New MacBook Pros Have Battery Pull Tabs for Easier Do-it-Yourself Battery Replacements, Says iFixit

[Unregistered 4U]

Has this ever been the case, assuming using Apple parts?

I think Apple doesn’t officially offer parts to anyone but their authorized repair people. So, the part you’re getting is either “acquired via ‘other’ means” or just labeled Apple Certified without actually being certified. There have been other parts where, once swapped, the OS will inform you that it’s not an Apple Certified part. Which, if it’s your own, well, duh, you don’t care you knew it when it was put in.

For folks that want to swap in questionable parts and still sell an Apple device as simply “used” without telling the buyer, they don’t like it for obvious reasons.

 

[Manzanito]

According to Dante's Inferno, the lowest level of Hell has always been frozen.

Dream the impossible dream.

I'm hoping for user upgradable RAM, but replaceable storage is good too.

Man, the more I read about the new MBP, the more I want one. So far, the only knock against it is the notch.

A 5lbs laptop computer is featherweight to me. I like thicc.? As Sir Isaac Newton would say, "More mass equals more attraction."?

RAM is unlikely, I’m afraid, due to apple’s SoC design.

 

[Mick-Mac]

I wouldn't go giving Apple too many kudos for doing this. We can probably indirectly thank Europe for pushing harder to not fill up landfills as fast and for stronger right to repair laws. Apple is just walking the road it's being forced onto.

 

[SSDGUY]

In other news, flying pigs are reporting that hell just froze.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Hell really has frozen over. Does this mean the next Mac Pro will be uber modular like the old cheesegraters??

If the new Mac Pro does indeed have the rumoured 4x M1 Max chips in them, then it will have maximum built in RAM of 256GB, whilst the current Mac Pro has up to 1.5TB. So one can assume, that as well as the built in RAM, there will also be plug in RAM up to at least 1.5TB. I doubt there will be plug in GPUs, considering it will also have up to 128 Cores of GPU already, and this explains the mid size Mac Pro rumours, no need for that extra space. But plug in other cards might be in the design. And there will, of course, be USB-A ports

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

What’s next? User replaceable storage? I like this trend.

Yeeeesh, plug in RAM and SSD to upgrade your built in stuff. Bring it. But doubt it.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Where are you going to get the replacement batteries? Not from Apple.

Why not?

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

In the US, other countries are not so lucky. Last year I was quoted $600 by an Apple Authorized Service Provider to replace the swelling battery of a 2013 MacBook Pro. Ended up getting an iFixit kit and paid around $100, but using solvent to replace a battery shouldn't even be considered and it definitely wasn't a fun experience

Was it really hard? Or just chemical mess?

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Have they disabled DIY replacements in software though? ? a big non genuine battery warning in settings or something if attempted.

There will surely be a Terminal command to get rid of this. Someone will find it and it will leak.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Apparently Apple repair techs weren’t fans of glued batteries either.

That's a good point. There's been a lot of Apple employee activism lately. Maybe enough of them spoke up and complained about the landfill waste while wanting to work for a company that was actually environmentally friendly, rather than just claiming to be.

 

[mikethemartian]

eh, I rather pay apple to do it. Ive had odd experiences with 3rd party batteries for apple products. At least Apple batteries last a good 3 years of everyday use before they hit 75% or so.

In the old early 2008 MBP it had a user serviceable battery that took a minute to swap out and you could buy an official Apple replacement in a retail box.

 

[Aaron S]

That's a good point. There's been a lot of Apple employee activism lately. Maybe enough of them spoke up and complained about the landfill waste while wanting to work for a company that was actually environmentally friendly, rather than just claiming to be.

As I mentioned though, Apple techs cannot replace just the battery. Apple does not offer the battery without the accompanying top case to techs or for any repairs.

 

[turbineseaplane]

If only we could NVMe slots..

sigh

 

[Ebarella]

Was it really hard? Or just chemical mess?

I think with a first time experience it would get easier in subsequent times, but yeah, I wasn't expecting it to be that hard

You do end up with a chemical mess, and are handling somewhat roughly a potentially dangerous component. The biggest issue is that controlling the influx of the solvent is pretty hard, and none of the tips I read before doing it worked for me. I had some drops fall into the motherboard/speakers, I expected it to not work after I finished. You need to free 4 cells, until I was freeing the last one I found a method where I could control the solvent

 

[dannys1]

Good! As it should. I remember back in 2013, Apple had to replace the faulty battery of my 2012 retina MBP which means replacing the whole case and keyboard. Just to replace the battery! I almost could not believe it. Environmental my A

To be fair those parts will have then gone back to the factory to be mechanically separate and either reused or fully recycled - it's not like they just took the battery out and threw it away. This just means that there's more modularity to repairs on a shop floor level.

 

[dannys1]

If only we could NVMe slots..

sigh

Nah, another failure point - a lack of quality control (people would be wacking cheap ones in there, slow ones, etc) and the only reason you want it is to save money on upgrade fees. I'm glad Apple doesn't allow it.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

RAM is unlikely, I’m afraid, due to apple’s SoC design.

If I really STRETCH the imagination, the ONLY way I see extendable RAM happening is if it goes into a proprietary connector that allows the same full speed connections the on chip fabric allows. BUT, there’s really no way anything external can offer the same speed as on-chip. Perhaps it’d just be proprietary RAM that’s slower than on-chip but faster than storage… Magic Cache LOL

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I wouldn't go giving Apple too many kudos for doing this. We can probably indirectly thank Europe for pushing harder to not fill up landfills as fast and for stronger right to repair laws. Apple is just walking the road it's being forced onto.

Maybe enough of them spoke up and complained about the landfill waste while wanting to work for a company that was actually environmentally friendly, rather than just claiming to be.

The folks throwing Macs and the old parts they replace in those computers in the trash to go to landfills isn’t really going to change. This just give those folks MORE parts to improperly throw into landfills. So, yay?

At least the folks getting the work done in approved repair centers can know that THOSE parts are being sent back to Apple for recycling.

 

[MacBH928]

Ok, but where will you get the batteries from?

that being said, the current batteries tend to live a long time I am guessing 5 years minimum unless you kill your mbp of use. At that point you might as well upgrade your mbp otherwise I am not sure if they still make batteries for it 5 years later?! Will be in the vintage or whatever category

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

Yes cause we all want less screen.

I'd take it over the abomination of a notch. Even when Apple eventually fix how it behaves with software I'd still rather a clean line across the top.

 

[Zdigital2015]

According to Dante's Inferno, the lowest level of Hell has always been frozen.

Dream the impossible dream.

I'm hoping for user upgradable RAM, but replaceable storage is good too.

Man, the more I read about the new MBP, the more I want one. So far, the only knock against it is the notch.

A 5lbs laptop computer is featherweight to me. I like thicc.? As Sir Isaac Newton would say, "More mass equals more attraction."?

Replaceable DRAM hasn’t been a thing since 2012 and the M-Series SoC is not meant for that. Removable storage hasn’t been a thing since 2016, so, again, not likely to ever happen as it’s tied too tightly to the Apple SoC.

 

[Manzanito]

Nah, another failure point - a lack of quality control (people would be wacking cheap ones in there, slow ones, etc) and the only reason you want it is to save money on upgrade fees. I'm glad Apple doesn't allow it.

Is it that different to connecting an external drive? The only difference I see is that users can get faster drives if they wish, that can never be a bad thing. If apple charged sensible prices for storage it could be a different story, but it isn’t.

 

[Yr Blues]

Is the memory (RAM and HD) user upgradable?

 

[Zdigital2015]

Is the memory (RAM and HD) user upgradable?

No…SSD has not since 2016, DRAM since 2012.

 

[dandeco]

This is especially good! We tried replacing a battery in a 15" Retina MacBook Pro at my workplace, and the disassembly and removal process is so TEDIOUS. LOTS of screws and disassembly involved. Gotta take out the fans and the logic board... And we accidentally ordered a battery that won't fit in the case, too. Ugh!
It's a lot easier to remove/replace batteries in the pre-Retina unibody MacBook Pros and the 2nd-generation MacBook Airs (when servicing on them I've removed swollen batteries from quite a few MacBooks.)