Upon watching the MacBook Pro promotional video, I have found some SERIOUS issues with repairability on this computer. I certainly feel this is a discussion worth having in regards to this computer, coming from a technician's perspective. I am updating this to mention a discovery I made about the glued in batteries, so I just fixed it all because I was already here anyway. This will also merge the novice and technical version into one post, as to make finding the better version easier.
memory
Of all things with this computer I am going to touch on the memory first, because this is the first thing everyone upgrades in a computer, and I feel it's important for this reason.
In this computer the memory appears to be soldered on to the motherboard, and because of this one issue you can't upgrade the memory in the rMBP, nor can you replace it easily without replacing the whole motherboard in this machine. I know you can do SMD rework on the boards, but the problem with this is 95% of people don't have SMD rework machines in their home. What this means is RAM upgrades will probably need to be outsourced. If the RAM fails, you also need to send it out to someone with this kind of machine to do RAM repairs. No more buying RAM from Newegg to fix it. You also can't take that RAM you got on Newegg and replace it, either. Depending on the existing RAM in it you may need to find low density or high density RAM. And in many cases, low density DDR3 type RAM is nearly impossible. Good luck finding low density DDR3L. You would need to know how to use a rework machine and get the RAM off the SODIMM boards. And unless a shop will do this or can rework your board they're replacing the motherboard. The problem with this is the cost of a motherboard for an Apple laptop, and the difficulty of finding them because Apple keeps them held with a lock and key unless you pay the Apple tax for the parts and labor, or you are a Apple certified technician. You can also try a AASP, too. For most people and techs we have to go to Apple for this, since a good chunk of us aren't Apple certified-myself included. I simply can't justify Apple certification. I think it will be better in the end to get industry standard certs like the A+ if anything, as I can use them outside of employment with Apple. Not just shops who are under a AASP title and for independents doing Apple repair.
Note: The memory was confirmed to be soldered in 2012 when iFixit tore a rMBP down. It wasn't just in the promotional video.
My main issues go as follows
The first thing people upgrade is the RAM due to DIY upgrade cost savings vs paying Apple
Apple charges far too much for RAM, and has always been cheaper to DIY the upgrade-for example, in 2009 Apple wanted 1,500$ at one point for 8GB of RAM factory for the MacBook Pro A1297 17"-Crucial had it for 600.00 at the time. Apple dropped the price to 1,000$ later on in 2009, but it was still 600.00 to do the RAM yourself at that point, too.
Once the memory fails, you're looking at a new motherboard unless you can get SMD rework cheaper then a new motherboard. And unless you have a SMD rework machine you have to outsource RAM repair or get a new motherboard.
Most Business Ultrabooks have at least one SODIMM module in them, with the exception of some of the really thin models. Most consumer Ultrabooks have soldered RAM throughout, but there are some that have at least one slot in them on the consumer side are like Business Ultrabooks in regards to this. the X1 carbon is a fully soldered Business Ultrabook in regards to RAM, by design. Some bury it under an EMI shield and require motherboard removal like some of the Asus Ultrabooks. This technically makes it "non upgradeable" if you want to retain warranty. If you don't care or it's out then it is upgradeable.
I should also note some of the new Thinkpads have soldered RAM in the T4Xs series too, but only half of the RAM is soldered so there is still upgrade headroom in those at least. The standard T4X and T4Xp series use 2 DIMM slots.
Also, I would like to make a request in regards to Apple board prices. If you know, can you mention here somewhere? You don't have to if you don't want to risk it, but we'd appreciate it. Or is Apple also bullying certified techs by threatening their certification if they reveal the costs of boards too?
SSD
Now that we discussed the RAM, I would like to talk about the SSD.
I was hoping this notebook would have used an mSATA SSD with a PCIe controller for the SSD, but I was only hoping Apple would do this, apparently. Am I shocked by that? No, not really. The reason is anyone who is a tech knows Apple has to do everything their way, even if it affects the repairability of the hardware. It's like they want to take the repair back by doing this to fight the independents or something.
The SSD the rMBP uses is like the ones in the MacBook Air in the sense they are nonstandard. The sad thing is I expect these to become more and more common with time.
Note: Once again, this prediction is correct, with the Mac Pro being the latest victim of these SSDs. They put them in the Mini too, now. Luckily the Mini can take a 2.5" drive and this nonstandard SSD.
When this SSD reach it's lifespan since all SSDs have a maximum amount of read/write cycles before they start to "die" and need to be replaced. This is because these have to reallocate sectors like hard drives and like hard drives they develop issues with use. What makes this worse is you can't replace your SSD with something off of Newegg with the Apple SSD's, either. Apple will not sell these to us as parts. They will only do it if you pay them 10x the cost in labor. And you can't go on Newegg and buy a mSATA SSD to get around this. The reason being Apple SSD's are proprietary. When the SSD dies, you will need to pay the Apple tax on the SSD too now. It also means I can't buy a laptop with say, a spinning hard disk like the Latitude E6540 and add my own SSD. What happens as a result is I have the best of a SSD as a boot drive and a huge storage to boot. If you want the larger storage you have to pay the Apple tax for the larger SSD. You can't have dual drives. The other problem I have with this is I don't believe SSDs are ready to be the "catch all" storage device right now, especially for "mission critical" files. I believe these should still be on magnetic/moving media until SSDs prove themselves. Case and point right here why I say this. On many of the Dell Precision mobile workstations Dell boasts multiple drives. They even have a mSATA slot for the OS if you're a content creator or someone who needs dual hard drives in your laptop in many of these laptops.
Note: I know OWC sells larger drives cheaper then Apple, and you can get them out of other Apple computers and as a result used on eBay, but it's still a hassle to find one as a DIY tech.
I also believe as non Apple SSDs become more common, Apple will put a SSD check in the Option ROMs later on and if it doesn't pass as a non Apple SSD. if it sees a non Apple SSD it will refuse to boot, or simply store this data in a encrypted chip for logging so they know. If they did this, I would at least hope they settle at logging at let us have our non Apple SSDs. My other concern is Apple will abuse this and keep a monopoly on these parts.
Note: I made a mistake here. Apple doesn't use Hardware or Option ROMs for this, generally. They typically add something that gets done at boot. Like the SSD's in the Mac Pro and partially in the Mini going nonstandard they added a ktext signing algorithm to the OS. It refuses to boot with non Apple SSD's.
the screen
When Apple said they said they found a way to integrate the display without extra layers, I had just known they used their infamous UV glue on the rMBP display. No, I don't approve of this and will not support it. I will also oppose such a design in a laptop if it comes up.
According to Apple this makes the laptop panel thinner but I doubt this is the only reason they did it. I also believe they did this to make display repair, along with glass repair impossible without killing the display. This forces the user to replace the whole thing even if something like the LVDS cable or webcam fails, which are components you can replace on their own if you have them and are armed with a heatgun in the vast majority of MacBook Pros with glossy displays, and even the matte model with extreme care to the panel. The matte was always sort of a problem as in display protection is required or you risk ruining the matte coating and needing to scrap the display assembly. It's possible but it's high risk on the matte model. The difference in thickness of a modular vs highly integrated display also tends to be a very small difference that would be hard to notice too. Because of this, I don't see the point of making a highly integrated system like this when the difference is negligible in a each type of display assembly. Leaving this open gap also welcomes display assembly access. This results in a modular display, and with this type of display design you can actually save money repairing it if something fails.
MacBook Pro Retina display assembly
ThinkPad X series display
HP EliteBook display
ThinkPad Edge display
Acer laptop for a fair comparison(cons
umer grade)
My personal MacBook Pro display assembly
If you look at all these laptops as they all use LED backlit displays they are all rather thin by design since you don't need an inverter for this type of panel. The reason CCFL panels are thick is the panels are thicker because of the backlighting and use of a inverter. When it comes to the thickness of LED and CCFL panels are huge. LED panel variants are very small on every LED based laptop. On the non Retina MacBook Pro, you were able to service the display. For example you could very easily replace or remove parts. Some examples of this are the webcam, LVDS cable and the panel. You can change the webcam, too. Being able to do this means you can keep the other parts that work, and not waste any working parts. It was also handy for corporate who can't stand webcams too. If they wanted them removed, you could remove it. This also translates to better repair costs to your clients in the process along with less waste. Integrating the display on this level tends to aggravate consumers because you have to charge them for the whole part when it's not needed because of how it was built. If I could choose modular and slightly thicker as a result over this type of panel Apple used, I would have. It would make more sense as a repair business since you would lose less business and make more money too. People don't want to pay 1,500$ for display assemblies. It would make more sense then telling people you need to replace the whole part by design. Even worse, Apple is the only one with this part unless you're good with suppliers.
The Battery
While I cannot express how stupid gluing the battery in is without swearing, I will have to be extra careful how I word things here. I am going to try and be descent about this issue.
For this one, I am going to use my MacBook Pro and a Latitude E6540 in this area
On my MacBook Pro Early 2009 to replace the battery in this laptop all I need to do is remove the battery with three Tri-Wing screws and it can be replaced/remove
d. The rMBP is glued in, which means you need a new palmrest if you are an average tinkerer working on one. For those of us with experience in this, we can use heat and lots of rubbing alcohol to remove the battery. The problem is you risk the battery going bang or breaking, but it is possible. It's just very risky and difficult.
For the Latitude E6540 you can get 3 style batteries. A 6 cell 65Wh pack, a 9 cell 97Wh, and a 87Wh 9 cell with 3 year warranty. Dell will also gladly sell me this battery, as it's designed to be replaced and isn't sealed in the laptop. With the rMBP, Apple forces you to buy a new palmrest, and to make this worse you can't just buy this from Apple. You need to go to apple and pay the Apple repair tax, since they can get away with it as they are the only ones with easy access to the parts. Like the display, people with good parts suppliers can get this too, but it's very hard to find a place other then Apple with it. Apple replaces the whole part in this laptop too. This increases the repair costs and makes them insane. The method Apple uses is highly wasteful since they're trashing good keyboards and pamrests, and even trackpads. The independents worty anything know how to replace the battery itself. Some even know how to without keeping trackpads on hand. The design of the old MacBook Pro was easily replaced without a new palmrest. The only waste is plastic, a PCB and cells. You toss electronics, technically but you retain the palmrest. Much better then the whole palmrest assembly.
screen update
Turns out the screen isn't tied to the Unibody as I thought it may have beem. The problem with repairing it internally is still true, due to how the part is built. This is due to the use of UV curing glue on this laptop. What gets me is they have made them thin and repairable before. Apple clearly didn't try. One example of this is the modern ThinkPad X series laptops, which is both modular and thin at the same time. There are also thicker modular assemblies like the CCFL X series, along with the Thinkpad T series, which can be taken apart and have each part serviced on a individual basis. This also allows the repairs on them to cost less, as you can just buy a webcam for 40.00 from Lenovo, instead of a 550.00 display assembly. You can also add webcams later on. Just order the bezel and webcam and if need be, LVDS cable needed.
As to the Apple using Pentalobe screws, I am disappointed with Apple with this. I say this because the driver was rare when I wrote this in 2012. Luckily it became sort of common after the rMBP used it but it's still hard to find. Even though I can find one on eBay for 5.00 now as a one-off use tool I would still prefer Torx or Phillips. These are drivers I have on hand in most occasions, and are much more common. I can't stand buying specialty screwdrivers for all of these devices. It's a waste of money I want nothing to do with. Plus you aren't making money on some of these special tools very soon. You end up losing money for a while. And even to this day, some people have yet to make a Pentablobe driver, so there's a monopoly on the people who do. These guys are few and far between.
To designers, and future designers: you can make a laptop thin if you put your head to it as proven by IBM and the Thinkpad before IBM sold the Thinkpad to Lenovo in 2005 but you have to think about the repair oriented consumers too. Find ways to make off-the shelf parts in thin laptops instead. You will get much more respect then companies that don't. A few millimeters to make a device thin and repairable goes a long way too. I believe the only reason to use nonstandard parts on a laptop is to make it hard to fix by independents and DIY techs. This is also done to keep repair in-house, and create a repair monopoly. It also artificially raises the price of parts. There's no good use for it.
a more repairable laptop example
If you want a laptop you can easily repair, I would recommend a business laptop. Some examples of this are the Dell Latitude, Vostro and Precision series. For Lenovo get a ThinkPad, though I would try and find a good IvyBridge one instead of the Haswell models. The Haswell ones are simply far less durable then the black box ThinkPad. Most of these laptops should have a upgradeable CPU unless it's a U series Intel CPU or a embedded AMD CPU, which are becoming commonplace in laptops these days. However, the other parts are just as modular as they have always been in these laptops so that has not changed. The heatsinks are also under a easy access door on the vast majority of these, or under the palmrest so CPU upgrades are easier as the CPU and heatsink isn't under the bottom on the motherboard like most modern consumer grade machines. You can also call the manufacturer to buy parts and install them yourself with these laptops, too in most cases. If this isn't the case, you can find the parts with less effort then a consumer laptop. This will also not void the warranty, either to replace a part yourself on business laptops. If it does, it typically voids the warranty on the part you swapped and doesn't affect other parts. With a consumer laptop, you can kiss the warranty goodbye, as it's typically a "catch all" warranty. Business laptops may not be as pretty but they are much more repairable. They're also much more reliable. They may even boast standards for durability like MIL-STD-810G. It's also very hard to kill hard drives in ones with platter drives as many have free-fall sensors to stop the drive. Some of them even use SSD's standard now.
what if?
I am sure Apple's engineers could have used a mSATA PCI-e SSD for storage, but for them and their bottom line a nonstandard part was better. I am sure it was possible, but they didn't want to try.
As to the soldered RAM there were many ways to keep it modular. One option would have been lay the modules out like the non Unibody plastic MacBook, put one stick under the keyboard and one on the bottom or only solder part of the RAM and let the user install a 8GB stick to bring the laptop to 16GB. I am sure low profile memory slots exist. And yes, they do exist. I am referring to slots that use SMD/SMT pins instead of thru-hole to save space on the laptop and make it thinner. I don't see how doing that wasn't viable.
Do I plan on ever buying this machine? No I don't. I am also not recommending it to clients and telling them to find something that can be repaired instead of becoming a 1,200$ Bic lighter when it breaks down. Until Apple goes back to serviceability, I will recommend the 15" non Retina, or a used Mac from a time you could actually fix them if they need a Mac.
⟐ Edited November 25, 2014 at 3:51 pm -0700
