MacBook Neo Teardown Shows Apple’s Most Repairable Laptop Design Since 2012
Apple is making waves its MacBook Neo starting at $599, or $499 with a education discount, with surprisingly solid performance for a system built around a smartphone chip and just 8GB of RAM. As it turns out, performance is not the only surprise. The folks at iFixIt tore into Apple's most affordable MacBook ever launched and poured on the praise for what it declared to be the "most repairable MacBook in 14 years."
It's a curious turn of a events, given Apple's rough track record for DIY repairs and how its MacBook devices have historically performaned in past teardowns. The MacBook Neo is still not perfect in that regard and its 6 out of 10 score may seem middling at first glance, but the teardown crew notes it is a "strong score" by MacBook standards.
To get inside the MacBook Neo, you still need to remove a series of pentalobe screws, as Apple still has not (and maybe never will) made the transition to Torx Plus. However, once you've removed the eight pentalobe screws holding the bottom chassis cover in place, it can be unclipped by hand and pried off without having to apply heat or work your way around with an opening pick. You don't even to resort to using a suction handle.
"When we score repairability, one of the main things we’re looking at is the disassembly tree, a simplified map of how a device comes apart: We want it flat, with as few components in the way of others as possible. Immediately upon removing the back case of the Neo, we were impressed. This tree is more acacia than monkeypod," iFixIt says.
The major highlight of the teardown is the battery, which is one of the main reasons why you might be inclined to venture inside a MacBook (or any laptop, really) in the first place. Traditionally, Apple has used a series of stretch-release adhesive strips to hold its MacBook batteries in place, and that can make battery swaps both more difficult and riskier. However, the MacBook Neo's battery is simply held in place in a tray with 18 screws.
Sure, that's a lot of screws, but it's a definite upgrade for DIY disassembly compared to annoying glue strips.
"That may sound like a small thing. It’s not. Battery replacement on the Neo feels ordinary in a way MacBook battery replacement has not for a very long time. The pack itself is made of two cells rated for a combined 36.48 Wh, and replacing it no longer feels like a delicate extraction job," iFixIt says.
It's a big win for the right-to-repair movement, and particularly notable given the MacBook Neo's affordable starting price. Unfortunately, the keyboard is still difficult to replace as it requires peeling tape, cleaning adhesive, and remove a mind-boggling 41 screws. But, it's not riveted to the top case or attached to the battery, so it could certainly be worse.
"Apple has finally gotten officially on board with the idea of keyboard replacement without changing out the whole top case: They’ve got a repair manual that describes how to swap out a keyboard, and their separate keyboard shield guide makes it seem like they’re planning to sell both as independent products via their Self Service Repair store. Our fingers are once again crossed," iFixIt adds.
The major downside is that both the RAM and storage are soldered, so if either one goes bad, it's a more difficult and costly replacement than it needs to be. Overall, however, the MacBook Neo earned a fair amount of unexpected praise in the teardown analysis. Several of the ports and parts are modular, and the parts that may be likely to fail first are easier to reach than they have been for a very long time in the MacBook world.
For anyone interested, the MacBook Neo is available now. The 256GB model costs $599 ($499 with an education discount), while the 512GB model with Touch ID added costs $699 ($599 with education discount). Alternatively, we highlighted six affordable Windows PC alternatives that are worth considering if you're not interested in the macOS ecosystem.
