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Teardown of 13-inch MacBook Pro With Touch Bar Reveals 'Cosmetic' Speaker Grilles [Updated]

It's on the product page so this shouldn't be a surprise. It's more pointless aesthetics over function just to be consistent, but they did it with the iPhone too.

Apple is not alone in this, but Apple apparently prides itself on design and this is just more evidence of being lazy.
 
bjet767 said:
Well I've looked over the ifixit photos and the grills really have only a small part exposed to the lower part of the case. Most of the grill's space appear to be covered by the keyboard edge mounts and the USB C ports.

Actually the holes, except for this small part, go no where.

dwcGTXRBHLXjNG4W.huge


So why put them there?

  1. Looks?
  2. Continuity with the 15" (I can't find the teardown)
  3. a little extra passive cooling, maybe for the USB controllers?

atKrXWc6HyHPEA1R.huge

You all can decide.

Personally I'm thinking #1, Style and looks just like the rear spoiler on many of our cars
(and that old MB glowing Apple Logo on the case top)
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I assume they continue them to the top because two small grilles at the bottom of the keyboard would look ridiculous and it balances it out to have them the height of the keyboard (it's similar to why we continue to have large top bezels on iDevices so it balances the bottom bezel that has the home button in it).

I guess they could have put the tweeters at the top but maybe there wasn't room for them?
 
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JGRE said:
Very strange, to my opinion the speaker grills do not make the MBP look any better or slicker.
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Indeed I feel that they make it look significantly worse; the lack of them was what always made the 13" look much nicer than the 15", and to have them and not actually need them seems completely crazy. Quite aside from all of the madness inside with soldered parts. That function key machine looks pretty good at this point ... except for the grilles.
 
strategicthinke said:
It seems completely different to me given that people DO take their computers and their phones with them on the go. Also, the battery life of MacBooks are nowhere close to the battery life a simple device like the Magic Mouse.
Lastly, I'm not saying Apple's decision is right. But I find it amusing how people don't get that decision on the mouse. It's not bad design, it might be a horrible decision to dictate how you should use your mouse (wired or wireless), but the design DOES follow their objectives in this case.
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I was sarcastic...

But I think the point is that apple has educated us through years to an incredible care even on small details... And lately they seem getting sloppy ... So is it a big deal? Of course not... But it's a scary symptom that a sense of care, that insane quest for perfection (that I love) is lost.
 
bobob said:
Acoustical engineering is surprisingly complex in this sort of device. With the reviews of how much better the sound is in the new MBP's, I won't be the least bit surprised if the teardown jockey's at ifixit are wrong and that the speaker grills are integral to the acoustical design.
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which is what I was alluding to in my sarcastic post that they're similar to the iMac grill design to flow the audio threw even though the speaker placement is not logically beneath or facing it
 
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Incidentally prior year models had fake sections of the grill as well. Check out iFixit photos if you don't believe me.
 
vertical smile said:
I would have never guessed that Apple would put fake speaker grills on a Mac. What the hell is going on at Apple these days.
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BvizioN said:
I am quoting you on this, but also apply to almost every one who is crying above and below you.
So, the speaker grill is fake? Ok, where does the sound comes from? And more importantly, doesn't the sound - sounds great? Yes, so we hear. So we have a good audio speakers but the speaker grills are fake? Big freaking issue. I can't believe things people find to moan about. Bunch of whiners!!
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Instead of labeling people a bunch of whiners, and asking where the sound comes from, how about you read the article?
MacRumors said:
Instead, sound is thought to be projected from air vents on the sides of the case - a design feature not seen on the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with function keys.
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Hyloba said:
No way anyone would ever design air intake from above, where dust settles. air intake is probably from the large side slits, and likely only the top part of the slits, as the bottom part seems to be where the majority of sound comes from.
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Doesn't have to be an intake. Could be heat dissipation.
 
I guess it could be useful for sucking in some fresh air to keep the thing cool.
Or maybe, since speakers just push air around, they could actually contribute to better sound.

But than again, a headline like that wouldn't get so many clicks..
 
I dont have any issue with the grills being fake. But that just makes me wonder why they are there. Its an additional step in the manufacturing process, which has to add to cost a little. Also, over time, does dust not accumulate in those holes? I dont know since I have 2015 13 inch rMBP.
 
THEY ARE NOT FAKE. THEY OUTPUT THE TWEETERS. READ THE ARTICLE PEOPLE AND LOOK AT THE PICTURES.

Its like talking to stubborn children
 
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vertical smile said:
Instead of labeling people a bunch of whiners, and asking where the sound comes from, how about you read the article?
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It was a rhetorical question in case you didn't get it. I know where the sound does come from. What it matters to me is what gets delivered and not how. I kind of dislike nitpickers.
 
I have done coding on punch cards, which tells you how old I am. Thus, I have a long-term perspective on computing. The whole point of personal computers – the paradigm shift that Apple rode into profit – is that they put the user in control. Apple wants a powerful user experience in software, so why haven't they done the same in hardware? Quite apart from anything, a non-serviceable, non-upgradable laptop is a ticking ecological time bomb. OK so Apple use recyclable parts, but it still takes considerable energy to recycle them.

I, for one, am not paying a high price for a disposable laptop, which is what the MacBook Pro currently is.
 
Ataricade said:
THEY ARE NOT FAKE. THEY OUTPUT THE TWEETERS. READ THE ARTICLE PEOPLE AND LOOK AT THE PICTURES.

Its like talking to stubborn children
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Agreed. Does anyone have a 13" that they could tape up the grilles and do a test to hear the difference?
 
Jyby said:
Steve would have never supported this. AFAIK Steve never liked design without purpose in his products. Nothing in Steve's products was "Hey I'm this (But really I'm not)" I think these fake cosmetic vents (iPhone 7 and MacBook Pro) are coming from Johny Ives freedom from Steve Jobs.
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I'm not entirely sure I agree with that. I guess it was a different time in his life, and he still had some maturing to do, but the NeXT cube being made out of magnesium significantly increased the cost of the development and production of that product for arguably no real gains over more traditional materials. And it had the added negative that it was reasonably easy to set on fire - magnesium burns rather well.
 
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You can channel audio towards teh presumably fake grills, that is, the audio could be tweaked to make the best of their placement, shaping the sound to sound natural after being transferred through reflection to the grills.

With reserving judgement, the ends might justify the weird means. We could see and engineering feat here guys, after all, most of us aren't audio engineers with degrees in acoustics
 
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