iFixit's Full 16-Inch MacBook Pro Video Teardown Highlights Internal Design Changes

iFixit earlier this week posted a teaser of its MacBook Pro teardown, and now, the site is back with a full video that gives us a clear look at the components inside the new MacBook Pro models.


As iFixit mentioned in its first article, it's easier to get into a MacBook Pro than it was before because Apple is no longer gluing the batteries in place. Instead, there are adhesive pull tabs that make battery replacement more streamlined. Repairs aren't simple, though, because there's the speaker system to deal with near the battery, and the adhesive tabs for the two main battery cells can only be accessed by removing the trackpad.

The fans are bigger than the fans that were in the prior-generation machine, and there's more space for the speaker system due to the thicker chassis. There's a 99.6Wh battery in the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which is a bit smaller than the battery in the prior-generation model. With efficiency improvements introduced with the M1 Pro and Max chips, battery life is much improved.

There's an updated display cable design that gives them more slack when the display is opened and closed, which should prevent the "Flexgate" issues that have plagued older MacBook Pro models.

The three USB-C ports, the MagSafe port, and the headphone jack are modular for simple repairs, but the HDMI port and the SD card slot are soldered in place on the logic board. Memory and storage are integrated and not user replaceable.

All in all, iFixit gave the MacBook Pro a repair score of 4/10 because of the use of pentalobe screws, the difficulty removing the top cover, and issues with repairing features like the fingerprint sensor and the display, which lose functionality with component swaps.

iFixit also plans to do a full written teardown of the 14-inch MacBook Pro, which it says is very similar to the 16-inch machine. That teardown will be updated later.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro 14 & 16"
Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Top Rated Comments

@Brett Avatar
18 months ago
iFixit frustrate me sometimes. Clearly Apple has done a redesign inside for the better to some degree. And it’s easier to get into. But deducting points for pentolobe screws is plain dumb being Apple as used them for years now and it is a matter of switching a tool.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheLinkster Avatar
18 months ago

Yeah but you have to remember the iFixit score is not some kind of accolade, it's just meant to indicate how feasible it is to service something either by yourself or by a third party repair shop so it makes sense to duck the score for trivial things like uncommon screws.
When ifixit, and plenty of other chinese manufacturers, make and sell pentalobe screwdrivers, it's disingenuous to dock points for a screw type. It's just another tool you have to buy, like a phillips or flathead. They should otherwise be docking points for needing a phillips when all you have is a flathead.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
headlessmike Avatar
18 months ago
How can I ever trust them when they mix up embossed and debossed‽
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zubikov Avatar
18 months ago
They did a teardown on the polishing cloth and called it Tim Cook's toilet paper ??
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Haiku_Oezu Avatar
18 months ago

Some lessons learned ?.
I wonder how many engineers at Apple are now relieved that they can do things like not make battery housings with incredibly little tolerance because Jony Ive isn't there to tell them it needs to be thinner.

I honestly welcome this change, I like Ive's designs but I never cared about how ridiculously thin everything was and when it started interfering with reliability it got downright annoying.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Phil77354 Avatar
18 months ago
Their 4/10 score is not of particular use to me because the likelihood that I would ever open up a MacBook and try to repair it myself is about 1/100,000. . .
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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