All the main parts (trackpad, keyboard, battery, screen, headphone,
ports, etc.) are easily removable and replacable ... *BUT*, as always
these days, you cannot upgrade RAM, or graphics, and the storage drive
is likely not easily upgradable either.


First MacBook Neo teardown praises 'absolutely amazing' repairability
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"It's just super straightforward, elegant design."

Our reviewer calls it the perfect gateway Mac. But if that's not
enough to make you like the surprisingly affordable MacBook Neo, the
first teardown of the device has revealed another factor in its
favor: repairability.

A new video from the Australian YouTube channel TECH RE-NU
demonstrates what the presenter describes as a "speedrun disassembly"
of the MacBook Neo, from unscrewing the bottom plate to removing the
trackpad. Without appearing to rush in any way, the presenter
achieves this in double-quick time, while praising the way that the
Neo's simple construction lends itself to disassembly and easy
repair.

MacBook Neo Teardown: The Most Repairable Mac Yet? (6mins 39secs)
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k7Lv7f-5CQ>

When the speakers are popped out, they comment on the lack of sticky
tabs. The battery lifts out easily (once the 18 screws are removed),
and there's no sticky adhesive. The audio jack is "nice and modular."
And while there is "a little bit" of adhesive on the trackpad, the
presenter says that's not the end of the world. Overall it's a highly
positive evaluation.

"We've done this in less than 100 minutes," they say, while a caption
points out that it's actually been six. "Which is absolutely amazing
for an Apple laptop. I can't say we've ever had a Mac that looks as
repairable or as modular as this one.

"It's just super straightforward, elegant design. Apple has kept the
costs down, [it's] got the simplicity up, and that's just meant a
really repairable, very easy-to-open laptop."

As the presenter notes, Apple designers have not always been this
kind to repairers.

Last year the iPhone 16e was criticised by iFixit for the "terrible
design" of its USB-C port, although other elements were received more
favorably. A few years earlier the same site gave the
iPhone 15 Pro Max a repairability score of just 4 out of 10 and
complained about the company's "ongoing constriction of repair
freedoms through its restrictive parts pairing system." And that's
before we even get into the "excruciating gauntlet of hurdles"
presented by Apple's self-repair program.

The issue, generally, has been that Apple receives revenue if you get
your devices repaired at an Apple Store or accredited partner, so the
company is incentivised to gatekeep the process. On the other hand,
public praise of a product's repairability can only help sales, so
perhaps the Neo will herald the start of a new Apple strategy in more
way than one.



<https://www.macworld.com/article/3087445/first-macbook-neo-teardown-praises-absolutely-amazing-repairability.html>






--- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)