Buy a "futureproof" machine with specs that will last you and you should not have to crack open these proprietary machines. The computer appliance age is here.
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Teardowns of Late 2013 Retina MacBook Pros Reveal No Improvements in Accessibility
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I didn't know Apple designed their laptops to break down after AppleCare expires - thank god I didn't buy AppleCare! That means my 2011 13" mba will last forever...maybe even like my 2007 mbp 15" that other than the battery not lasting and the screen getting cracked (no fault of Apple's), it still works just fine (have it hooked up the kids tv and they use it in clamshell mode with Apple trackpad and keyboard).
Sure, some people want their devices to last for as long as they can - who doesn't want that really? But with advances in technology, it's more likely that many people will want or NEED a newer laptop or desktop because they want it to be faster, lighter, better screen, whatever the thing is that you can't, or choose not to, live without.
What Apple has been doing with non-user serviceable parts is no different than what is happening with cars. The market for people who tinker or demand the ability to tinker with their things is shrinking fast.
When I spend a ton of money on a laptop I want to be able to use it for many many years. I bought a late 2006 MacBook Pro 17" (2.33GHz core 2 duo) and replaced batteries multiple times, maxed the RAM, and put in a 500GB HDD up from the stock 160GB) that computer is still pretty fast given its age and really does most of what I need from a laptop. But when the retinas came out and I saw apples direction I bought a new mid 2012 cMBP 15" and I will probably keep that for many years and just up the RAM from 8GB to 16GB and swap my 750GB HDD for an SSD in the coming years. My only wish would have been having a retina display on it and blu-Ray.
If they get aggressive in narrowing down the scope of their consumer market by forcing said consumers to buy a new product every year, they will be out of business, in my opinion. I don't see that happening.
If people here want to buy the latest and greatest from Apple every year, they can keep running the Jones race. I am not interested in trying to keep up.
i'm real curious how the heat is compared to the previous model.. considering the single fan and also the battery being under the trackpad.. i hope it doesn't get hot. would love to hear people's experiences with the new 13".. if someone could chime in how hot it gets during extended use and intensive use of graphics intensive apps and games.
What is up with iFixit? We as consumers are not suppose to fix our computers, Apple is suppose to. It's their damn job! Don't see why iFixit is so surprised? Did they really think Apple was going to step backwards to what they have been doing all along such as reducing thoroughfare to the components of their machines. People need to let this go. Most people that stay in tuned with Macs knows they are not for the tinkerer at heart. If you're THAT guy then you shouldn't be using a Mac.
I hate to be "that guy" but .. you're debating something which isn't debatable. If you want user serviceable parts, Apple isn't really for you. Nothing anyone says on here is going to push them in another direction. Their customers are buying their products because the majority of end users do not upgrade their PCs or even know how to, much less fix anything. That user base is so small Apple, as well as most other companies don't need to make them happy.
It's funny that that was considered a feature and an advantage of owning an Apple laptop. Oh well, things change. For my part, I'll be hunting down another 17in MBP soon, before my early 2011 dies. The age of upgradeable Macs is coming to an end, fast, with the lone hold out being the 13in MBP (stuck in 2012 specs until EOL).
Open Question to Apple Repair Techs
OK someone brings in a MacBook for repair. It needs a battery. You fight with the glue to get the old one out. Do you glue the new one back in place? I've repaired a lot of things, from computers to airplanes, over the years and it wasn't uncommon to deviate from the engineers original design in the name of serviceability. Nothing major mind you. Custom screws replaced with Phillips head, a piece of plastic not replaced because it blocked access, that sort of thing. Do you make it easier to replace the battery the next time or are you required to glue it back down?
OK someone brings in a MacBook for repair. It needs a battery. You fight with the glue to get the old one out. Do you glue the new one back in place? I've repaired a lot of things, from computers to airplanes, over the years and it wasn't uncommon to deviate from the engineers original design in the name of serviceability. Nothing major mind you. Custom screws replaced with Phillips head, a piece of plastic not replaced because it blocked access, that sort of thing. Do you make it easier to replace the battery the next time or are you required to glue it back down?
Exactly, who couldn't agree with you more? I mean, the new Mac Pro (despite it's rave reviews so far from professionals) is only for web surfing and Facebooking. It's not designed to do any REAL work.
And your Anti-Apple post is for what? If you're pretty much done then that should be the last post we'll hear from you right? Fingers crossed.
My guess is the dual fans were unnecessary to begin with. Without HDD, ODD and dGPU there isn't much to create heat anyway. All the heat comes essentialy from one source the CPU with iGPU and a short heat pipe to the nearest fan could be much more efficient than the previous symmetrical "face" layout. With Haswell and Iris the energy consumption and heat creation is down anyway.
You’re right, it won’t. Apple does release a new OSX and Mac lineup roughly every year, and a few days ago, they released a new OS, for free, that’s compatible with machines as old as 2007 models (that pushing 7 years of compatibility). I’m not sure when all these “doom and gloom” predictions are supposed to come true, but at least in the short term, Apple seems to be suggesting nothing of the sort.
Exactly, who couldn't agree with you more? I mean, the new Mac Pro (despite it's rave reviews so far from professionals) is only for web surfing and Facebooking. It's not designed to do any REAL work.
Heck, we do a pretty significant amount of work on our 2 and 3 year old MBPs, and would continue to be professionally productive on a new rMBP, you know, even though you can’t replace the RAM
Force, huh? I tend to not take anybody on here seriously who uses the word "force" for anything non-Star Wars related. Actually, I don't take those people very seriously, either.
They just released Mavericks and announced that anybody with a 2007(?) or later Mac can upgrade to it. For free. So chances are, if you have a Mac with an Intel CPU, it will run Mavericks.
But Apple isn't forcing you to do anything. They build their computers the way they want them, and you buy their computers because you like them. Yes, they keep releasing new models every year. Why wouldn't they? Even at the rate they update these, there are still people dissatisfied because Apple's a step behind on whatever it is they were really looking forward to (like when they "finally" implemented USB3.) Technology keeps moving forward, but at the same time, it has progressed to a point where your machine isn't obsolete within a year. That's why a lot of people are okay with Apple selling us a three year protection plan on a machine that most of us can't reasonably repair ourselves.
And yes, as a former PC nerd, I hate that I can't upgrade my own machine. I got cheap when I ordered my iMac and went with the 1gb NVIDIA instead of the 2gb, and I kick myself every time my machine lags... which is seldom. And that's why I'm okay with (most of) Apple's business practices, because the restrictions are offset by the fact that the machine I bought functions great, even if I didn't pump it to the gills with the most upgrades.
As I said, the lack of options for aftermarket upgrades is bothersome, so I can understand why a Mac might not be for everybody. With that said, if you really think Apple's going down a dark path, stop buying their stuff.
Just don't do what some people on here do and actually get upset because the rest of us are happy with our computers and phones.
what is that "blu ray" you are talking about?
jokes aside, i have no need for any optical reader of any kind as a normal user. But I see why professionals might need one....
God only knows how much I hate the "computer is appliance" theorists.
First of all, let's look at what an appliance is:
appliance |əˈplīəns|
noun
1 a device or piece of equipment designed to perform a specific task, typically a domestic one.
an apparatus fitted by a surgeon or a dentist for corrective or therapeutic purpose: electrical and gas appliances.
2 Brit.the action or process of bringing something into operation: the appliance of science could increase crop yields.
So, do computers perform specific tasks? No. They're modular. They have a wide range of tasks, ranging from data analysis to office work to high-performance graphics to plotting stats with R to drawing parabola regressions in MatLab. They're not appliances.
Computers need to be modular because of the wide range of tasks that they perform. If somebody is running 5 VMs to test and deploy, they might need more RAM. If they originally bought the machine for basic work, and then switched to doing more intensive tasks, the machine should be modular enough to support that. The rMBP does not support modularity, which makes it inefficient for people who use it for more than Safari and Photoshop.
Perhaps you could work out a way for the battery to stay well connected without glue, but it seems somewhat risky. You'll probably need to re-glue it. Also, what's the likelihood of the battery failing twice? Probably nil, unless there's some other problem with the laptop.
At this point in time, I don't think it is possible to have the latest and greatest technology that people want, and have it where people can open their Macs up and service them without any real problem, in regards to what you listed. There is a trade-off.
Agreed. I have a MBP early 2010 with 256GB SSD (1200 dollar extra option back then), matte high res screen, and 4 GB of RAM. It was quite expensive back then (3000-3500 dollar range), but still extremely fast for my duties (webdev, adobe cs6, etc.) and not retiring it soon.
Exactly, who couldn't agree with you more? I mean, the new Mac Pro (despite it's rave reviews so far from professionals) is only for web surfing and Facebooking. It's not designed to do any REAL work.
And your Anti-Apple post is for what? If you're pretty much done then that should be the last post we'll hear from you right? Fingers crossed.
No. I'm not done with Apple. I love and will continue to use my cMBP. But no more Macs after that. At least not laptops.
The Mac Pro may be powerful, but we saw condensed soundbites from 3 professionals who mainly talked about its power and quietness. That isn't "rave review" in the slightest.