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

IFixit: Self Repair Program makes M1 MacBooks less repairable

9to5mac.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 140 posts

Re: IFixit: Self Repair Program makes M1 MacBooks less repairable

#131

Post by tpmoney »

smoldesu wrote: post #43
MrFoof wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The official workshop manual from the manufacturer for my car (which includes full engine assembly!) — the same one used by all of its dealer techs - is over 6400 pages. It is loaded with an absurd number of detailed diagrams, torque specifications, required tools, checklists, etc. Does that make my car less repairable? Or does it provide all the information necessary for someone to correctly perform repair or mainte…

> Or does it provide all the information necessary for someone to correctly perform repair or maintenance Well, that's the problem. Apple doesn't provide all of the necessary information to safely perform board repairs or fix mechanical failure. If you break your car's window, you can go get it replaced in an afternoon. If you break your Macbook's display, your options are to take it to an Apple Store and let them qu…

Why would you buy a top case to replace a broken display and not the display module that they sell separately?

Re: IFixit: Self Repair Program makes M1 MacBooks less repairable

#132

Post by tpmoney »

falcolas wrote: post #31
tarentel wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I definitely agree with you there. But the headline says it makes it "less repairable." If your car manufacturers changes all the bolts on your tires to use specialized tools and require you to read a book to understand it that makes your car less repairable. If they provide those tools and manual that doesn't make your car less repairable than it already was. My point is the title of this makes no sense.

Titles rarely do. And sadly, if you want to thrive by producing content, you need to juice up the title a little. Yeah, I hate it too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2xHZPH5Sng But on topic, Apple's official stance, as provided by this repair manual, is that replacing a battery requires you to replace vast portions of the final product. Car analogy time: Got bad seals on your block? Send us the engine; who knows wh…

The keyboard and upper case enclosure doesn’t constitute “vast portions of the final product” to me. That still leaves the display, logic board, audio board, io board, fans, track pad, lower enclosure and all the misc parts like antennas, hinges etc.

Should it be possible to replace just the battery and not need to replace the entire top case with it? Sure. And for some of their laptops you can (like the MBA) and for the others they say they will be providing separate versions in the future. But we should be clear here that you’re not replacing “vast portions” of the laptop even if you did it now. You have to remove those items to replace the component, but remove and reinstall is not replace.

Re: IFixit: Self Repair Program makes M1 MacBooks less repairable

#133

Post by anaganisk »

suetoniusp91 wrote: post #83
anonymouse008 wrote: post #7

The audacity is sky high. Just check the attention to detail and care put into these manuals. The gradient blue arrows are masked by glass and alter in arrow opacities to make abundantly clear how the device is supposed to react to the force applied. You all should have been there in the original iPhone days. I apologize to my early customers as to achieve anything close to a 'repair' meant losing a few back clips an…

Apple has never and will never be the main Target of companies like Ifixit because the vast majority of Apple users are tech illiterate NPCs. Stop shilling for a trillion dollar company for free. At least get payed for it

Stop calling tech illiterate, NPCs. Thats some arrogance. Apple has its market, and you are free to not use the devices if you dont like em. Apple is not a monopoly in mobile phones, out of US may be a handful of countries have a significant share in Apple’s market.

Re: IFixit: Self Repair Program makes M1 MacBooks less repairable

#134

Post by birdyrooster »

the_third_wave wrote: post #130
tpmoney wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re probably in for a nasty surprise when you look up the process for replacing the battery pack in an EV, which is a more apt comparison than the standard hunk of lead and acid in an ICE car. Just like Apples laptops, EVs are trying to cram batteries into every possible space to maximize capacity, meaning that replacement will involve some substantial disassembly. And yes, Apple can do it and has even said they’r…

No, the EV pack is not an apt comparison, the battery packs in e.g. those Thinkpads I have around here are. One of them (a T550) has an internal battery pack in addition to the easily replaceable one. It can still be replaced easily after removing the (clearly marked) screws and removing the pack. As to your experience working for an Apple authorised repair centre I'd suggest that the intersection between Apple users…

The MacBook Pro gets 22 hours of battery life, the ThinkPad can't even hold a candle to it.

Re: IFixit: Self Repair Program makes M1 MacBooks less repairable

#135

Post by the_third_wave »

birdyrooster wrote: post #134
the_third_wave wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the EV pack is not an apt comparison, the battery packs in e.g. those Thinkpads I have around here are. One of them (a T550) has an internal battery pack in addition to the easily replaceable one. It can still be replaced easily after removing the (clearly marked) screws and removing the pack. As to your experience working for an Apple authorised repair centre I'd suggest that the intersection between Apple users…

The MacBook Pro gets 22 hours of battery life, the ThinkPad can't even hold a candle to it.

The T550 gets 21 hours of battery life [1] so I'd say those candles are pretty well matched, especially given the possibility to swap one of the batteries in the T550 with a charged one without the need to shut it down which can extend the runtime well past what that Macbook Pro gets.

[1] https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/Notebooks/Lenovo/Thi...

Re: IFixit: Self Repair Program makes M1 MacBooks less repairable

#136

Post by jks »

7speter wrote: post #121
jks wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've changed parts on several Apple laptops and one Mac Mini using iFixit manuals. In every case, it was really useful to read all the comments left by readers. Sometimes the comments tell you that you can skip several steps, in some cases they point out when you need to be extra careful or when the iFixit photos were misleading.

> ...and one Mac Mini using iFixit manuals. Were you upgrading the hard drive in a 2014 mac mini?

Yes, the hard drive on a "Late 2014" Mac Mini (A1347) had died and I swapped in a SATA SSD.

Re: IFixit: Self Repair Program makes M1 MacBooks less repairable

#137

Post by birdyrooster »

the_third_wave wrote: post #135
birdyrooster wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The MacBook Pro gets 22 hours of battery life, the ThinkPad can't even hold a candle to it.

The T550 gets 21 hours of battery life [1] so I'd say those candles are pretty well matched, especially given the possibility to swap one of the batteries in the T550 with a charged one without the need to shut it down which can extend the runtime well past what that Macbook Pro gets. [1] https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/Notebooks/Lenovo/Thi...

If only battery life was the only thing that mattered. The T550 is running a 5th Gen i5 which would be absolutely destroyed by the M1 Max.

Re: IFixit: Self Repair Program makes M1 MacBooks less repairable

#138

Post by dmz73 »

birdyrooster wrote: post #137
the_third_wave wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The T550 gets 21 hours of battery life [1] so I'd say those candles are pretty well matched, especially given the possibility to swap one of the batteries in the T550 with a charged one without the need to shut it down which can extend the runtime well past what that Macbook Pro gets. [1] https://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/Notebooks/Lenovo/Thi...

If only battery life was the only thing that mattered. The T550 is running a 5th Gen i5 which would be absolutely destroyed by the M1 Max.

Exactly, battery life alone is meaningless.

With T550 you get a computer with decent keyboard. With M1 Max you get a Mac. Even the best quality Mac keyboard is completely unusable for me and the OS feels like it is fighting you at every corner, I haven't been that frustrated since Windows Vista, so even if the CPU was 1000x faster, the user experience for me is horrible. My old Samsung T700t with 2nd gen i5 and a dock keyboard feels like usability king compared to every Mac I ever used and it also feels much faster once I swapped Windows for Linux.

Re: IFixit: Self Repair Program makes M1 MacBooks less repairable

#139

Post by alphabettsy »

josephcsible wrote: post #115
alphabettsy wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A more apt analogy is the spark plug is stuck, stripped or broken. In that case should they provided detailed instructions on removal where that risks destroying the engine or at least the heads?

I'd definitely risk destroying an engine if the alternative were throwing it away and replacing it while there was still a chance it was fixable. Who wouldn't?

My point is the company is not going to provide you instructions that would likely damage or destroy the product, not debate whether or not one should attempt those procedures.

If I was following the shop manual and I broke a head bolt off in my engine block I would take it to a machine shop, but I wouldn’t expect the auto maker to provide instructions to remove a broken head bolt.

Re: IFixit: Self Repair Program makes M1 MacBooks less repairable

#140

Post by tempnow987 »

vonseel wrote: post #122
vonseel wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Applecare screen replacement is a breeze, if you live near an Apple store. Walk into scheduled appointment, hand them your phone and sign your name on their little iPad granting them the permission to repair or replace your device and dealing with payment, and they tell you to come back an hour or two later and pick up your device. I always buy Applecare and have had to replace each of my last iPhones at least once t…

Wow, wasn’t expecting downvotes on something that seemed non-controversial like this. I wonder am I getting downvoted because I’m a klutz and have broken a bunch of iPhones, or is it because I didn’t have a negative experience with AppleCare?

The "hackers" on HN don't have much appreciation for real world use cases / customer needs.

I'm not sure if this was permitted, but I worked with a nonprofit that ran a program for kids that bought apple products and AppleCare on them all. Apple was essentially a program sponsor. Anytime someone tells me how terrible Apple is for the customer, after having to MAIL IN products to other providers who sit on them for MONTHS, I just have to laugh. Many other providers it's not even worth trying to get warranty service because you end up not having a computer / laptop etc for weeks.

Post reply on HN