is the tonymacx86 still considered a solid resource for building?

the dollars of "creative professionals" aren't worth any more than those of "untalented amateurs" and the latter outnumbers you 100-1

Most obviously, but are you really going to tell me that Apple's "creative pro mystique" was not at least partially responsible for their resurgence and success? That if Windows became the "cool" kind of computer for the tech/dev/design/whatever other creative industry crowd to work on, it wouldn't negatively affect their phone sales?

 

[NT1440]

It's not that, it's that they're deliberately taking steps to compromise people that do have the tech knowledge to service parts of a Macbook.

What parts do you see as being serviceable? The entire logic board is basically a stick of gum.

 

[bladerunner2000]

gahhhh you're killing me

I might have just found a new summer hobby project - build a "gaming/work hackintosh" to putz around on and learn on at home? Is the tonymacx86 still considered a solid resource for building?

Yep, it's the site I used to pick all my parts along with a reliable installation guide to follow.
[doublepost=1461684402][/doublepost]

What parts do you see as being serviceable? The entire logic board is basically a stick of gum.

RAM for one doesnt have to be soldered. Batteries dont have to be glued and near impossible to replace. SSD drives shouldnt use a proprietary connector.

 

[oliversl]

Apple makes a pink computer now.

 

[NT1440]

Yep, it's the site I used to pick all my parts along with a reliable installation guide to follow.
[doublepost=1461684402][/doublepost]

RAM for one doesnt have to be soldered. Batteries dont have to be glued and near impossible to replace. SSD drives shouldnt use a proprietary connector.

In THIS PARTICULAR MACHINE (I'm not talking about the MBP) putting the RAM slots in would require a ton of space, same goes for the SSD. On this portability oriented machine you're talking about losing a ton of battery space to reconfigure for these expansion slots, the associated housing, and the interconnects to the logic board.

All of your criticisms are valid on the Macbook Pros, but on this particular machine you're talking about over 30% more volume being taken up by component mounts, let alone the components themselves.

 

[WinstonRumfoord]

In THIS PARTICULAR MACHINE (I'm not talking about the MBP) putting the RAM slots in would require a ton of space, same goes for the SSD. On this portability oriented machine you're talking about losing a ton of battery space to reconfigure for these expansion slots, the associated housing, and the interconnects to the logic board.

All of your criticisms are valid on the Macbook Pros, but on this particular machine you're talking about over 30% more volume being taken up by component mounts, let alone the components themselves.

Thats great, and your point would be valid if their non-portable computers were easy to service. Don't even try to act like they don't make them intentionally difficult to service. Off the top of my head, apple replaced the easy to remove magnets from the last gen imac screen cover with the ridiculous adhesive tape. The machine is NOT designed to move at all, so there goes the "portability-oriented" excuse, leaving apologists twisting in the wind.

Give me ONE good reason for that other than making it even more difficult to service than it already was.

 

[b0fh666]

gahhhh you're killing me

I might have just found a new summer hobby project - build a "gaming/work hackintosh" to putz around on and learn on at home? Is the tonymacx86 still considered a solid resource for building?


Most obviously, but are you really going to tell me that Apple's "creative pro mystique" was not at least partially responsible for their resurgence and success? That if Windows became the "cool" kind of computer for the tech/dev/design/whatever other creative industry crowd to work on, it wouldn't negatively affect their phone sales?

tonymacx86 is OK, I followed the guides there and got everything working on that laptop except audio (which could work, but I did not bother with yet).

it is of course a bit quirky, like sometimes waking from sleep for no reason but pretty solid for a notebook hack. not a single kernel panic in months.

seriously considering building a decent desktop hack some day as it would be a breeze compared to a notebook.

cheers

 

[NT1440]

Thats great, and your point would be valid if their non-portable computers were easy to service. Don't even try to act like they don't make them intentionally difficult to service. Off the top of my head, apple replaced the easy to remove magnets from the last gen imac screen cover with the ridiculous adhesive tape. The machine is NOT designed to move at all, so there goes the "portability-oriented" excuse, leaving apologists twisting in the wind.

Give me ONE good reason for that other than making it even more difficult to service than it already was.

Funny, I had no problem replacing 40 hard drives on the slimline iMacs....

 

[WinstonRumfoord]

Funny, I had no problem replacing 40 hard drives on the slimline iMacs....

Neither did I, nor did it stop me from swapping the optical drives for SSDs before they did away with them.

I bet they could make it even more difficult and we could still do it. So what?

 

[lhammer610]

"Apple's approach has been to cripple the hardware so that in 3-5 years, that laptop will feel slow so you want to upgrade. Almost all the refreshes we've seen have been to reduce performance and costs to Apple, while we've seen increases to the price."

I maybe an outlier, but I have a 8 year old iMac 3.06 GHz Core 2 Duo that is running OK. I still run 10.6 due to legacy programs, but also run 10.11. 10.11 seems to be speedier than any of the more recent Mac OS.

That said, I still long for a 'prosumer' Mac desktop that I can open up and upgrade. If they made one I would purchase it immediately.

 

[LordVic]

"Apple's approach has been to cripple the hardware so that in 3-5 years, that laptop will feel slow so you want to upgrade. Almost all the refreshes we've seen have been to reduce performance and costs to Apple, while we've seen increases to the price."

I maybe an outlier, but I have a 8 year old iMac 3.06 GHz Core 2 Duo that is running OK. I still run 10.6 due to legacy programs, but also run 10.11. 10.11 seems to be speedier than any of the more recent Mac OS.

That said, I still long for a 'prosumer' Mac desktop that I can open up and upgrade. If they made one I would purchase it immediately.

The old hardware used to be very strong and robust. the "thicker" iMac's were all getting desktop parts cause cooling wasn't crippled. The Mac Mini had a quad core part that with an SSD upgrade is still perfectly capable today. And those Cheese grater Mac Pro's could last a decade with a few small upgrades (RAM / SSD)

This is counter productive to Apple's business model of commoditizing computer parts. Apples business model in almost all categories is built around constant turnover. They want you to replace your devices every couple years.

in the last 2 years. We have seen every single PC of theirs receive some form of performance decrease. If not performance, some other feature that will be obsoleted in 2-3 years, with hope that you replace your entire unit, all at once.

The Mac Pro because a proprietary box, using almost entirely proprietary components. the ONLY thing that can reasonably be upgraded is RAM. the CPUs are already 2 years old. The GPU's are outdated and haven't received any updates and are crippled for most everyday use.

the iMac's for the most part had their Desktop CPU's cut out and replaced with Low Voltage or ULV parts. the 23" iMac's for example use the same CPU's as the MacBook Air lineup. and the 27" iMac's, despite promise of power, suffer from thermal throttling due to "thin" obsession.

the MacBook pro's and MacBook air's are their BEST computer products. bar none. But the MacBook Air has been neglected for well over a year without any updates to their parts. They're still rockign Haswell. They're still rocking one of the worst ultrabook screens in the entire market.

the retina Macbook... well, I'll leave that alone for now. there's enough current threads arguing why it's a crippled product.

At the end of the day, the last year for Apple PC's has seen everyone get LESS but still expected to pay the high premium price Apple wants. Is it any surprise that modern Apple PC's in the last year

You're not an outlier. You're actually very common. Troll a lot of forums and one thing you'll hear a lot of Apple users say is how they're sticking with their older, upgradable, and higher performing parts.

 

[MacOSExustio]

I think there needs to be some government regulations against this.

[doublepost=1477873826][/doublepost]> I think there needs to be some government regulations against this.

<g> Get in touch will Hilary Clinton..</g> But seriously, that would be regulation NIGHTMARE!

 

[MacOSExustio]

In THIS PARTICULAR MACHINE (I'm not talking about the MBP) putting the RAM slots in would require a ton of space, same goes for the SSD. On this portability oriented machine you're talking about losing a ton of battery space to reconfigure for these expansion slots, the associated housing, and the interconnects to the logic board.

All of your criticisms are valid on the Macbook Pros, but on this particular machine you're talking about over 30% more volume being taken up by component mounts, let alone the components themselves.