AppleInsider Staff
The 15-inch Retina display on the new MacBook Pro was carefully taken apart by repair company iFixit, which declared the screen an "engineering marvel." In a unique change, the LCD screen 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," the solutions provider explained.
In this approach, Apple was able to pack in five times as many pixels into the new Retina display, all while making the screen a fraction of a millimeter thicker. Apple has also said the new screen reduces glare by 75 percent by removing the front glass.
As it did in its teardown of the full Retina display MacBook Pro computer, iFixit lamented that the Retina display itself is not suitable for repair by third-party companies such as itself.
"If anything in the display assembly breaks, you'll need to replace the whole thing," they said. "It will be more expensive than just replacing the LCD inside a regular MacBook Pro, but it will also make the choice (of whether to replace just LCD or entire display assembly) very easy."
The teardown also found that display hinges inside the MacBook Pro Retina display have cables routed through them, without any way of removing the cables. In previous MacBook Pro models, the cables were routed underneath cable retainers.
The new 720p high-definition FaceTime camera was also found to connect to the MacBook Pro with a Vimicro VC0358 USB camera interface integrated circuit. And a strip of 48 LED backlights at the bottom of the display illuminate the screen.
The teardown also discovered a laser-engraved internal use code etched onto the bottom of the screen for Apple's internal use.
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Malcolm Owen
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77 Comments
that second image made me cringe. poor, poor display. :(
this type of cruelty should be outlawed.
The tone of this article is much more positive than the apparent opinion of the guy running that teardown at iFix-it, Kyle Wiens. He had this to say about it to Wired:
"The Retina MacBook is the least repairable laptop we’ve ever taken apart: Unlike the previous model, the display is fused to the glass, which means replacing the LCD requires buying an expensive display assembly. The RAM is now soldered to the logic board — making future memory upgrades impossible. And the battery is glued to the case, requiring customers to mail their laptop to Apple every so often for a $200 replacement. The design may well be comprised of “highly recyclable aluminum and glass” — but my friends in the electronics recycling industry tell me they have no way of recycling aluminum that has glass glued to it like Apple did with both this machine and the recent iPad.
The design pattern has serious consequences not only for consumers and the environment, but also for the tech industry as a whole."
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/opinion-apple-retina-displa/
The tone of this article is much more positive than the apparent opinion of the guy running that teardown at iFix-it, Kyle Wiens. He had this to say about it to Wired:
"The Retina MacBook is the least repairable laptop we’ve ever taken apart: Unlike the previous model, the display is fused to the glass, which means replacing the LCD requires buying an expensive display assembly. The RAM is now soldered to the logic board — making future memory upgrades impossible. And the battery is glued to the case, requiring customers to mail their laptop to Apple every so often for a $200 replacement. The design may well be comprised of “highly recyclable aluminum and glass” — but my friends in the electronics recycling industry tell me they have no way of recycling aluminum that has glass glued to it like Apple did with both this machine and the recent iPad.
The design pattern has serious consequences not only for consumers and the environment, but also for the tech industry as a whole."
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/opinion-apple-retina-displa/
Sounds like the recycling industry needs some innovation of its own.
Like discovering a glue-softening formula to separate glass from metal, as opposed to complaining that it can't figure it out. Does Apple have to do everything around here?
[quote name="Gatorguy" url="/t/150794/macbook-pro-retina-display-teardown-shows-off-engineering-marvel#post_2130340"]The tone of this article is much more positive than the apparent opinion of the guy running that teardown at iFix-it, Kyle Wiens. He had this to say about it to Wired: [B]"The Retina MacBook is the least repairable laptop we’ve ever taken apart: Unlike the previous model, the display is fused to the glass, which means replacing the LCD requires buying an expensive display assembly. The RAM is now soldered to the logic board — making future memory upgrades impossible. And the battery is glued to the case, requiring customers to mail their laptop to Apple every so often for a $200 replacement . The design may well be comprised of “ highly recyclable aluminum and glass ” — but my friends in the electronics recycling industry tell me they have no way of recycling aluminum that has glass glued to it like Apple did with both this machine and the recent iPad. [/B]
[B]The design pattern has serious consequences not only for consumers and the environment, but also for the tech industry as a whole."[/B]
[URL=http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/opinion-apple-retina-displa/]http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/06/opinion-apple-retina-displa/[/URL] [/quote] That is not surprising IMHO. iFixit is is the same position as all those garages that were making a living fixing car engines back in the days when you could open the hood and recognize things. I recall the comments back then when the German manufacturers started sealing everything in under smooth black covers and many previously mechanical components became electronic and computer controlled. In fact the first thing that occurred to me when AI showed the inside of the new MacBook Pro was it reminded me of looking under the hood of our Lexus or Mercedes heck even my Jeep. I used to adjust my air / fuel mixture and change the spark plugs myself twenty years ago. Now I take it to the dealership for a diagnostic. I never embarked on a 3000 mile drive without a bunch of spare parts then. Now I don't give it a thought. I don't miss the old days where cars are concerned to be honest, the reliability now is off the charts compared to then and Apple MacBook Pros are the computer equivalent of a BMW engine in this regard. iFixit will need to adapt or stick with writing about PCs until they are no more in their current incarnation. Or perhaps I should simply say 'are no more'.
The tone of this article is much more positive than the apparent opinion of the guy running that teardown at iFix-it, Kyle Wiens. He had this to say about it to Wired:
The cynic in me says that this is a guy who funds most of his projects from the revenue generated selling the tools to the DIYers who want to fix their iHardware themselves.
His revenue stream has dried up - and is likely to get worse.
Non upgradable RAM? CTO with 16GB up front. You cant go beyond 16GB, and - while expensive - its not a deal breaker.
Non replaceable screen? Cracked screens are a risk - but only time will tell if this is a genuine problem on the redesigned model(s). For most screen repairs it wasnt the LCD that was damaged, but the front glass. No front glass means ... more LCD damage or a fragile component removed from the scenario?
Nonremovable battery? This one concerns me a little. I am on my third MB battery since I bought my Early 08 MB ... but then again, those battery packs were known to have issues.
Recycling? OK, as part of a total lifecycle that is a concern but not now. That "glass" is an LCD. It is not LCD per se. You dont throw bare LCD panels out with your beer bottles for recycling. Metal recycling - even for electronics is a high temp smelting process where the metals liquify at different temps and get filtered (low tech analogy) off. If he means reuse, thats a different story, but recycling? Thats a furphy.
I am anxiously awaiting my MBP:NG (MBPR?) ...