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Apple SSD in Touch Bar-equipped MacBook Pro fixed to motherboard, not removable

Recent examinations of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar show that Apple has abandoned the socketed SSD as seen in the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Function Keys model.

According to a MacRumors reader who removed the back panel of his newly arrived 15-inch MacBook Pro, the SSD is surface mounted to the motherboard, with no apparent mounting allowing for easy removal or storage upgrades. This stands in contrast to the MacBook Pro 13-inch model without the Touch Bar, that clearly had a removable SSD.

The reasons for the change are unclear. There isn't a significant difference in storage speed, with other design choices made in the interior of the computer point, such as "finger-width" gaps between batteries" presumably to facilitate ventilation.

AppleInsider has contacted Apple regarding the static SSD mount, and has not as of yet received a response. Further tear-downs of the new MacBook Pro will hopefully shed more light on the situation.

The 2016 MacBook Pro family, announced Thursday, is a major redesign to Apple's flagship notebook, and comes in screen sizes of 13 and 15 inches, with core models starting at $1,799 and shipping now to early orderers. AppleInsider has examined in detail both the models with and without the Touch Bar.



178 Comments

twa440 9 Years · 30 comments

http://www.infoworld.com/article/3141798/hardware/hps-power-packed-z2-mini-desktop-takes-on-apples-aging-mac-mini.html

macdarren 15 Years · 13 comments

I have been trying to decide if I would go with a 2016 model, or a 2015 or wait for the 2017.  This would almost certainly rule out the 2016 for me.  I keep my MacBooks for about 5 years (my current one is an early 2011) and I have consistently upgraded all of them....I had almost talked myself into a 2016 despite the memory limits since 16GB has proven sufficient MOST of the time but both HD and Memory constraints plus port shortage is really making it hard to go with the 2016...maybe some of that will be redressed in the next iteration but not sure I can wait that long...maybe a 2015 will get me to 2018 or even 2020 for the next big revision...maybe there will be a 'real' Pro version in the interim.

All the talk of pro apps needing more RAM has not really stood up for me (granted I am not an HD Video renderer or editor) but for me Virtual Machines is the ultimate RAM sucker.  If I need 2 VMs running (typically Linux and Windows and sometimes multiples of each) and each VM needs 4-8GB and I still want my Mac to operate in a reasonably normal fashion 16GB gets really tight.

macxpress 16 Years · 5913 comments

twa440 said:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/3141798/hardware/hps-power-packed-z2-mini-desktop-takes-on-apples-aging-mac-mini.html

What does this have to do with anything?