Apple’s new MacBook Pro with retina display is only two days old, but iFixit has already managed to get ahold of one and strip it down to its screws. What they found inside was impressive — unless you plan to ever try to upgrade the laptop yourself.
The MacBook Pro with retina display is .71-inches thick, doesn’t include an optical drive, and forgoes traditional spinning hard drives for solid state storage. It’s also held together with custom pentalobe screws, just like the iPhone, which means most users won’t be able to get inside since the proper screwdriver is hard to come by.
iFixit’s look inside the MacBook Pro with Retina Display
Assuming you do get inside yours, the battery is glued in place, the flash storage is on a custom card, and the display is permanently fixed in its housing. The bottom line: third-party SSD upgrades will be coming, but the faint of heart should let a professional handle the installation, and you won’t be upgrading the RAM since it’s soldered to the motherboard.
Apple managed to pack an amazing amount of technology into the new MacBook Pro, but at the same time took away the ability for users to upgrade the laptop after purchase thanks to its MacBook Air-style custom components. Photos of the complete teardown process are available at the iFixit website.