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

[bjet767]

Larry-k

You paid rip-off prices and then replaced the rip-off components with better ones and just through them in a drawer?

I understand wanting top performance, but I really don't get your logic here or why that strategy is better then Than mine. But Apple got both yours and my money in the process. I'm happy with my decisions and you seem to be with yours.

It's the USA.

 

[spscott]

I just opened my MBP 13" ... I am a total Apple fanboy etc but the Touch Bar is impressively stupid. Everything is hidden now... I wish you could just set it to always display the normal controls like pause play etc... I need two clicks whenever I want to advance a song? Ugh. This needs work. It also is susceptible to a terrible glare so I can't really see any of the buttons. Sigh.

 

[Wildkraut]

"iFixit also notes that fixing a faulty power switch likely involves replacing the entire logic board, because the button doubles up as a sapphire-topped Touch ID sensor which pairs with the Apple's soldered down T1 chip"

Most expensive power switch in history of computing

Fixing a faulty capacitor likely involves replacing the entire logic board.
Most expensive capacitor in history of computing

Fixing a faulty bios likely involves replacing the entire logic board.
Most expensive bios in history of computing

Fixing a faulty resistor likely involves replacing the entire logic board.
Most expensive resistor in history of computing

Fixing a faulty controller chip likely involves replacing the entire logic board.
Most expensive controller chip in history of computing

Fixing a faulty sound processor likely involves replacing the entire logic board.
Most expensive sound processor in history of computing

Fixing a faulty *insert your fav. component/chip here* likely involves replacing the entire logic board.
Most expensive *insert your fav. component/chip here* in history of computing

Nothing makes a TouchID sensor or SSD memory chips more valuable for replacement than any other tiny soldered chip or component.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Fixing a faulty capacitor likely involves replacing the entire logic board.
Most expensive capacitor in history of computing

Fixing a faulty bios likely involves replacing the entire logic board.
Most expensive bios in history of computing

Fixing a faulty resistor likely involves replacing the entire logic board.
Most expensive resistor in history of computing

Fixing a faulty controller chip likely involves replacing the entire logic board.
Most expensive controller chip in history of computing

Fixing a faulty sound processor likely involves replacing the entire logic board.
Most expensive sound processor in history of computing

Fixing a faulty *insert your fav. component/chip here* likely involves replacing the entire logic board.
Most expensive *insert your fav. component/chip here* in history of computing

I would expect parts of the logic board to involve replacing the logic board.
I don't expect a power switch to involve replacing the logic board.

 

[BlargKing]

I'm expecting the next revision of MacBook "Pro" to just be filled solid with resin on the inside, or at the very least all the PCBs having a resin coating.

"Oh your MacBook broke? Better toss it in the trash and buy a whole new unit"

 

[JCoe13]

Does it help circulate air with everything so close together and little room for air?

 

[Wildkraut]

I would expect parts of the logic board to involve replacing the logic board.
I don't expect a power switch to involve replacing the logic board.

Just a matter of how far somebody goes asking for replaceable stuff.

I could just go ahead and ask for replaceable/plugable capacitors.
E.g. capacitors are often responsible for the most non working electronic out there.
You could probably fix 30% of the broken eletronics by just replacing some 0.001cent capacitors. Instead people trash their stuff and buy new ones. Do people demand plugable capacitors, no.

Storage chips and other components are just turning into some of many non replaceable chips.
Thats part of the evolution. Capacitors were once replaceable, too.

Same with cars...
Once you just needed a screw driver and a hammer to fix a car like the vw beetle.
Today you can't even turn your faulty door alarm off anymore, without paying few hundreds for somebody to just plug a diagnostic computer and turn it virtually off.
Let your new shiny electrical car keys get wet and pow, you need to virtually let them reprogramm the car locking system, cost between 400-1500+ depending of the car.

 

[anthorumor]

Form over function yet again.
Ives has clearly lost it. Time for an overhaul at AppleHQ.

 

[greatness]

Super quick job but here you go

Looks much cleaner without the fake holes!

 

[JetLaw]

So in the same breathe that Apple says they are being courageous for removing things that are subjectively unnecessary (but serve a purpose) they go out of their way to add something that is objectively unnecessary and serves no purpose whatsoever. Wow. Just wow.

 

[Phil A.]

Looks much cleaner without the fake holes!

So in the same breathe that Apple says they are being courageous for removing things that are subjectively unnecessary (but serve a purpose) they go out of their way to add something that is objectively unnecessary and serves no purpose whatsoever. Wow. Just wow.

Of course, if you read the thread, there are many posts pointing out the grilles aren't fake and do serve a purpose, but where's the fun in that?

 

[gnasher729]

Incorrect. Ifixit updated the teardown to note that the grilles do go through the case near the fn and right arrow keys where the tweeters are located. So there are, in fact, speakers under the grilles. Macrumors needs to update the main story.

While you are right, it doesn't really matter. There are so many people here who behave as if the sky is falling down, whatever Apple does. 450 posts, probably 400 whiners, because of some false reporting.

 

[imageWIS]

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

He's not really there, he's behind the fake curtain.
[doublepost=1479337281][/doublepost]"iFixit also notes that fixing a faulty power switch likely involves replacing the entire logic board, because the button doubles up as a sapphire-topped Touch ID sensor which pairs with the Apple's soldered down T1 chip."

No, seriously though: W T F ?!?

 

[indiekiduk]

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and Touch ID

( Maybe they made the photo too early during the teardown. )​

exactly, the speaker is probably still attached
[doublepost=1479337668][/doublepost]If I wanted to read fake news stories I'd go on google and facebook, fix this story now!!

 

[Spectrum]

Thanks for the heads up.

I'm sorely tempted to get one, I don't have an immediate need, but you never know what's around the corner.

I do have a friend who balked at the new model, and she does have an immediate need.

The old 13 inch retina is also still available!
Scroll to the bottom of the 13 inch page and it is listed: £1249 in UK (£200 cheaper than the base 2016 model).

 

[jtrauscht]

They're only fake speaker holes unless they're actual heat exhaust holes. Just saying.

 

[AndyJapan]

$2000

Exactly. The old MacBook Pro is still available, but also still expensive. Especially considering that it's a Broadwell or Haswell CPU.
Apple products have always been expensive, but paid off over time due to build quality, durability and value (in case one would sell it). However, with the new MacBook Pro one has to make too many trade-offs (keyboard, lack of ports, upgradeability) so that it doesn't seem good value for money anymore.
I really wanted to convert to MacOS by retiring my Windows notebook and buying a MacBook Pro, but scrapped this plan after I have seen the new MacBook Pro. While I am not a big fan of Windows, I will most probably stick with it as I don't think that Apple will reverse its decision (in 2017) to build slimmer notebooks which are in fact de-featured.

 

[smoking monkey]

Very strange, to my opinion the speaker grills do not make the MBP look any better or slicker.

Yeah, but it costs money to make two different bodies for the same size machine. One needs them, one doesn't. Although I'd say it might help with allowing heat out of the machine, so they aren't entirely useless.

 

[Gudi]

Fixing a faulty *insert your fav. component/chip here* likely involves replacing the entire logic board.
Most expensive *insert your fav. component/chip here* in history of computing

Nothing makes a TouchID sensor or SSD memory chips more valuable for replacement than any other tiny soldered chip or component.

Except not all chips have the same risk of failure and the same resale value.

• Apple Solid State Drives für Computer

 

[A MacBook lover]

I know. Ridiculous considering it's not even a recent model. But you can get one.
[doublepost=1479329825][/doublepost]

Glad to see you understand the meaning of “friend-o”, friend-o.

Oh what's that? Didn't see that there is actually a tweeter under the speaker grills? Looks like someones got a good grasp on those straws.

 

[Larry-K]

The old 13 inch retina is also still available!
Scroll to the bottom of the 13 inch page and it is listed: £1249 in UK (£200 cheaper than the base 2016 model).

Thanks, might be even better for my friend, she's broke.

 

[iMacC2D]

Removed.

 

[duluca]

sigh... I got my 13" mbp w/ touch bar yesterday and I can confirm that if you cover the speaker grills with your finger and the sound is crap, and otherwise room filling and pretty awesome. Soooooooo - the grills definitely seem to have a very important function.

 

[apolloa]

Video is up

 

[parajba]

And what if they have been created like that to make it work like an acoustic chamber? I am no sound engineer or expert but maybe there is a genuine reason for not having the grill in front of the speaker? To increase the low frequencies? Who knows. I am very critical of these news MBPs, in particular the UK price, but this one...I think it's an OTT comment.