[HN Gopher] Apple's MacBook Neo makes repairs easier and cheaper...
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Apple's MacBook Neo makes repairs easier and cheaper than other
MacBooks
Author : GeekyBear
Score : 151 points
Date : 2026-03-12 17:07 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (arstechnica.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (arstechnica.com)
| 0xDEFACED wrote:
| i sure hope so if apple intends to sell these things to school
| divisions. the levels of abuse i witnessed students dishing out
| to their chromebooks when i was a teacher was shocking to say the
| least
| entropicdrifter wrote:
| I feel like "most repairable macbook" is a bit like saying "most
| edible dirt". While it's good that there's progress, it's pretty
| telling that they need to only compare it within the same
| company's products.
| Someone1234 wrote:
| I'd suggest you watch a teardown video. The Neo is absurdly
| repairable compared to just about anything in its category. It
| is extremely modular, and uses screws.
| ProllyInfamous wrote:
| Repairability examples:
|
| modular USB ports; battery sans glue; trackpad
|
| Twenty years ago, I worked part-time in a laptop repair
| facility for a large educational institution; this computer
| would have been a godsend (e.g. the first MacBooks had
| hundreds of screws, plastic everywhere).
| MBCook wrote:
| Keyboard that doesn't require half the computer to be
| thrown away to replace it!
|
| That probably bit them HARD during the butterfly days.
| mmmlinux wrote:
| Most laptops back then were filled with tons of screws.
| edhelas wrote:
| Wow screws. Crazy. So the industry standard for many years.
| But I guess it's Different(tm) this time.
| 0_____0 wrote:
| I've replaced a battery, screen, hinges on a macbook (2015).
| Did they get considerably worse at repairability after that?
| Because while there were a fair number of steps, it's not like
| they required exotic techniques to pull off.
| shrubble wrote:
| Yes they did. Reminder: your experience is 11 years ago and
| several Intel and ARM generations old. Also it's more than $3
| Trillion in revenue ago.
| ceejayoz wrote:
| They've gotten largely _more_ repairable since then,
| including adhesives you can electrically debond.
| malmeloo wrote:
| That's a relatively recent development. Repairability has
| been very poor for quite a while, but now they're finally
| starting to improve the situation somewhat.
| the_biot wrote:
| ...electrically debond, are you serious? More details
| please, this sounds very interesting.
| 05 wrote:
| Video (use SponsorBlock):
| https://youtu.be/M6jBXI6CR9s?t=156
|
| Article: https://www.ifixit.com/News/100352/we-hot-wired-
| the-iphone-1...
|
| Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41623251
| alwillis wrote:
| Not $3 trillion in revenue; a $3 trillion market cap.
| Jtsummers wrote:
| https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/AAPL/apple/reve
| nue
|
| Over 11 years, they exceeded $3 trillion in revenue,
| actually. I knew it was a lot, hadn't actually looked at
| the totals before. 2015-2025 sums to $3.429 trillion.
| Rebelgecko wrote:
| Yes
| lallysingh wrote:
| Yeah, I mean I'm looking at frameworks/thinkpads on one side
| and chromebooks on the other. Not charging up to $440 (!) for a
| keyboard isn't a great act of engineering or generosity. This
| has been ridiculous for a very, very long time. Being less
| ridiculous isn't worth celebrating. The goal markers have moved
| so damned much.
|
| Compare to a thinkpad keyboard FRU. They have fluid drains and
| still cost $99 for a top-end laptop. My daughter's chromebook
| keyboard replacement at school was $16.
| tpmoney wrote:
| > This has been ridiculous for a very, very long time. Being
| less ridiculous isn't worth celebrating.
|
| So what I'm hearing is you don't want Apple to make their
| computers more repairable? Think of this like training a dog.
| My dog can open the cabinet in the kitchen on their own, pull
| out a specific requested item, close the door again and bring
| the item to me from anywhere in my house. Opening a door is
| just tugging on something, bringing something to me is just
| fetch, closing a door is just pushing with its nose. If I
| went into the training of this with the attitude of "oh wow,
| you pulled the door open" or "oh wow, you fetched the thing"
| and didn't reward my dog for doing those simple pieces
| because "any good dog can tug on a rope or fetch a ball",
| then my dog would never have gotten to the point of doing all
| of those things in a repeatable complex sequence that serves
| a useful purpose. Instead every part of it that my dog got
| right, they got all sorts of praise and rewards. And so once
| I started asking more, my dog eagerly tried to do those
| things because they knew if they did what I wanted, they
| could get the things they wanted.
|
| Train your companies the same way. Give them the positive PR
| and praise they're looking for when they do the things you
| want them to do. You'll get them to do what you want a lot
| faster if they have an actual incentive to do it.
| Someone1234 wrote:
| I just want to link this teardown; it is a suitable companion to
| this article:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k7Lv7f-5CQ
|
| On a rational level it isn't surprising that the "compute" part
| is so small, given its origins, but for some reason it still
| caught me by surprised seeing something _barely_ larger than a
| Raspberry Pi.
|
| But, yeah, this thing is crazy modular. I particularly want to
| call out how trivial it is to replace the ports, given how common
| of a failure point they are. With the keyboard/monitor being more
| involved, but absolutely still approachable.
|
| I believe he finds just a single piece of light adhesive keeping
| a cable in place, everything else (inc. the battery) is screws
| only.
| ggreer wrote:
| It looks like it's still bigger than the logic board on the 12"
| MacBook from 2015.[1]
|
| I really wish Apple would resurrect that form factor, as every
| other MacBook since has seemed bulky in comparison. Thanks to
| OpenCore Legacy Patcher[2], I still haven't gotten a newer mac.
| With a modern M series chip, it wouldn't have such rough
| tradeoffs in battery life and performance. I'd definitely buy
| it.
|
| 1. See step 11 on
| https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Retina+MacBook+2015+Teardown...
|
| 2. https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher
| 46493168 wrote:
| What version of MacOS are you running on yours? I have a
| 2017, 16GB, 1.7ghz and it's DOG slow on Ventura, even with
| reduce motion and reduce transparency. I have considered
| downgrading just to see if there's improvement.
| ggreer wrote:
| I'm on Sequoia (v15.7.4). I have the original 2015 model
| (1.1Ghz Core M-5Y31, 8GB of RAM). It's a little slow, but
| fine for what I use it for (web browser, syncing
| music/photos to/from my phone, simple coding tasks). My
| main gripe is the battery only has 60% of its original
| capacity. Apple won't replace the battery, and doing it
| yourself is pretty tricky. At some point it'll break or no
| longer get security updates, and then I'll probably get a
| MacBook Air.
|
| If you're using OpenCore Patcher, it's important to install
| the root patches to enable graphics acceleration. Otherwise
| it'll be ridiculously slow.
| simonh wrote:
| The Neo actually has similar dimensions to the 12" overall,
| though not as tapered. That's possible because it has a much
| slimmer bezel. The Neo is about a third heavier though.
| retired wrote:
| If you account for the taper, the Neo has about 50% more
| volume than the 12"
|
| I sometimes travel with backpack only (cheap European
| airlines) and that is a big difference.
| Eric_WVGG wrote:
| I just helped a friend replace her eleven year old 11"
| Macbook Air with a new M4 Air.
|
| her review: "this thing is HUGE :( :P "
| Jtsummers wrote:
| By dimensions, assuming the 2015 ("eleven year old")
| version, the 13" M4 MBA is 0.17" wider, 0.9" deeper, and
| 0.32 lbs heavier. Where it's harder to compare is
| thickness. The M4 is 0.44" thick where the Intel one was
| tapered (0.11"-0.68").
|
| Kind of hard to see that as "HUGE" in comparison. Bigger?
| Yes, but not really huge.
| jeffbee wrote:
| It seems like a normal-sized motherboard? For comparison here
| is the ifixit teardown of a PixelBook Go (happens to be the
| laptop I am using right now). https://guide-
| images.cdn.ifixit.com/igi/LT6YEIeE1Svh4WCk.hug...
| dzhiurgis wrote:
| Apple could win a lot of likes if they added some form of
| storage expansion. Even a recessed USB-C for those tiny drives
| would go a long way.
|
| Doesn't need to be super fast or fancy, just extend the life of
| device a little more.
|
| Soldered internal storage and ram is fine if I can store my
| non-essentials in a cheap drive. Or my essentials in a way that
| is recoverable if device fails. iCloud helps for photos and
| families, but it's still far too slow if you don't live near
| it.
| drooopy wrote:
| This is probably going to be my new laptop next year if it gets
| the A19 Pro with 12 GB of RAM.
| etchalon wrote:
| I'd bet these things are going to be on a two-year upgrade
| cycle, instead of yearly. Will be super happy to be proven
| wrong.
| ErneX wrote:
| They released the 17e a year after 16e so there's hope.
| cocoto wrote:
| The new naming of iPhones makes sense for a yearly update,
| not so much for the Neo.
| intrasight wrote:
| This one will be my new laptop this year, and I'll then see
| what happens next year.
| qingcharles wrote:
| Literally the only thing wrong with these is the RAM is so
| borderline in 2026. 12GB would have been right on the money for
| an upgrade options.
| oybng wrote:
| Just 20 steps and 18 screws to replace a battery, easy!
| SoKamil wrote:
| But no adhesive under the battery. That's huge.
| crooked-v wrote:
| As it turns out, once battery life hits a certain baseline,
| people prefer devices where the battery is harder to replace
| but larger over devices where the battery is hot-swappable but
| smaller.
| Clamchop wrote:
| I mean, yes, it is easy. No adhesive and just a couple of clips
| on the case. You could replace the battery in 20 minutes with
| little anxiety that you're going to cause damage getting to it.
| throw737458t8t8 wrote:
| And xray, microscope and soldering station to replace ssd.
| tpmoney wrote:
| The guy in the linked video up thread tore the whole computer
| down in 6 minutes. I'm pretty sure most people can manage to
| find 12 minutes out of their life every 5 years to replace the
| battery if they want. But if that is too arduous, you can pay
| Apple to do it for you for a mere $149, with the battery
| included in that price. Given that a comparable battery from
| iFixit will cost you $80-$100, that's just ~$50 to have someone
| save you the hassle of having to remove 18 screws from your
| laptop every 5 years.
| cromka wrote:
| Bingo. People will go lengths to find a reason to complain
| about things they would otherwise never be actually bothered
| by in their lives.
| charcircuit wrote:
| The MacBook Neo has a rechargeable battery. By the time the
| battery goes bad from too many charge cycles people will want
| to upgrade to a newer one.
| alwillis wrote:
| The Neo's battery is rated for 1,000 charge cycles, same as
| the MBP.
| SirMaster wrote:
| Right, but his point is the battery last like 2-3x longer
| than most other similar laptops, so the charge cycles wear
| out 2-3x slower.
| wvenable wrote:
| Probably could get the battery directly without all the other
| disassembly steps...
| kotaKat wrote:
| Apple's official illustrated guide shows you only need to pop
| the 8 case screws, 2 screws holding down the battery
| connector, then route the cables away and remove the 18
| battery screws.
|
| Not bad, not terrible?
|
| https://support.apple.com/en-us/126157
| newsclues wrote:
| I'm not sure if it's possible, but an aftermarket battery with
| closer to the MB Airs KW/h specs would be a very interesting
| modification.
|
| The repairability seems to be interesting especially if it leads
| to framework style upgradability (logic boards, not the ports).
| pfortuny wrote:
| FYI: KWh (it is a product).
| hyperhello wrote:
| Yeah, that would be an interesting modification, wouldn't it?
| newsclues wrote:
| Link? Searching for such a generic term didn't reveal
| anything
| jajuuka wrote:
| I'd bet dollars to donuts that it either treats any battery
| connection like the stock battery or it fails over to a run
| like crap mode like third party batteries in their phones.
| newsclues wrote:
| If the BMS onboard the batteries only exposes the same power
| as the stock battery I don't know how it would know
| needSomeCoffee wrote:
| Wow. Beautiful engineering. Please, please Apple use this ethos
| for all future major laptop re-designs e.g. MBA & MBP.
| MBCook wrote:
| When they did this to the low end iPhones, it "trickled up" to
| better models later.
|
| I suspect they'll do that on laptops too. I hope they do.
| cwoolfe wrote:
| Repairability and cost are key for the education market. Apple
| sold iPads into this space for awhile but there's been pushback
| and talk of going to chromebooks. Seems like they are positioning
| Neo for this segment as well.
| intrasight wrote:
| I am WAY out of school and I still care about repairability and
| cost ;)
| reaperducer wrote:
| _there 's been pushback and talk of going to chromebooks_
|
| There's been _talk_ of the education market going to
| Chromebooks?
|
| Did we just fall into a wormhole to 2014?
| euroderf wrote:
| Is the Neo in a price range where it could be attached to a robot
| chassis as its processsor and UI ? Connectivity, video, audio,
| status display, even a Max Headroom. USB-C plug-n-go.
| edhelas wrote:
| So basically they are trying to reach what Lenovo and others are
| doing for years.
|
| Nice Apple. That's good :)
| ajay-b wrote:
| This is really good to read. I hung on to my 2012 MBP for the
| replaceable battery, hard drive, and memory far longer than I
| wanted to. It's great having a thinner machine, but repairability
| - really extending its longevity - will always be a huge selling
| point for me. I have bitterly disliked the idea of "disposable
| technology."
| vablings wrote:
| Would I be a little crazy to buy one of these and make an SBC
| adaptor board. Also getting IOS to run on these devices might not
| be astronomically difficult considering we have seen quite a few
| M series iPad running MacOS
| alex7o wrote:
| This is the same chip as the iphone, the only thing that need
| to be done is make something like m1n1 work with iOS and
| circumvent all the security measures
| wvenable wrote:
| The teardown is impressive. The next question is whether anyone
| other than Apple will be able to get parts.
| jacobp100 wrote:
| Apple has a third party sell them -
| https://selfservicerepair.eu/en-GB/home
| retired wrote:
| I always thought that website was a daughter company from
| Apple for liability reasons. Never knew it was a third party.
| TIL.
| anhner wrote:
| Thanks, EU! A lot more gadgets will come out this year with
| improved repairability because of an EU requirement starting next
| year: https://repair.eu/news/making-batteries-removable-and-
| replac...
| prmoustache wrote:
| Apple care has always seemed like an extortion scheme to me yet
| Apple owners seemed to feel it was a good deal, not realizing
| that you shouldn't even have to replace stuff before the 7 to 10
| years mark appart maybe for the battery.
|
| Judging by the sorry state of most second hand Macbook it really
| feel that they have made their hardware disposable (despite using
| relatively premium hardware like aluminum compared to plastic
| stuff on some brands) to force people to subscribe to it. Not
| that they are the only one to make shitty unreliable stuff
| (looking at you Asus, Acer and most brand's "family" lines).
| wilg wrote:
| pretty sure apple tops reliability metrics reliably, so this is
| probably more about your feelings than reality
| MBCook wrote:
| Just like when they did this on the iPhones I suspect this is
| all self-serving.
|
| It's about making it easier and faster for Apple to fix the
| machines.
|
| It benefits us all. But I suspect the cost of their super
| tight integration into large non-replaceable components with
| lots of glue started to show up in repair work costs.
| wilg wrote:
| This machine is probably more repairable because its
| simpler and bulkier and more cost conscious.
| reaperducer wrote:
| _Apple care has always seemed like an extortion scheme to me
| yet Apple owners seemed to feel it was a good deal, not
| realizing that you shouldn 't even have to replace stuff before
| the 7 to 10 years mark appart maybe for the battery._
|
| It's not about "having to" replace parts. It's for just-in-
| case. It's essentially insurance.
|
| The battery in my M1 MacBook Pro went bad recently. But I have
| AppleCare, so I was able to walk into an Apple Store and hand
| it to someone, and the next day I picked it up all repaired.
| (New keyboard, too, since the keyboard and battery are
| considered one part.) Total cost without
| AppleCare: $250 + tax. Total cost with AppleCare: $0.
| Total I've spent on AppleCare: $150.
|
| If I had some machine from Dell or Acer or even Microsoft, what
| would I do? Ship it back to China for six months? There's no
| store I can walk into to get it fixed the next day.
|
| The value in AppleCare is the same value you have in fire
| insurance. Maybe you want to save a few bucks and take your
| chances that everything you own won't burn to ashes and you
| have to start over with nothing. I'm not in college anymore.
| brudgers wrote:
| With Dell you can get next business day on-site warranties
| for a reasonable price.
|
| The tech comes out and does the repair at your home or place
| of business. Because the tech is often a contractor, in my
| experience there's not likely to be an inquest for the
| purpose of denying the claim.
| reaperducer wrote:
| _on-site warranties_
|
| But now you're back to the parent's definition of
| "extortion."
| stockresearcher wrote:
| Be very, very careful.
|
| Lenovo's on-site service has changed into a massive
| security risk. They changed the terms within the last year
| or two. You have to give one of their _contractors_ full
| remote admin access to your computer to "run diagnostics"
| before they'll dispatch the onsite repairman.
|
| This used to be a service worth every penny. But now: read
| the fine print carefully.
| juancn wrote:
| Apple care is about user fuckups, not Apple's.
|
| Some people use computers with utter disregard for their
| integrity.
|
| Macs, specially Apple silicon ones are extremely reliable.
| hbn wrote:
| Apple stuff lasts me longer than any other computers I've
| purchased in my life. The Mac had a bit of a dark age in the
| late 2010s but barring that, I think it's incorrect to say
| Apple products are unreliable.
|
| I bought a late-2013 13" MacBook Pro when I started university
| and I used that thing up until the end of 2021 when I got a 14"
| M1 Pro MBP. And it wasn't even because it was performing that
| terribly, I just wanted the new Apple silicon machine. Now it's
| ~4.5 years later and that machine runs like it did on day 1 and
| I have no desire to upgrade anytime soon.
| retired wrote:
| I had Apple Care on my 2006 MacBook. It covered around EUR3000
| in repairs. Especially the logic board replacements added up
| fast. Couple of palm rests as well though that was also covered
| by extended warranty.
|
| I paid $50 for that Apple Care through an eBay listing and got
| send a code that I could use to register. This was back when
| Apple Care was sold in physical boxes and people would resell
| them from foreign countries. So great deal all round.
|
| But for the rest I never had Apple Care on anything.
| rconti wrote:
| > Apple owners seemed to feel it was a good deal, not realizing
| that you shouldn't even have to replace stuff before the 7 to
| 10 years mark appart maybe for the battery.
|
| This whole post is a [citation needed] on multiple fronts.
| Petersipoi wrote:
| Man I've never read a comment so detached from my actual
| experience
| tsunamifury wrote:
| this is a re-arranged iPhone inside a larger case with a bigger
| battery no?
| fckgw wrote:
| I mean yeah, the same way an iPhone is a rearranged Macbook in
| a smaller case with a smaller battery.
| brudgers wrote:
| The bar set by "Cheaper to repair than other Apple laptops" is
| wheelchair accessible.
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