Thin, light notebook is no friend to do-it-yourselfers, says iFixit Apple’s new 12-in. MacBook is a “repair nightmare,” as tough on do-it-yourselfers as 2012’s first Retina-equipped MacBook Pro, according to iFixit. “The internals are unnecessarily complex; it’s a minefield of pentalobe and tri-wing screws, fragile cables snaked around essential components, and a solidly-glued-down multi-cell battery,” iFixit reported on its blog Wednesday. “Tack on the non-upgradeability, and the Retina MacBook is a repair nightmare.” San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based iFixit — one of the Web’s best-known electronics repair firms — awards repairability scores between 1 and 10 to devices after pulling them apart. It gave the MacBook a “1,” the same slapped on the first MacBook Pro with a high-resolution display nearly three years ago. At that time, iFixit said the Retina MacBook Pro was the “least-repairable laptop we’ve taken apart.” Apple began selling the 12-in. MacBook on April 10. The ultra-thin and ultra-light notebook — 15% lighter than the 11-in. MacBook Air, 31% lighter than the 13-in. Air — starts at $1,299. iFixit blamed several characteristics of the MacBook for the low score, several of them a litany familiar to DIYers trying to repair Apple’s hardware, including tamperproof five-point pentalobe screws, “futuristic pegs and weird spring clips,” a hidden battery connector and “nasty adhesive” to affix the form-fitting battery pouches. About the latter, iFixit said, “This level of precision works well for fitting the largest battery possible, but it doesn’t bode well for the idea of battery replacement.” Apple charges $199 for an out-of-warranty battery replacement of the 12-in. MacBook, $70 more than it does for the MacBook Air, and the same price as for the 13-in. and 15-in. Retina MacBook Pro. Like all Apple laptops, the MacBook also cannot be upgraded by the user — Apple’s far from alone there — with both RAM and SSD (solid-state drive) soldered to the logic board. The notebook is only available with 8GB of RAM, but customers can choose between models with either a 256GB or 512GB SSD. iFixit’s MacBook teardown, complete with photographs taken at each step, can be found on the company’s website. Related content news analysis Apple earnings: About that iPhone 'slump' in China Based on information from Thursday's earnings report, it seems that data pointing to an iPhone slump in China were over-baked. By Jonny Evans May 03, 2024 9 mins iMac iPhone Apple news Microsoft begins to phase out ‘classic’ Teams Microsoft is encouraging Teams customers to move to the new, faster version of the collaboration app; the older version will be switched off next year. By Matthew Finnegan May 03, 2024 3 mins Microsoft Teams Collaboration Software Productivity Software news analysis Apple confirms it will open up the iPad in Europe this fall The latest efforts to comply with Europe’s Digital Markets Act mean developers can offer to side load apps to both iPhones and iPads in the EU. Apple has also taken steps to improve what it offers to smaller and non-commercial developers in the By Jonny Evans May 02, 2024 6 mins iPad Apple Mobile Apps news Udacity offers laid-off US workers free access to its courses for 30 days Sign-ups will be available over the next 30 days By Lucas Mearian May 02, 2024 4 mins Technology Industry IT Jobs IT Skills Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe