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MacBook Pro 16" 2019 Teardown

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Re: MacBook Pro 16" 2019 Teardown

#431

Post by Sangeppato »

brailsafe wrote: post #335
simonh wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only a tiny percentage of laptops are ever upgraded. If making the device upgradable and accessible adds the same percentage in materials then it's pretty much a wash. Also Apple devices on average have much longer service lives than devices from most other manufacturers. On average they stay usable longer, and even when they are replaced they're more likely to be handed on and keep in use even without upgradability.…

I feel like much of these claims are only in the past. I used my 2009 Macbook for 5 or so years, and it only lasted that long because I was able to upgrade it. It came with a comical 2GB of ram, and that would have been a trash—as in worthless to me—if it couldn't be upgraded. I was able to sell it, only because they're desirable, and they used to be more reliable. The latter quality is not so evident any more. Many…

On the other hand, my 2014 15" MBP didn't come with less than 16Gb and still packs a quad-core 45w CPU, a decently fast SSD, a crazy good chassis and trackpad and a bright hi-dpi display. I think it's still better than most of the 800-900€ 15" new laptops offered today, but it's not upgradable.

My only issue with it is the battery which will fail sooner or later, but it shouln't be too hard to remove it.

Re: MacBook Pro 16" 2019 Teardown

#432

Post by kemotep »

majewsky wrote: post #371
Symbiote wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please avoid calling the "gas duster" type cans "compressed air". It's misleading. They usually contain compressed fluorocarbons like difluoroethane. These are toxic chemicals, which are also potent greenhouse gases. Their casual use for cleaning should be discouraged.

What's a good replacement for a casual user who wants to clean their electronics? (Honest question.)

I have had great success cleaning using a electronics vacuum. It is a type of vacuum that blows instead of sucks and uses non-conductive materials to avoid static discharge.

I got one for around 60 USD and unless the motor breaks it should last forever. There are also screen and electronic safe wet wipes for cleaning phones and other messes that a vacuum would not solve.

Re: MacBook Pro 16" 2019 Teardown

#433

Post by Sangeppato »

lm28469 wrote: post #353
simonh wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only a tiny percentage of laptops are ever upgraded. If making the device upgradable and accessible adds the same percentage in materials then it's pretty much a wash. Also Apple devices on average have much longer service lives than devices from most other manufacturers. On average they stay usable longer, and even when they are replaced they're more likely to be handed on and keep in use even without upgradability.…

> Only a tiny percentage of laptops are ever upgraded. What about batteries, they're basically consumables. I still remember a friend of mine breaking a single usb port on his macbook, he had to change half the components, the bill was something like $1.5k for a $2k macbook.

Yes, batteries are probably the biggest issue, because they deteriorate.

On all the retinas you have to separate them from the chassis using a thread (something like a fishing line). It's not too hard to do, but it's not fun neither.

Re: MacBook Pro 16" 2019 Teardown

#434

Post by w0utert »

gwd wrote: post #364
w0utert wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not trying to be cynical here because I also would prefer a MBP that was more serviceable/repairable, but all these discussions about how repairability impacts the environmental cost of these devices are IMO extremely contrived. How many (in percentage terms) of laptops will ever need repairs, how many of those will actually be repaired (as opposed to consumers just deciding to buy something new, even if repair would…

> How many (in percentage terms) of laptops will ever need repairs, how many of those will actually be repaired (as opposed to consumers just deciding to buy something new, even if repair would be relatively easy and cheap) Whether end-users try to repair their laptops depends in part on their expectations; and their expectations depend a lot on how repair-able laptops are in general. My second-to-last laptop, a Dell…

Yes I get it, that's what I try to do as well. Just recently I went through the hassle of repairing my moms 5-year old Asus Zenbook, which had a broken SSD that was also a lot more effort to repair than necessary because of the non-standard M2 slot Asus used for the sole purpose of discouraging home repair (there literally is no other explanation for this slot besides trying to get you to pay Asus for the repair or -even better- a new device). She was already planning to throw it a way and get a new one.

The point is, that if it weren't for the fact that I explicitly asked her to let me have a look to see if I could repair it, she would have thrown it out even though it was perfectly possible to repair it (it's working 100% fine again now). My mother is not the exception, she's the rule. I would guess over 90% of people don't bother to repair 5-year old laptops, under any circumstance. They just write it off and get a new one.

That's why I was saying all these discussions about how repairability of laptops impacts the environment are largely moot. Probably better incentives to promote proper recycling (e.g. a tax on electronics that gets re-imbursed when you properly dispose them) would have much more positive effect compared to improved repairability.

Re: MacBook Pro 16" 2019 Teardown

#435

Post by Sangeppato »

mscasts wrote: post #321
simonh wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only a tiny percentage of laptops are ever upgraded. If making the device upgradable and accessible adds the same percentage in materials then it's pretty much a wash. Also Apple devices on average have much longer service lives than devices from most other manufacturers. On average they stay usable longer, and even when they are replaced they're more likely to be handed on and keep in use even without upgradability.…

> Only a tiny percentage of laptops are ever upgraded. Probably yes and that is also probably because behaviors like this. Manufacturers have trained consumers for years that upgrading of fixing stuff is not worth it. Personally, I have upgraded every laptop I have ever owned. This isn't possible with todays Macbooks. > Also Apple devices on average have much longer service lives than devices from most other manufact…

> Bullshit, if anything I believe the opposite is true. What is your source for this?

In my experience this is true, but not for technical reasons. It just seems to me that there a lot of people happily using almost 10 years old macbooks just because they want a macbook, but probably can't afford a new one.

Just try to sell a 6/7 years old mac and then try doing the same with a Windows laptop from the same year: you'll sell the mac much more quickly, for a higher price.

I think that old macbooks still have a market, most old laptops don't, but this is just my impression.

Re: MacBook Pro 16" 2019 Teardown

#436

Post by magashna »

gambiting wrote: post #413
DennisP wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a joke for you but a laptop with a good mech keyboard is exactly what I want. I plug a mechanical keyboard into my laptop all the time, because it's easier on my fingers. A thicker laptop that I can type on is better for me than carrying around a separate mech and putting the laptop on a nearby flat surface instead of my lap.

Those do exist - MSI and Asus made a few recently I'm sure. For example: https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/msi-gt75vr-titan-p... I mean, at 4.5kg it's extremely heavy for a laptop, but it does have a mechanical keyboard and very beefy spec.

That's for a very niche, need to game on the go, market. It's otherwise ridiculous looking

Re: MacBook Pro 16" 2019 Teardown

#437

Post by khal_bc »

ksec wrote: post #366
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those who are not in a hurry to upgrade There is always something new just around the corner.

>There is always something new just around the corner. True, but something new isn't always something better, and isn't always worth waiting for. Aka 2016 - 2019 MBP 15". And in the above cases, I consider Icelake IPC and Security improvement along with WiFI 6 to be quite a significant upgrade, not the same could be said for the past 3 update of MacBook Pro.

This is true, but relatively insignificant. Things in tech don't tend to evolve smoothly and predictably.

I think anyone who remembers the 'Do not buy the 2015 MBP, Skylake is right around the corner and it will bring such improvements you should definitely wait' knows that it's senseless to tell people to wait for Apple to release a 16 incher with 10nm processors if they want a new laptop.

There's multiple reasons why: 10nm higher powered chips are not ready and we all know about how much Intel is struggling with 10nm, Apple's release cycle is rather unpredictable, what if the switch to ARM is next year, should we wait longer...?

Something "Newer, Better, Shinier" is always around the corner and unless it's very close to release or the current product has genuine flaws, it makes little sense to wait.

Re: MacBook Pro 16" 2019 Teardown

#438

Post by bodyfour »

netsharc wrote: post #213
hbosch wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> putting random .'s everywhere. For anyone else having this problem, the new MBPs ship with the same autocorrect "feature" that comes on iOS where when you press spacebar twice (or, I should say, your keyboard thinks you pressed the spacebar twice) it inserts a period automatically. In addition, newer MBPs automatically capitalize and autocorrect spelling, like on mobile. You can disable this. I did, and, I don't th…

> I don't think any desktop computer should be telling me how to type. I agree.. seems like Apple derped there. The auto-correct was because typing on a smartphone is a lot harder, but some genius must've thought "Hey, why don't we use this software on our desktops too?". Also holding down a hardware key to get to accented characters, oh fuck, how is that ergonomic?

> Also holding down a hardware key to get to accented characters, oh fuck, how is that ergonomic?

I think it's a good addition for when you very occasionally need to type a particular accented character, since you can visually see the options. Of course if you are going to type it a lot you're better off learning the Option key combo.

For instance I would have to look up how to directly type "ł" since I rarely need to type a Polish name... but I can get it in 1 second by holding down "l". Very handy!

Re: MacBook Pro 16" 2019 Teardown

#439

Post by kkarakk »

irrational wrote: post #410
hvidgaard wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If 64GiB of ram makes that difference, doesn't that work belong on a workstation with the power to handle it?

My company uses freestyle seating (which sucks big time, but that's a story for a different day) which means a desktop or workstation is not a possibility for me. Anything that can make a laptop closer in power to a workstation is great in my book.

Your neck must be killing you, everyone in freestyle seating ends up hunched over their laptops.

Unless they also give you nice laptop stands to put on your "freestyle" desk?

Re: MacBook Pro 16" 2019 Teardown

#440

Post by wil421 »

tolmasky wrote: post #165

I went with my gf to take a look at these last night at the Apple store. Her command key has completely stopped working on her 2018 MacBook that otherwise works perfectly fine. It feels clumsily large, especially since we’re coming from MacBook 13s. She kept asking me if I’d heard any rumors about when new 13s would come out. She went in pretty determined to get a new machine but decided to wait. The struggle continu…

I was at the Apple Store this weekend. Some guy brought in his older 15” to compare to the new 16”. It was not too much larger but it was slightly noticeable. It didn’t feel like I would break the top lid like I do on my 2017 15”.

I would not use clumsily large to describe it, my work laptop is a clumsily large hp zBook. Not one will ever mug me for it because I could throw it at them. They’d probably get a concussion.

Apple listened to customers and built the 16”. The CPUs are intel’s problem not apple. The 16” is Apple saying they were wrong and fixing issues.

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