Despite minor hardware improvements compared with its predecessor, the new 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro features interesting repairability tweaks, according to iFixit’s teardown. Here are the details.
As noted in most reviews of the new 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro, this year’s release offers relatively small performance gains when compared with the M4 MacBook Pro, while at the same time, it reflects Apple’s steady year-over-year progress since moving away from Intel.
With that in mind, iFixit asked, “Did Apple upgrade the MacBook Pro’s repairability?” and went to find out.
M5 MacBook Pro teardown
The first thing iFixit points out in its teardown is that, despite not being perfect, Apple’s official repair guides do make the teardown process easier and safer:
“I can see Apple’s recommended approach for making the device safe is to remove the Battery Management System’s cable first.
This cuts power to the rest of the device, even as the battery is connected, preventing any accidental short circuits while I continue to dispatch the trackpad flex cable that sits over the battery connector.”
iFixit notes, however, that replacing the battery still involves swapping out several internal components, which is one of its longest-standing criticisms regarding both repairability and environmental impact in the current MacBook Pro design:
“This is why selling a battery preinstalled in a chassis is such a bad idea. Because guess what happens now? Everything I just took apart has to be reinstalled, but in the new chassis. It’s arduous, it’s tedious, and nobody really wants to do that.”
iFixIt also notes that the six-cell battery now has 72.6 Wh, which is “a minor upgrade from the M4 model’s 72.4 Wh pack, but, in practice, it reveals both progress and pain points.”
Another sticking point, as iFixit notes, is that replacing most of the laptop’s components requires removing the logic board, which can be tricky. Likewise, they note that removing the screen requires removing the antenna bracket first, so a few crucial screws can become accessible, which is “a tedious affair, especially where the multiple tiny P2 screws are concerned.”
On the upside, iFixIt notes that “it’s really nice to see a very simple thing like bringing all the battery pull tabs in reach without having to remove the trackpad, so if Apple ever decides to release the battery as a standalone part, that repair would be simplified.”
iFixit also notes that Apple’s release of repair guides for the new M5 MacBook Pro on day one is “delightful,” as it helps anticipate which spare parts will be available and how easy they’ll be to replace.
That said, the new 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro scored a 4 out of 10 in iFixIt’s reparability score. On the other hand, iFixit notes that with the repairability progress they saw in this version, “we’re tantalisingly close to that repairable MacBook we’ve all wanted.”
Watch the teardown below:
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