Mac Studio teardown demonstrates relatively easy disassembly
Repair company iFixit has done a teardown of the new Mac Studio, showing Apple's intricate cooling system for the high-performance system and how to take apart the device.
As it has before with devices such as the 16-inch MacBook Pro, iFixit has done an initial teardown of Apple's latest device. It's done with the aim of discovering how repairable -- or not -- a device is.
At some point later, iFixit will ultimately produce a written and illustrated guide to precisely how a Mac Studio can be taken apart for repairs. For now, though, it's done a quick video overview showing the Mac's components.
The cooling system takes up roughly half of the Mac's internal space. The most noticeable part is the aluminum heatsink on the M1 Max version and the copper thermal module in the M1 Ultra edition.
The video also discusses the slotted storage in the Mac Studio. The company could swap out like-for-like on flash modules but had no success putting in a larger or smaller one.
A teardown of the Studio Display was also teased. The company noted that it not only looks like an iMac, but it comes apart in much the same way.
The Mac Studio was given a 6 out of 10 for repairability.
The possibility of repair is perhaps becoming more of an issue as Apple plans to roll out its Self Service Repair program for M1 Macs and iPhones. The program, announced five months ago, has still yet to be detailed.
Read on AppleInsider
As it has before with devices such as the 16-inch MacBook Pro, iFixit has done an initial teardown of Apple's latest device. It's done with the aim of discovering how repairable -- or not -- a device is.
At some point later, iFixit will ultimately produce a written and illustrated guide to precisely how a Mac Studio can be taken apart for repairs. For now, though, it's done a quick video overview showing the Mac's components.
The cooling system takes up roughly half of the Mac's internal space. The most noticeable part is the aluminum heatsink on the M1 Max version and the copper thermal module in the M1 Ultra edition.
The video also discusses the slotted storage in the Mac Studio. The company could swap out like-for-like on flash modules but had no success putting in a larger or smaller one.
A teardown of the Studio Display was also teased. The company noted that it not only looks like an iMac, but it comes apart in much the same way.
The Mac Studio was given a 6 out of 10 for repairability.
The possibility of repair is perhaps becoming more of an issue as Apple plans to roll out its Self Service Repair program for M1 Macs and iPhones. The program, announced five months ago, has still yet to be detailed.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
It’s clear to me that none of them have ever worked on a car, where one has to do things lying on his back, deal with grease and oil, etc.
Computers are easy if one takes his time, organizes parts, and has any mechanical ability.
I especially find it funny when places like iFixit cry “oh no! Dang proprietary screws!” even though they seem capable of selling me pricey repair kits for those screws … that conform the specs of international standards. (I have yet to see an apple logo shaped proprietary screw head.) Honestly, in my years of working on houses, cars, trains, and all manner of “repairable” things, I’ve found that most of them have connector mechanisms that aren’t just a #2 Philips. Western civilization has fallen! My kingdom for a T15! Oh no! A locking nut!
It really boggles the mind some times.
You could probably make a sound argument regarding on-die or on chip storage “always” being faster (although until recently that’s come with a high process and price cost also).
Do people genuinely not understand trade-offs? I mean, those kinds of choices are all around us all the time. And yet most of us manage to make purchases (or make things) that fit our needs and budget most of the time — without griping about how it could be way, way better if Only I Made All The Decisions (TM).
Those screws should not have been covered. For every right thing Apple does there’s always a mind numbingly stupid thing they do to compensate.
And in any case, car manufacturers also being shitty doesn't make Apple any less shitty.
As others have pointed out, car manufacturers are infamous for making DIY repairs to vehicles difficult and / or expensive. For example, newer Mercedes vehicles don't allow changing of the transmission filter by itself--their new design is a transmission pan made out of plastic with the filter integral to the pan. Instead of being able to buy a filter by itself for $50 or whatever, now one has to buy the whole assembly (pan with filter) for $200 or so. And...then to fill with new transmission fluid, one has to pump it up into the transmission from below--there is no filler tube up top. That's fun.
Apple does sometimes make odd and frustrating choices about design and repairability. I agree. But even the most challenging repairs I've made have been pieces of cake compared to cars. Heck, a couple of years ago, I upgraded my wife's 27" iMac's SSD eliminating the Fusion drive. It required removed the screen panel with a "pizza cutter" tool supplied by OWC, and the job took a couple of hours. But I never got a drop of grease on me, didn't have to spray WD-40 on screws to get them unstuck--it was clean and relatively easy job to complete.
Granted if one lacks fine motor skills and such, then messing with tiny screws is a chore, but for me Apple devices have been a piece of cake compared to just about any car repair I've ever done.
I wonder if anyone has compared the pinout of the Mac Studio's flash carts to the flash carts in the iMac Pro and Mac Pro. The Mac Studio carts are shorter, so maybe the notch is moved to make them physically incompatible.
I haven't yet been able to find a report of anybody who has changed the flash carts in an iMac Pro, but I bet it's the same process as the Mac Pro. Shut down, pull the SSDs, restore the T2 using Apple Configurator. The Mac Studio and new Mac Pro will probably be the same once Apple Configurator is updated for the new Mac Pro.
Destruction/non-destruction is up to the care of the User.