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The 13-inch MacBook Pro with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, demolished.
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A look at the inside.
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The logic board.
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The revised keyboard mechanism.
As tradition dictates, the repair guide site and iFixit parts manufacturer demolished the latest Mac to see what was different inside and assess its repairability. This time, it's the new entry-level 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, which replaced the previous low-end MacBook Pro without bar from the Apple store last week. Combine that with the Geekbench machine references, now public, and we have a clear idea of what is the least expensive MacBook Pro model.
Let's start with the criteria identified by MacRumors: the updated low-end 13-inch MacBook Pro managed an average of 4,639 Geekbench 4 in single-core and 16,665 in multi-core performance. Compare that with 4,341 and 9,084, respectively, in the previous 13-inch MacBook Pro last level, and you'll get up to 83% faster performance on the new machine.
No surprises there; the previous one had not really been updated for a long time. But that does not quite match Apple's commercial claim that the new machine is "twice as powerful" as its predecessor.
The dismantling of iFixit revealed that the low-end 13-inch MacBook Pro was still different from its more expensive 13-inch brother, primarily in terms of ports – it has two Thunderbolt 3 ports compared to the four more expensive ones. But in other respects, they are closer to each other than before, mainly with the inclusion of tactile and tactile bars and associated hardware changes to take them into account.
iFixit notes that the new model has a 58.2 Wh battery compared to the previous model of 54.5 Wh. Apple promises a 10-hour battery life, which is the same as before, suggesting that this increase in capacity may simply consist of powering touch bars and Touch IDs without reducing that estimate.
Apple has also reduced the size of a heat pipe in the cooling system and a speaker to support the hardware for Touch ID. For reasons that are probably not related to Touch ID or the touch bar, Apple has replaced the modular SSD of previous models with soldered storage. "One of the last components of the upgraded MacBook Pro family has totally disappeared," says iFixit. On the other hand, a welded Thunderbolt panel has been replaced with something modular.
Finally, iFixit confirmed that Apple had actually used the latest version of the Butterfly keyboard, which, according to the company, will not fail as often as previous versions, even though it's still covered by the Apple's Butterfly Keyboard Repair Program.
However, iFixit finally awarded a 2 out of 10 reparability score to the newly updated 13-inch MacBook Pro, citing proprietary screws, a set of glue stacks, a welded RAM memory, and a non-laptop SSD drive that is "hostile to to repair." The only positive point listed for repairability is that "the trackpad can be removed without disturbing the battery".
None of this, however, should surprise – Apple's design philosophy excludes the type of repairs that iFixit seeks to facilitate. If you are looking for a machine on which you can tinker, upgrade or repair, it is better to look elsewhere, this is a novelty for anyone.
Listing image by iFixit
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