Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable

ifixit.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

311–320 of 353 posts

Re: The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable

#311

Post by mkr-hn »

astrodust wrote: post #283
pyre wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> your *clunky* Dell laptop Careful, there. Your bias is showing.

If Dell comes up with something as refined as the MacBook Air in the next few years, I'll be truly surprised. HP has been working towards making better products through better design. Sony keeps working on creating these crazy, over-styled products, but they are different. Dell seems to be cranking out the same basic thing.

Those aren't the only companies making Windows-based PCs. I use a Toshiba laptop.

Re: The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable

#312

Post by makomk »

toemetoch wrote: post #302

Since when is a soldering iron high tech? Since when can't you solder SMD chips due to the small pitch? They're not BGA, so you can solder them, even with that pitch. Dear HN "hackers". Removing and adding RAM from a fool-proof socket that is found on most motherboards isn't hacking. Figuring out pincompatibility, configuration and (de)soldering SMD chips: that's hacking.

Modern RAM chips have actually moved to BGA packages now, and if you look closely at the iFixit teardown the ones on the new Macbook Pro Retina definitely appear to be BGA. Good luck desoldering and replacing those by hand.

Re: The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable

#313

Post by MartinCron »

pyre wrote: post #299
MartinCron wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use a Dell laptop every day. I really enjoy it. Competent and well-built machine. Good value, all that. If I put it next to my wife's MacBook Pro, well, the only word for it is "clunky". Put a reasonably handsome man next to George Clooney and he'll look clunky, too.

The idea that your choice is between a "clunky Dell" and an "elegant Apple" (a false dichotomy) shows an Apple bias to me. Sort of like the way that Free Software advocates have spent a decade or so referring to Microsoft as M$ (or Windows as WinBlows).

OK. You win. If loving Apple is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Re: The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable

#314

Post by spartango »

keithpeter wrote: post #160
bitwize wrote: post #150

Steve Jobs had a dream of selling sealed boxes to customers who would treat them as appliances, like toasters. That's what he's been pushing for, and now Apple is on track to doing it. So they deserve half the culpability, inasmuch as this is a bad thing. The other half is with the people who buy such machines.

The use case for a toaster does not change that much, and the mains voltage and the properties of bread remain reasonably stable. A good toaster can last for decades. The things we expect our computers to do change over time, so sealed boxes must have short lives. That in itself might not be a problem if the boxes could be returned and factory upgraded in some way. Looks like the bonding of glass and metal make that…

A curious question is that of whether the need to upgrade computer components over the years is slowly starting to decrease. As normal users become more oblivious to performance improvements (above the 'good-enough' threshold). We aren't there yet, but perhaps we'll slow enough that people replace entire machines with the intervals, rather than parts.

Re: The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable

#315

Post by evan_ »

ken wrote: post #192
taligent wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you talking about ? The battery IS replaceable just not by you. And I hardly think saving an hour at an Apple Store once every 3 years is worth having a substantially thicker device.

You'll probably get one use of that, then. I doubt they'll still have 2012 Macbook Pro batteries sitting around in 2018, much less a person who knows how to install them. I took my 2006 Macbook in to an Apple retail store to get a new battery, and they don't stock them any more. They said they could special order one, but actually suggested I try Amazon.

> I took my 2006 Macbook in to an Apple retail store to get a new battery, and they don't stock them any more.

You'd have the same problem in 2018 even if you had a replaceable battery.

Re: The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable

#316

Post by cdawzrd »

toemetoch wrote: post #302

Since when is a soldering iron high tech? Since when can't you solder SMD chips due to the small pitch? They're not BGA, so you can solder them, even with that pitch. Dear HN "hackers". Removing and adding RAM from a fool-proof socket that is found on most motherboards isn't hacking. Figuring out pincompatibility, configuration and (de)soldering SMD chips: that's hacking.

The newest RAM that you can get as a TSSOP (as opposed to BGA) is DDR1. DDR2 and DDR3 are only available in BGA packages.

Re: The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable

#317

Post by jonknee »

tjoff wrote: post #109
archgrove wrote: post #7

The argument doesn't really hold up, as we're only given two choices: Upgradable, or amazing screen. If there was a third, "Upgradable and amazing screen" with the applicable price/weight tradeoffs, then the "we can choose" view would be more tenable. Regardless, the lack of upgradability isn't something that bugs me. My last two Apple laptops were "upgradable", but all I ever did was throw some RAM in there. The sub…

These days, the stock specs of the Macbook Retina will be fine for even power users for years; almost certainly the life of a laptop. When the battery dies it will be worthless as a laptop . For a power user that means you are forced to buy a replacement way sooner than you'd want. Just yet another reason for why it is so obvious that apple does mainstream hardware, the sad part is that people confuse it with quality…

Or just have the battery replaced like you can with all the other Apple products without a user replaceable battery. The Retina replacement is a little more expensive than the previous model, but it's also a larger battery.

Re: The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable

#318

Post by jonknee »

josteink wrote: post #300
benatkin wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That will be someone else's problem. People will still pay a lot of money for used MBPs.

People will pay lots of money for a MBP with a dead, non-replaceable battery? I'm sorry, but I think you are quite mistaken on this one.

Apple will replace it for $199. It's like buying a used car that has a battery a couple years old--not a reason to pass upon the car, it will just take a few bucks. Factor that into the price.

Re: The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable

#319

Post by dkulchenko »

huggyface wrote: post #93
jzeltman wrote: post #17

I know this isn't the place to say this, but. Think about the context of who they're [Apple] going after now. Regular people who don't care whatsoever if they can upgrade their RAM or have a bigger hard-drive. They want something that just works. Furthermore, even though applications eventually require more RAM or computing power, the majority of Apple products purchased today will handle that for years to come, espe…

Think about the context of who they're [Apple] going after now. You explained the iMac or other consumer devices. It does not explain a purportedly professional device. As I mentioned in another thread, I was seriously considering the MBP Retina as my first full Mac computer. Having a serviceable battery simply kills it though -- maybe Apple has some amazing new battery tech (unlikely), but my experience has been tha…

maybe Apple has some amazing new battery tech (unlikely), but my experience has been that laptop batteries start seriously degrading after a year.

I've had the same experience with other laptops in the past (my Asus netbook lost its ability to hold its charge altogether after 10 months), but my MBP's battery life has not degraded in any noticeable fashion after 18 months of heavy use.

Re: The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable

#320

Post by CJefferson »

tjoff wrote: post #109
archgrove wrote: post #7

The argument doesn't really hold up, as we're only given two choices: Upgradable, or amazing screen. If there was a third, "Upgradable and amazing screen" with the applicable price/weight tradeoffs, then the "we can choose" view would be more tenable. Regardless, the lack of upgradability isn't something that bugs me. My last two Apple laptops were "upgradable", but all I ever did was throw some RAM in there. The sub…

These days, the stock specs of the Macbook Retina will be fine for even power users for years; almost certainly the life of a laptop. When the battery dies it will be worthless as a laptop . For a power user that means you are forced to buy a replacement way sooner than you'd want. Just yet another reason for why it is so obvious that apple does mainstream hardware, the sad part is that people confuse it with quality…

I think that 8GB might start to get a little tight.

I have a 2 year old 4GB MacBook Pro, and had to upgrade the RAM as I found it swapping too much.

Post reply on HN