Apple’s new MacBook may be one “for the future” but it’s already had a teardown from our friends over at iFixit, filling you in on all the ways the next-gen notebook differs from its predecessor.
That includes Apple’s butterfly mechanism keys, its Force Touch trackpad, form-fitting layered battery, and, of course, the thinnest, most energy-efficient Retina display ever seen on a Mac.
It’s not just ports the new notebook is missing, however. It’s also one of Apple’s least-repairable notebooks to date!
iFixit gives the MacBook a 1 out of 10 repairability score, based on the fact that opening the device is unnecessarily complex; the battery assembly is glued into the lower case; the processor, RAM and flash memory are soldered to the logic board; and the Retina display is a fused unit with no separate, protective glass.
Not all the news is bad, though. The device itself is incredibly elegantly designed, right down to the Force Touch trackpad, which the website describes as a “slimmer, daintier version” of the one found in the also-just-released new 13″ MacBook Pro.
Interestingly, iFixit notes some iPad-like touches, including the fact that the new MacBook hides the battery connector under the logic board. iFixit also highlights a patented Apple method of “using the speaker assemblies to form a compound antenna,” thereby helping maximize power efficiency in the notebook’s smaller form factor.
Check out the review in detail here.
