iFixit takes apart new 14″ MacBook Pro with help… from Apple

A iFixit released today the teardownapparatus dismantling process, of the new 14 inch macbook pro, released this month. The interesting thing this time is that the Apple repair manual provided in the Self Service Repaira service that allows users to repair their devices themselves.

In order to observe how similar the two models are, the site used the manual referring to the MacBook Pro with M1 Pro/Max processor to disassemble the new one, with M2 Pro chip. And, in fact, the computers are quite similar, although some differences were found.

The main differences between generations are on the motherboard. For starters, the new MacBook Pro’s heat sink is smaller than the previous one. Furthermore, now the integrated memory is no longer just two 8GB Samsung modules, but four SK Hynix 4GB LPDDR5 modules.

The reason for this shift is in the supply chain. The previously used modules are scarcer, in addition to the fact that, using four smaller modules, fewer substrate layers need to be used, reducing the complexity of the processes.

This same issue involving the supply of parts made Apple change the engineering of the NAND storage: only one 256GB module was used, instead of two 128GB modules, causing a decrease in the performance of the component. This was also done on the MacBook Pro/Air (M2).

Above, model plate with M1 Pro (two storage modules in lower right corner); below, that of the M2 Pro (only one module).

According to an expert heard by iFixit, only 128GB modules are becoming more difficult to find on the market, so the 256GB version has been adopted for large-scale use, as is the case with Apple.

The website stated that the teardown offered interesting explanations of the repair process for the new 14″ MacBook Pro. However, once more the pairing of parts was criticized, which is a software limitation imposed by Apple. Each part of a company device is associated with a unit of the product, in order to make it difficult to reuse it on some occasions.

14″ and 16″ MacBook Pro

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