iFixit MacBook Air Teardown Finds More Repairable Than Predecessor (9to5mac.com) 28
iFixit tore apart the updated MacBook Air and found that Apple made a few changes making for a more repairable notebook than the last generation. All in all, the new 2020 MacBook Air got a 4/10 repairability score from iFixit, which is one point higher than the previous-gen model which scored 3/10. 9to5Mac reports: iFixit highlights in its full teardown that the update to the reliable Magic Keyboard only added 0.5mm to the thick end of the new MacBook Air... a more than worth it trade-off: "More than anything, that 0.5 mm illustrates the sheer unnecessary-ness of the five painful years that Mac fans spent smashing on unresponsive butterfly keyboards. Knowing that Apple's thinnest-and-lightest notebook accommodates a scissor-switch keyboard so gracefully makes us wonder what it was all for. We understand as well as anyone the urge to fix things, but Apple's insistence on reworking and re-reworking the troubled butterfly design came at such a high cost -- financially, environmentally, and to the Mac's reputation -- and for what? We'll probably never know all the factors that led to the creation and persistence of the butterfly keyboard, but this Magic keyboard is a reminder that sometimes the difference between usable and unusable, or repairable and unrepairable, can be as small as half a millimeter."
Past the keyboard update, iFixit found a nice improvement to how Apple has implemented the trackpad cable: "Where last year the trackpad cables were trapped under the logic board, they are now free to be disconnected anytime -- meaning trackpad removal can happen as soon as the back cover comes off. And since the battery rests under these same cables, this new configuration also greatly speeds up battery removal by leaving the logic board in place. That's two very tasty birds, one stone, for those of you counting. This is one of those happy (but all too rare) occasions where we can identify a hardware change from Apple that's squarely aimed at improving serviceability in the existing design. Sometimes they do listen!"
Past the keyboard update, iFixit found a nice improvement to how Apple has implemented the trackpad cable: "Where last year the trackpad cables were trapped under the logic board, they are now free to be disconnected anytime -- meaning trackpad removal can happen as soon as the back cover comes off. And since the battery rests under these same cables, this new configuration also greatly speeds up battery removal by leaving the logic board in place. That's two very tasty birds, one stone, for those of you counting. This is one of those happy (but all too rare) occasions where we can identify a hardware change from Apple that's squarely aimed at improving serviceability in the existing design. Sometimes they do listen!"
"Sometimes they do listen!" (Score:4, Insightful)
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Did they listen to people asking for user-replaceable SSD, RAM, and a battery under a removable plate for easy swapping?.
The battery is user replaceable on the macbook air, is just not tool-less on the fly replaceable.
On my late 2015 air, is not even glued. on the 2018 and 2020 they use easily removable pulltabs. In the 2018 one, the task is slightly complicated by cable routing, but in the 2020, as TFA states, is a breeze.
Having said that, In my 2015, the SSD is user replaceable, but the RAM is soldered. Now, both RAM and SSD are soldered, so yes, that's a boomer.
Having said that, my 2015 air and 2018 mini will be my last ma
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The battery is user replaceable on the macbook air, is just not tool-less on the fly replaceable.
When the 2009 unibody aluminum macbooks came out, the SSD and the swappable battery were accessible from behind an aluminum plate which was secured by a finger lever which laid flush to the bottom of the case.
On my late 2015 air, is not even glued
"sometimes they do listen!" lmao
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When the 2009 unibody aluminum macbooks came out, the SSD and the swappable battery were accessible from behind an aluminum plate which was secured by a finger lever which laid flush to the bottom of the case.
I should know, my first mac was the macbook 13" aluminum editin. But less than a year later, those latches went out of style. On top of that, the air never had latches
And in the year of our lord 2020, you would be hard pressed to find any thin laptop, from any manufacturer, with latch enabled removable batteries. So, this is as good as it gets, industry-wide.
Besides, you seem to miss the part were I say I am leaving Apples ecosystem due to me not liking the direction they are taking HW wise.
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And in the year of our lord 2020, you would be hard pressed to find any thin laptop, from any manufacturer, with latch enabled removable batteries. So, this is as good as it gets, industry-wide.
And yet, for some reason, Apple is the only OEM that continuously and vociferously gets excoriated in the tech press for the doing the same things everyone else is doing.
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Having said that, In my 2015, the SSD is user replaceable, but the RAM is soldered. Now, both RAM and SSD are soldered, so yes, that's a boomer.
Current macbook air is not a "boomer" it belongs to generation alpha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] Not everything you don't like is a boomer.
Boomer (Score:2)
Current macbook air is not a "boomer" it belongs to generation alpha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Not everything you don't like is a boomer.
Well played sire, but I was thinking more along the lines of Voomers and Boomers as in:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Boomers being malfunctioning Voomers, and Voomer being VOodoo Organic Metal Extension Resource.
https://bubblegumcrisis.fandom... [fandom.com]
I completely lost the connection to baby boomers.... so, again, well played sir!
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So the MacBook Air belongs to only one generation, just because you've laid claim?
But don't be silly, Apple caters to all ages, even the selfish generations that have yet to create anything as substantial. They want everyone to buy their products.
Exactly! (Score:2)
In 2016, I wound up upgrading it with an SSD and maxing out the RAM to 16GB. In 2020, it still runs fast. The only thing wrong with it... it that the graphics aren't supported by Apple's "Metal" platform, so I cannot run anything higher than MacOS High Sierra. This October, when the next Mac
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My laptop is a mid-2011 13" unibody MacBook Pro
I have the same machine.
I feel that the best solution is to leave it at High Sierra, or possibly Mojave (if you don't need nVidia support). But, it can even be Upgraded to Catalina (with some caveats, see below).
Personally, I intend to leave mine at High Sierra.
Mojave is still being officially supported, and quite frankly, if a vulnerability is bad-enough, Apple will surely release an Update back as far as practical, an most definitely to High Sierra.
That should take you (and me) far enough into the future
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I have the same machine too. It's a damn workhorse.
Upgrading to an SSD breathed new life into it, and at max 16GB RAM, it's my main development machine running several VMs.
Right now I'm looking at the 2015 Macbook Pros as an upgrade. Replacing the battery would be a pain, and it maxes out at 16GB RAM too, but at least the SSD is upgradeable. I figure I can get another 8 years out of it.
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Nah, everything is soldered on, non replacable. The updates are all to make their life servicing common faults easier.
For example the speakers and trackpad are easier to remove now, because they are two of the most common points of failure. The speakers are prone to getting liquid damaged, the trackpad can get smashed because it's made of glass.
Re: "Sometimes they do listen!" (Score:1)
Its for the geniuses (Score:2)
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Or now that they've gotten rid of Ive they can start making some sensible decisions? It really seemed like that guy was ruining everything in the name of "thin".
A welcome improvement all around (Score:2)
While it could be a lot better, this is definitely a welcome improvement all around. Going to be 12~24 months though before we get access to boardviews and schematics, if we're lucky, and who knows what annoying new "unique" chips Apple has thrown on the board ( like the ISL9240, just to mess with us ).
Looking forward to seeing the whole A17xx/19xx range just go away, it's an annoying set to repair, hopefully the A1466/A1398/A1502 series can live long enough to get people through to this new series happily
What about the T2 "security" chip? (Score:4, Informative)
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The real reason... (Score:4, Insightful)
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They lost their shirts trying to repair notebooks under warranty. There's no way they were happy about fixing their own "made to never be repaired" designs. Good on them.
It's still just a stopgap solution until the economics of scale are such that they just grab another one off the assembly line and send the old one to recycling. Ten steps in that direction and one step back won't bring back the "good old days".
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They lost their shirts trying to repair notebooks under warranty. There's no way they were happy about fixing their own "made to never be repaired" designs. Good on them.
Lost their shirts? Apple? They didn't lose their shirts on anything. They TAKE shirts from others... This just lets them keep their hands on more shirts, arms and legs..
It just goes to show... (Score:1)
Jony ive (Score:5, Insightful)
So long Jony I've... you won't be missed.
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Oh fuck off, phone. Jony Ive. Irony.
I, for one (Score:2)
Really enjoyed the feel of the butterfly keyboard. It had a precision to its movement and the click was satisfying.
My guess as to the reason it would fail is heat. Even the big mbp run really hot at the keyboard and palm rest. Much warmer to the touch than my â12 retina.