Last week, the teardown experts at iFixit took a look at the new Retina MacBook Pro, noting how Apple used a number of innovations first deployed in the MacBook Air to reduce the machine's thickness but in the process hampered users' ability to repair and upgrade components.
The Retina display is an engineering marvel. Its LCD is essentially the entire display assembly. Rather than sandwich an LCD panel between a back case and a piece of glass in front, Apple used the aluminum case itself as the frame for the LCD panel and used the LCD as the front glass. They’ve managed to pack five times as many pixels as the last model in a display that’s actually a fraction of a millimeter thinner. And since there’s no front glass, glare is much less of an issue.
With the LCD so tightly integrated into the display assembly, iFixit actually broke the LCD in the process of trying to disassemble it, noting that anyone looking to replace their display would need to replace the entire assembly instead of trying to swap in a new LCD panel.
The teardown documents the full range of features used to keep the display slim and light while delivering crisp images on the ultra-high resolution screen, including routing of cables through hinges, 48 LEDs at the bottom of the screen to light the display, and various diffuser, prism, and polarizing sheets to generate the screen's images.
The new Retina MacBook Pro remains in high demand amid tight supplies, with shipping estimates for new orders through Apple's online store remaining at the 3-4 week figure reached less than two days after the machine debuted.
Monday October 28, 2024 7:16 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Amazon has seemingly leaked the rumored next-generation Mac mini ahead of Apple's announcement this week, revealing several details.
Our concept of a smaller Mac mini
According to a comparison chart on Amazon's product listing for the new iMac, the new Mac mini will be available with M4 and M4 Pro chip options, with up to a 14-core CPU and up to a 20-core GPU. In addition, the chart indicates ...
Apple today announced fully redesigned Mac mini models featuring the M4 and M4 Pro chips, a considerably smaller casing, two front-facing USB-C ports, Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, and more.
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The product refresh marks the first time the Mac mini has been redesigned in over a decade. The enclosure now measures just five by five inches...
Wednesday October 30, 2024 8:01 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple today announced new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models featuring M4 Pro and M4 Max chips, alongside a new entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro powered by the M4 chip.
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The new M4 Pro and M4 Max machines come with a minimum of 24GB of Unified Memory as standard, up from 18GB in the previous models. Both models feature three...
Wednesday October 30, 2024 8:04 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today in its new MacBook Pro press release announced that the MacBook Air lineup now starts with 16GB of RAM, up from 8GB previously.
This change applies to the 13-inch model with the M2 chip, the 13-inch model with the M3 chip, and the 15-inch model with the M3 chip.
In the U.S., the MacBook Air lineup continues to start at $999, so there is no price increase associated with the...
Tuesday October 29, 2024 8:48 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Oops! Eagle-eyed developer Charlie Joseph today discovered that Apple has leaked its upcoming high-end M4 Max chip through an image uploaded to its website. The discovery was shared with Bloomberg's Mark Gurman on social media.
It was already pretty obvious that Apple plans to announce new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips this week, after Apple promised...
Monday October 28, 2024 3:49 pm PDT by Juli Clover
iOS 18.1 is the first iOS 18 update with Apple Intelligence capabilities, and that's what a lot of the coverage about the new software has focused on. If you don't have an iPhone that's capable of Apple Intelligence, you're probably wondering just what's in the update for you.
While Apple Intelligence does make up the bulk of what's new, if you have an older device, you still get some solid...
Monday October 28, 2024 8:05 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released watchOS 11.1, the first major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.1 comes one month after Apple released watchOS 11. watchOS 11.1 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2.
watchOS 11.1 can be downloaded on an iPhone running iOS 18.1 by opening up the Apple Watch app...
Dear iFixit, next time around, get yourself unwaxed dental floss, and use that to "saw" through the adhesive / tape. Small enough to fit in there, cheap enough to discard, flexible to get around stuff, strong enough to cut RTVs and tapes. ;)
As there is no front glass, how is the screen 'protected'? I mean, the previous generations have glass to almost prevent damage from scratches etc. Does it still have a glass element to it or is it more lift a standard LCD 'finish'?