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@ 2011/02/27The crack team at iFixit has given the newest 15" MacBook Pro a "respectable" repairability score of 7 out of 10 after putting the machine through its obligatory post-launch teardown. The gadget repair team said that Apple made a number of good design choices with this round of updates, though it also questioned Apple's quality control after making a few discoveries.
According to iFixit, the latest MacBook Pro revision allows you to disconnect the battery without having to take it out of the notebook altogether—a helpful move for tinkerers, since all power is supposed to be disconnected before digging into the machine's innards. "The unibody design also allows for easy access to most of the other components, so it won't be terribly hard to replace things on the machine," said iFixit. "The only tricky repair is LCD replacement, which could easily result in shattering the front glass panel."
Other discoveries included the fact that the new MacBook Pro sports the same 77.5 watt-hour battery as the previous model, confirming that Apple has indeed reduced its battery life estimates from eight to nine hours to seven hours for other reasons (Apple cites a "new, more rigorous battery test"). The company points out, however, that the battery is held in with tri-wing screws, which could prevent the average joe from making a battery replacement. iFixit also says that the MacBook Pro's RAM has been upgraded to PC3-10600—faster than previous MacBook Pro models—and that the wireless card now has four antennas instead of three.
According to iFixit, the latest MacBook Pro revision allows you to disconnect the battery without having to take it out of the notebook altogether—a helpful move for tinkerers, since all power is supposed to be disconnected before digging into the machine's innards. "The unibody design also allows for easy access to most of the other components, so it won't be terribly hard to replace things on the machine," said iFixit. "The only tricky repair is LCD replacement, which could easily result in shattering the front glass panel."
Other discoveries included the fact that the new MacBook Pro sports the same 77.5 watt-hour battery as the previous model, confirming that Apple has indeed reduced its battery life estimates from eight to nine hours to seven hours for other reasons (Apple cites a "new, more rigorous battery test"). The company points out, however, that the battery is held in with tri-wing screws, which could prevent the average joe from making a battery replacement. iFixit also says that the MacBook Pro's RAM has been upgraded to PC3-10600—faster than previous MacBook Pro models—and that the wireless card now has four antennas instead of three.
