Teardowns Confirm 13-Inch and 15-Inch Touch Bar MacBook Pros Have Non-Removable SSDs

[Dirtfarmer]

Outrage! Indignance!! Surprise!!!

Oh no wait that's not right.

The real surprise would be if it *was* user-serviceable.

This is Apple, after all.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Don't bother mate, this guy is a complete joke.
He not only edited his comment to steer clear of your response..

But he had literally copied his own comment from here -

"By soldering the storage to the board, if anything else goes wrong on the logic board you also lose all your data. You can't simply remove the SSD and recover the data anymore."
http://www.pcmag.com/news/349613/15-inch-macbook-pro-uses-a-non-removable-ssd

Wow. What a troll. Thanks.

 

[Gudi]

We're talking about a PRO machine here - as in for professional use.

The distinction between consumer and professional never made much sense. In many aspects the ultraportable MacBook Air has always been a secondary computer for traveling salesman. At times it was even more expensive and a lot less capable than the MacBook Pro, vastly limiting its usefulness for consumers who can only afford one computer. Before being named MacBook Pro these kind of computers were called PowerBooks, which describes them better. A MacBook Pro is not defined by its professional use, but by its bigger compute power and faster I/O compared to slower machines. Following this logic the SSD in a MBP has to be fast not big. Big & Cheap SSDs are for consumers who want to store their whole movie library on their laptop.

 

[definitive]

Less user-replaceable parts = higher chance of forcing people to buy AppleCare = more money for Apple.

 

[scott911]

Can someone please explain to me (without going on a tear about profits and greed) what the advantages of doing this are, from a design standpoint?

It seems like the end-user is only (and understandably) upset about this.

I, for one, will not purchase another Mac laptop now or in the future, and it's because of things like this. I'm just trying to understand the reasoning behind their decision- the benefits, even. Anything.

Good question.

Non-removable batteries allowed the cases of iphones to be thinner, gluing in battery seemed to allow the battery to become part of structure - stiffening the unit, protecting the screen for flex. OK- That makes sense.

I believe the smallest laptops started the soldered in crazy - and I bought into it thinking, "Ok that does seems to make them be able to make is smaller - important for those ultra portables.:

But the Pros? Absolutely no excuse in my opinion. They have the room in the pro form factor to allow for up-gradable slots for both memory and storage. And on a product of this price point, I seriously can not believe that saving the couple bucks (cents?) was a driving factor.

I seriously think Apple just doesn't care.

yup - screw 'em all.

 

[justperry]

Snip...The only problem with third party SSD's is lack of TRIM support. …

Just for your information, this isn't true anymore, I can't recall when it changed but it's probably minimum a year ago you had to enable it by yourself, it's automatically on now.

 

[MH01]

You know what one of the most common problems for a huge host of issues with laptops was before soldered RAM and SSDs? Poorly seated connections. By soldering these things in, Apple has saved themselves millions on repair time and costs.

SSD quality is great these days. Failure rates are low. Replacing a couple logic boards is a fine tradeoff for the huge payoff of killing all the support issues due to having to reseat RAM or hard drives.

I'd suggest iPad Pro. Almost no moving parts, everything soldered. A MacBook pro is a disaster waiting to unfold with all those keys, hingers ....

Apple has locked in future sales.

I've never had an issue with poor connections . Never . Ive had ram die plenty of times, and I've replaced many units . This time round a £100 part now becomes a £3000 fix.... apple care is only 3 years.... I still have a 2005 PowerBook that has been through 2 memory replacements . Using apples path , that laptop would have been a useless brick in 2007. All these new machines do is force the user to get AppleCare cause after dropping lots of £ they are scared that something will go wrong.

 

[tshrimp]

Less user-replaceable parts = higher chance of forcing people to buy AppleCare = more money for Apple.

In my case it will end up being less money for Apple, as it will drive me into the hands of a Windows based laptop. I just barfed a little, but I will get over it

 

[MaxBookPrice]

RIP Apple

 

[melendezest]

So Apple knows people dropping that kind of cash will buy Apple Care. Apple will fix it and When it expires Apple believes you should just buy a new laptop anyway as it is now "old."

Exactly.

If anything, NO ONE should buy these used. EVER. Unless they're from the Apple Refurb Store, and even then I'd think twice, because I just wouldn't know how much wear that SSD will have undergone and whether or not Apple replaced the LB. I'd doubt it, given the lengths they've gone to to save a buck.
[doublepost=1479497653][/doublepost]

What about the Macbook Pro 15" with no touch bar?

There is no such machine other than the previous gen.

 

[tshrimp]

RIP Apple

I never thought I would thumbs up a comment such as this, but I am tired of being taken advantage of.

 

[robeddie]

Of course they are, and people love it on here.

The cable there which appears to allow access to the SSD is logic board dies won't be mentioned once though.

Don't worry. In time, those of us who fell in love with Apple 4 to 10 years ago for their systems that were both elegant and upgradeable will fade away, having giving up ... and then you can enjoy the echo chamber with all your fellow apple apologists who rationalize everything Apple does ... without having to be bothered by anyone who dares think critically about it.

 

[FuNGi]

Imagine the cost of replacing a top of the line motherboard....

Imagination is just that. Until we know what the flat rate repair rate is ($310?) for any failed LB component (it won't be the SSD FYI) then everyone here is getting their panties in a bunch over nothing.

 

[robeddie]

Outrage! Indignance!! Surprise!!!

Oh no wait that's not right.

The real surprise would be if it *was* user-serviceable.

This is Apple, after all.

You obviously have a very short memory. The 2009 to 2012 macbook pros, in particular, upgrading/replacing the ram, batteries and the hard drives was incredibly easy.

Through 2015, though the ram was soldered, upgrading the SSD was still incredibly easy.
[doublepost=1479499392][/doublepost]

Imagination is just that. Until we know what the flat rate repair rate is ($310?) for any failed LB component (it won't be the SSD FYI) then everyone here is getting their panties in a bunch over nothing.

Right. Instead it will be the battery that is glued to the case. Already I have replaced batteries on at least 10 of the 2010 - 2012 apple laptops at my friends office, and all those machines are running great now. Cost of the batteries: About $60

So that's around $600 for 10 laptops compared to $3100 - assuming apple decided those laptops were in 'suitable' condition to qualify for the flat rate repair in the first place (hint, some have dents so they would be disqualified).

 

[extrachrispy]

I definitely believe Apple is trying to make things as simple as possible for customer service repairs. It's easier to trouble-shoot a product if everything is in the original state. I'm not sure if Apple is carrying this too far but I do see an advantage to Apple. However, even if they swap the logic board for free, they still have my data information on it and I don't know where it's going to end up. If I'm able to wipe the "drive" before I turn it in for repairs, all well and good, but if it suddenly dies, I can't to anything to protect my secured data. Some non-bonded service person can do anything with that data. That's very frustrating. Maybe with the Touch ID (and secure enclave) system on the MacBook Pro everything stays secure, so that would help me sleep better at night.

On any portable device, I keep my data encrypted, and so should you. The answer to your problem is FileVault.

 

[ValSalva]

Just for your information, this isn't true anymore, I can't recall when it changed but it's probably minimum a year ago you had to enable it by yourself, it's automatically on now.

Thanks, didn't know that. Not that it matters for the 2016 tMBP's unfortunately

 

[InfiniteLooper]

Apple, where the only thing "Pro" is the price.

 

[admob71]

FFS we already knew this. Are you deliberately trying to start flamewars with these inflammatory threads that breathe new air into Apple haters?

Did you just drop an F bomb old friend? Wow, just have a minute, let it pass..

 

[AZ63]

The distinction between consumer and professional never made much sense. In many aspects the ultraportable MacBook Air has always been a secondary computer for traveling salesman. At times it was even more expensive and a lot less capable than the MacBook Pro, vastly limiting its usefulness for consumers who can only afford one computer. Before being named MacBook Pro these kind of computers were called PowerBooks, which describes them better. A MacBook Pro is not defined by its professional use, but by its bigger compute power and faster I/O compared to slower machines. Following this logic the SSD in a MBP has to be fast not big. Big & Cheap SSDs are for consumers who want to store their whole movie library on their laptop.

While I agree with much of what you opine, you set up a definition which suits your argument. It could be argued, quite easily, that an aspect of what makes a machine a "pro" version is its built in versatility. Sure the new pro laptop has the fastest I/Os and in the future, use cases will adjust, but it has lost that versatility that it once had in today's use cases.

 

[rgarjr]

What I'm wondering is why solder the SSD into the board? iPhones/iPads I can understand, but on a computer? One with a removable slot would not take a huge space for it not to fit. Same goes for the RAM, does having removable slots not make it fit inside it? WTF

Of course Schiller didn't mention any of this on the keynote.

 

[tech4all]

FFS we already knew this. Are you deliberately trying to start flamewars with these inflammatory threads that breathe new air into Apple haters?

You call it hating, I call it stating dissatisfaction with a product and with the company who makes it.

 

[Wild-Bill]

Soldered memory & SSD, lack of ports, GPU glitching issues, three-finger drag issues, gimmicky touchbar and..... oh yeah, insanely overpriced.

Yup, sounds like they've got a real hit on their hands.

Perhaps the misguided souls at Apple should put more focus into their hardware and spend less time on photo books (what a joke) and redesigning peach emoticons...

 

[PizzaBoxStyle]

The MacBook Pro is now essentially an appliance, which was always Steve Jobs's dream for computers.

The one thing I do wonder about the Mac turning into an appliance and that line of thinking is... how many of us have any sort of affinity towards any other appliances in our lives? How attached the brand of your dishwasher or range or microwave, or driven to purchase any of those items are any of us?

I'd think that most people don't care about appliances, except for when they break and we have to buy replacements. If you're a CE company like Apple, do you want customers to have such impartiality and lack of deference towards your products?

Additionally, IMO computers as appliances seems like an idea straight out of the 1950's. But whatever. Hope Apple has fun chasing delusional and busted ideologies about computing right off the cliff.

 

[macs4nw]

I think this is the straw. I think I am now done with Apple laptops .
Force you to buy Apple branded hard drives or your trim disables - Yes I can get around this but I shouldn't have to.
Every update causes some kind of issue. Sierra - Battery Life and heat - Depends on year of Mac. Now this.

And yet despite those drawbacks, Apple laptops still outperform most other similarly equipped laptops, and last longer than almost any other brand of laptop. Apple's build quality is above the industry average, and their warranties are second to none.

They definitely don't like you upgrading with third-party components, and do their best to deter you from doing so.
The price we pay for impeccable design and ultimate optimizations?

 

[AZ63]

I have no problem with this design choice as long as the standard capacity isn't scarce, which it isn't. I think 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage is enough for the vast majority of users. And it's not as if there is a faster storage technology right around the corner. When MacBooks shipped with HDDs and SSDs were about to become a lot cheaper, upgradability was very important. Now Apples soldered SSDs are the fastest in the market and you don't even want to upgrade to something else. I'd rather have them better integrated into the system with a custom Apple SSD controller and so on.

Hmmm…
Yes, 8 and 256 is okay for most starter users but some users, perhaps many of us, like to buy entry level because that is what we can afford and then after two years or so we upgrade the innards to prolong the life. By doing this Apple forces users to upgrade right away which costs more than upgrading later.