iFixit has long complained about the MacBook Pro being difficult to repair, and in an interesting move the teardown experts have decided to take action, producing a purpose-built kit to replace the laptop’s battery.
The battery is one of the trickiest components to switch out when it gives up the ghost, thanks to Apple’s excessive use of glue to secure the power pack in modern MacBook Pros.
So the new kit, which comes in different flavors targeted at Retina MacBook Pro models from 2012 through to 2015, uses a specially concocted solution – a safe blend of household chemicals, apparently – to dissolve the adhesive and free the battery from the gluey grasp of the notebook’s chassis.
Of course, it’s not just a simple matter of applying some solution and you’re done. The kit comes with a number of other tools you’ll need such as tweezers and the appropriate screwdrivers (Torx, Pentalobe etc), along with a full guide to making the repair (plus you get a replacement battery, naturally).
Also note that easing the existing battery out requires “a lot of caution and patience” to quote iFixit.
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DIY ETA
The exact difficulty level and time it’ll take varies depending on the precise model of MacBook Pro – and doubtless the tech DIY skills of the person making the repair, too – but iFixit’s estimated times for the process range from 20 minutes up to two hours.
But still, it’ll be time well spent considering the kits cost from $90 to $110 (£70 to £85, or AU$120 to AU$145), and Apple charges $199 (£155, AU$260) to replace the MacBook Pro’s battery.
Apple isn’t the only company to come under fire for manufacturing non-upgradable and difficult to repair laptops, with Microsoft also copping flak for its Surface hybrids. Indeed, at the end of last month, Greenpeace blasted both MacBooks and Surface devices for being an environmental nightmare.
Maybe we’ll see more of these sort of kits in the future, perhaps also aimed at the likes of the Surface Book or Surface Laptop. Because not only is it cheaper to make your own repairs like so, but it’s also satisfying to be self-sufficient enough in tech terms to do some DIY repairs at home.
Via: Apple Insider
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