New 2015 MacBook a fixer’s nightmare

If you needed another reason not to buy the new 2015 MacBook Slow, here’s one. It’s darned near impossible to repair.

The folks at iFixit have once again taken the covers off Apple’s latest creation, and what they found is none too impressive. Proprietary screws, lots of glue, and not a single user replaceable part.

The uni-ported laptop bares more resemblance to its tablet counterparts than its ancestor the Air.

Most of the internal space is taken up by the 5262 mAh battery pack, which is firmly glued to to the chassis. The logic board is downright tiny, sporting the Intel Core M processor plus perma-soldered RAM and Flash memory. There’s nothing in this machine that can be upgraded.

iFixit has a hellofa time prying the battery out

iFixit also complained about the new retina display being fused together as one piece, making it a costly repair should it get damaged.

They gave it a 1 out of 10 on their repairability scale, which to my knowledge is the lowest score they’ve ever given to an Apple product. Even lower than the notoriously glue friendly iPads.

The 2015 MacBook spills its guts. Image via iFixit

I’ve been a long time Mac user but I definitely do not like the direction they’re taking their products in.

Apple’s design team can produce something that’s poorly engineered from the inside yet still looks great on the outside. It’s putting form over function.

While is a win for people who treat them as a fashion accessory, it’s a big loss for power users. I can tolerate stuff like this in lower end devices but not something selling at a premium. Who wants to be left with a $1500 door stop should something break?

Be sure to read the entire teardown over at iFixit.