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Teardowns of Late 2013 Retina MacBook Pros Reveal No Improvements in Accessibility
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In my opinion, one should buy a computer that fits his or her needs today, not some possible perceived want in the future.
In my opinion, Apple does a fine job with customer service. If one doesn't want to spend the kind of money it takes to pay for Apple repairs out of pocket from the Genius Bar, one should consider getting a different brand of computer.
In my opinion, people who regularly visit and participate in the forums, are not respective of the average consumer. As such, I don't believe the average consumer is going to be worrying about some "iFixit" report etc. They want a computer that is well-made, that meets their current needs, and is backed by a company that stands behind its product. Apple does that.
Apple computers are not investments. They are tools, just like Dell, Acer, and other brands.
In my opinion, Apple does a fine job with customer service. If one doesn't want to spend the kind of money it takes to pay for Apple repairs out of pocket from the Genius Bar, one should consider getting a different brand of computer.
In my opinion, people who regularly visit and participate in the forums, are not respective of the average consumer. As such, I don't believe the average consumer is going to be worrying about some "iFixit" report etc. They want a computer that is well-made, that meets their current needs, and is backed by a company that stands behind its product. Apple does that.
Apple computers are not investments. They are tools, just like Dell, Acer, and other brands.
Yes. There is no metal casing around them where you could screw in anything. That way, the whole inside of the MBP can be filled with batteries instead of batteries and battery cases, and they can be any shape. In other words, you can't fit the same battery volume and can't get the same battery life using screws.
While I'm not a Microsoft fan, it is just as irrelevant as with the iPad or the MBP. 95% of people can't fix anything on a Classic MacBook Pro because they don't have the screw drivers that I bought for £1.99 at the local B&Q. 99% of people can't fix anything but the memory on an iMac, and 98% don't try (there's the one percent that messes things up
. And 99.9% can't fix a Retina MBP or iPad or Surface themselves. So only 4.9% of the customers are affected by this.People say they don't care... but wait until you'll be buying Macs every 6 months because Apple locked you in.
This is just the beginning. Don't give Apple more respect than it deserves.
A few more years, and I'll happily be waving out the window yelling "I told you so!"
But, what do I care. I'll keep on using my cMBP 15" WSXGA model until it dies. Then, I'll get a ThinkPad or something similar.
I'm about neary done with Macs. Apple has pretty much given the finger to power users and professionals.
This is just the beginning. Don't give Apple more respect than it deserves.
A few more years, and I'll happily be waving out the window yelling "I told you so!"
But, what do I care. I'll keep on using my cMBP 15" WSXGA model until it dies. Then, I'll get a ThinkPad or something similar.
I'm about neary done with Macs. Apple has pretty much given the finger to power users and professionals.
I was hoping this at the time, but if its like the Macbook Air, the AC wifi card is slightly different shape so theres no way to fit it in. iFixit should have mentioned that though...
I disagree. If you look at the way Apple did it in the pre-Retina Unibody Macs you would plainly see they used the outer casings screw holds around the outer edge of the notebook to keep that side of the battery in position and then used three screws on the side of the battery closest to the motherboard. This provided a sturdy hold as the battery was basically wedged in at one side unable to move.
There is still room to do this in the current Retina models as they did basically the same thing just instead of using the screws they put a piece of tape with a warning there instead then glued the underside. The battery is still wedged in and wouldn't move if there was 2 or 3 screws around the motherboard side to hold it down.
Every 6 months? The hardware is going to self-implode after 6 months, forcing the consumer to buy a new Mac? I don't think so.
Great find! Yes it is bigger. Bigger fans can turn slower while moving the same amount of air. Slower fans are quiter. Also one fan is half as loud as two fans. This must be a huge improvement.
The things that make the machines hard to service by the user make them better machines. You couldn't fit a user replaceable battery of the same size into a Retina MBP.
And the battery replacement isn't that difficult and time consuming if you have the right tools, and if you have practice.
Many of you have a lot of money to spear then. Upgrading your RAM or HDD/SDD from Apple coast as much as twice as doing it yourself. And not to even mention the fact of your MBP breaking down once your Apple Care expires (this may come to a surprise to you, but a lot of people expect their computers to last at least 5 or more years).
Personally, my Macbook Pro is 50 months (4 years) old, and I'm planning to keep it for at least another year... Maybe more if OS X still support it and that I don't want to put 2k in the retina 13" Macbook Pro (max CPU, max RAM) now. I have upgraded the HDD (250 GB instead of 160 GB) and the RAM (4 GB instead of 2 GB) back in the days when I ordered the laptop, and since then, I upgraded the RAM and the HDD again. I would also need to change the battery as the capacity is getting lower and lower, although it's still fine.
Can I use the current retina for 5 years without upgrading it ? Yes, I will just max the RAM and CPU... It will cost slightly more as it's Apple, but I can deal with it. After all, I don't buy Apple products for their prices...
My iPhone was (still is as I'm waiting for the new) a 32 GB 3GS. iOS 7 dropped the iPhone, so I bought a 5S. The iPhone is 4 years old too.
I don't change my laptop/iPhone each 2 years, but I don't really upgrade them too. Plus, I think it's normal that the new laptops are not user-upgradable. Sockets and user-accessibility take space, and seriously most consumer won't play with the internals... Most slim laptops won,t be user-upgradable...
Cache. All modern SSD's have RAM on board as cache. Usually it's around 256MB but it looks like Apple has pushed the boat out on the cache as to maintain high write speeds on these PCIe SSDs.
Apple evidently views the PC market as shrinking. One approach to maintaining profitability is to encourage upsells, and reduce upgradability. It isn't the most consumer friendly approach, of course, but it is a rational approach.
It's not going to implode, but slowly, Apple will begin to treat Macs like iOS devices. Release new OS every year, release new hardware every year, block OS from older machines.
You surely don't use your computer as a workstation. I think computers should last longer than 3 years because if you use it as a workstation, you have a lot of custom software on it which is a pain to migrate. Even if you use MacPorts as a package manager, you'll lose a lot of time recompiling all of your stuff and copying your config files.
Having the capacity of upgrading RAM, storage and processor (yes, earlier Intel Macs had socket CPUs) is definitely a good thing -- for consumers, but not to Apple. What I wan't to say is that this new approach has nothing to do with making users happier, but to accelerating hardware obsolescence.
I also don't sell my old computers. Firstly, because after some years they lose a lot of value and it's worthier giving away to a relative. Moreover, supposing you buy a $2000 computer every year and sell your old one for $500, you're spending $2000 in the first year and $500 every subsequent year, which doesn't make sense to me. A rMBP 15" in the standard MBP case would easily last 6-7 years and even 10 years as a browsing-only station.
It's fine that they did this, they're just forcing me into fewer and fewer choices. The low end iMac is out. The MacBook Pro Retinas are out. The Airs are out. I've had enough hard drives and ram go bad that I won't get a machine that won't let me replace them. I'm still using a machine from 2007. It's time to update soon and I will be forced into choosing the outdated non-retina 13" or a Mini.
I'm not their target customer, apparently. Too bad I like most of their products so much (other than this big issue).
I'm not their target customer, apparently. Too bad I like most of their products so much (other than this big issue).
It's going to get more intense, though. When OS X 10.13 is released, I doubt it will be released for this current crop of hardware. That's how Apple will force you to upgrade.
I have a 2009 13" MBP. It came with 2GB of ram and a 250GB hard drive. I saved up for a year to buy it and it was all I could afford at about $1100
Over the years, I've upgraded it to have 8GB of ram and am putting in an SSD next week. It's still a good computer even though it's 4 years old.
If I went to buy a new MBP today and wanted it to last another 4+ years, I'd need to upgrade from the base model and be looking at close to $2000 for 16GB of ram and a 512GB hard drive. I am no more willing to spend 2k on a laptop than I was 4 years ago.
Might just have to keep my '09 running for another 4 years. Dang, Apple. Dang.
Over the years, I've upgraded it to have 8GB of ram and am putting in an SSD next week. It's still a good computer even though it's 4 years old.
If I went to buy a new MBP today and wanted it to last another 4+ years, I'd need to upgrade from the base model and be looking at close to $2000 for 16GB of ram and a 512GB hard drive. I am no more willing to spend 2k on a laptop than I was 4 years ago.
Might just have to keep my '09 running for another 4 years. Dang, Apple. Dang.
Not really... I saw people in this forum who even changed their CPUs (at the time when Intel CPUs were replaceable). I like OSX, but the lack of hardware customization will make me move to the Linux world in the future -- probably installed in a Lenovo Thinkpad workstation.