MacBook Pro Teardown Reveals 'Quality Concerns'
The iFixit folks have been extremely busy this week. On Wednesday, they tore apart the Motorola Atrix, while yesterday saw them perform their tricks on a Samsung Galaxy S 4G. Today, however, the repair site has turned its attention to a bigger project: the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

With the redesigned MacBook Pros now available for purchase online, it’s important that prospective buyers know exactly what’s changed. Of course, the presence of Thunderbolt is something that cannot be overlooked in this teardown, and iFixit says the port’s controller IC is quite prominent on the logic board, representing the fourth largest chip on the board after the CPU, GPU, and logic board controller.
iFixit also reports that despite Apple lowering the battery life estimation to 7 hours, the new MBP contains the same 77.5 watt-hour battery as the earlier model. Whether this is Apple being more realistic with their battery testing, or simply accounting for the new quad-core i7 being a little more power-hungry than its predecessor remains to be seen.
Other highlights (and lowlights) include upgraded RAM (to the same type that exists in last year’s iMacs), a Broadcom wireless card with four antennas instead of three, and a distinct lack of Pentalobe screws inside or outside (the lower case is secured by Phillips #00 screws, while the battery is secured by Tri-Wing screws). However, it wasn’t all roses for the iFixit crew as the screwdriver-wielding gadget freaks expressed a certain concern about Apple’s quality control.
“We found a stripped screw holding the subwoofer enclosure in place, and an unlocked ZIF socket connecting the IR sensor,” they said. “They're not huge issues, but they're not fitting for an $1800 machine.”
Not only that, but apparently someone on the assembly line was a little liberal with the old thermal paste, too.

“We uncovered gobs of thermal paste on the CPU and GPU when we removed the main heat sink. The excess paste may cause overheating issues down the road, but only time will tell.”
For more on the teardown (and the full gallery), check out iFixit’s full report.
This instance isnt one that they would benefit from, however they may start cutting corners with lower grade components in order to make more money off of each unit sold.
Also, I think they are going to flood the market with too many products.
It's funny that so many Apple fans rip on Microsoft for being greedy and corporate, Apple is no better if not worse.
You pay for performance on a laptop
You pay for pretty on your date
That said I am impressed with how well designed the interior of the MBP is. Everything is fit in such a tight and organized manner that no other manufacturer seems to be able to replicate. ipad vs Xoom is another example, the ipad is much better designed inside allowing for a battery that takes up a larger percentage of the inside, thus allowing for the exceptional battery endurance.
... or choose not to replicate due to not wanting to burn their customers' laps. Have you ever tried to use a Macbook Pro on your lap? They get insanely hot on top and bottom to the point of being unusable unless you wear an oven mit and asbestos pants.
Yes, actually, I use it on my lap all the time; in fact, it's on my lap all day during classes. And so do many of my classmates. I'll go ahead and ask the campus medical center how many lap burns they have seen from Macbook Pros.
Perhaps you should actually use a Macbook Pro before making ridiculous comments like these.
They also reduced the battery life estimate for the basic MacBook even though the hardware is exactly the same as before.
(7-8hour battery life is pretty realistic for web surfing at low-medium brightness)
Apple should really be careful when cutting costs. A few cents saved on manufacturing and quality control could be enough to kill Apple's reputation of delivering high quality goods. Even my last gen MacBook Pro has some slight light-bleed on the lower edge of the screen. Not enough to make me return it (u only notice it slightly when the screen is black), but it's still there.
But these days even some of the really expensive Lenovo Thinkpads feel cheap...
I don't subscribe to the whole "Apple is overpriced" ranting. The newest MacBook Pro generation is a disappointment and I will no longer recommend them to friends, but u can't actually get laptops this sexy and well designed from other manufacturers for less money.
Don't get me wrong, I love my Macbook Pros. Great laptops, great design, and good software. but Apple needs to get their act together and start doing some quality checks at the assembly plants.
Although I should note that I've seen similar assembly issues with Dell and HP laptops. Come to think of it, the only laptop that I haven't found any glaring issues was Lenovo's/IBM's Thinkpad line.