Apple made a huge detail about the non-removable battery it created for the 17″ Unibody MacBook Pro. By going with a sealed design, the company argued, it would be possible to make a much-higher capacity battery. Well, the guys over at iFixit have had their way with one of the new models, and it’s pretty clear the battery isn’t THAT hard to remove. It actually surprises me how much it looks like the interior of my existing MacBook, giant fans excepted.
Definitely check out the full slideshow — it’s good stuff. Anyone picked up a 17-incher yet? What do you think?Check out a couple more shots from iFixit’s meticulous disassembly operation after the jump.
Click here on each pic for a larger image and be sure to see their detailed forensic report for all the blood and guts.
Here we see the bottom of the logic board with fans removed. That is a lot o’ lot of soldering; a virtual galaxy of soldering. Many cables removed as well: LVDS, keyboard backlight, iSight, speaker, IR/sleep sensor, trackpad, keyboard, Express card, hard drive, and battery indicator light.
And here is the whole shebang undone. Counterclockwise from top left: Logic board, heat sink, display, unibody upper case, battery, hard drive, speakers. Fans, RAM, and optical drive are in the center.
They were going to make a clever, witty final comment to wrap up hours of disassembly and photography, but didn’t. Can’t blame them.
Pete Mortensen is a design strategist for consulting firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete’s particular Apple avocations are both around design–interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!
