3 ms·

This is a design flaw of all macbooks at the moment. Basically the keyboard is riveted into the top case and the battery is stuck to that as well. That means th

by baz00 3y ago

This is a design flaw of all macbooks at the moment. Basically the keyboard is riveted into the top case and the battery is stuck to that as well. That means they have to pretty much transplant the logic board and the screen into another shell and stick a new battery in it as well. This is the very definition of a shit show. I have a 14" M1 MBP which I am selling next month as I have already switched to a ThinkPad T14 gen 3 running Windows 11. This is the keyboard replacement process for that: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Lenovo+ThinkPad+T14+Gen+3+Keyboard+Replacement/157530 https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Lenovo+ThinkPad+T14+Gen+3+Keybo...

chongli 3y ago
It’s design for manufacturing, not design for repair. There are tradeoffs everywhere in hardware design. I’m guessing that by building the MacBook this way they greatly increase the rigidity of the keyboard. If instead they had made the keyboard a separate module in order to facilitate easy replacement then it’d either be way less rigid or it would need an additional backing plate which would increase the overall thickness of the computer.
jwells89 3y ago
The models that were redesigned for M series CPUs actually do not have riveted in keyboards. The 13” M1 MPB is like that only because its design is a holdover from the Intel era. Here’s a video of the KB being replaced on an 2021 16” model. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Sd1cwO5Y5RY https://youtube.com/watch?v=Sd1cwO5Y5RY Replacement keyboards can be had for $30 according to Google, though I don’t know if that’s an official part or not.
- baz00 3y ago
  Have you tried looking at the service manual? The only replaceable FRU is the top cover with keyboard and battery assembly. Nope. $30 - but not much fun getting it out...
  - jwells89 3y ago
    Still, it's an improvement over the previous gen and hopefully indicative of a trend. For some it's also worth the trade of not having to daily drive Windows. It is for me, and I say that also owning a ThinkPad. There's also Linux of course which I find good for "single purpose" machines (e.g. a "study pod" laptop), but making it my primary OS would take a number of changes that I'm not likely to get short of developing my own custom tailored DE.
kakwa_ 3y ago
Sad thing is, Apple used to make keyboards that were even easier to replace than Thinkpad ones: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/PowerBook+G3+Pismo+Keyboard+Replacement/18 https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/PowerBook+G3+Pismo+Keyboard+Rep...
- sneak 3y ago
  It’s not sad that Apple keyboards are much, much higher quality now than they were in the Powerbook G3 days.

by baz00 3y ago

chongli 3y ago

It’s design for manufacturing, not design for repair. There are tradeoffs everywhere in hardware design. I’m guessing that by building the MacBook this way they greatly increase the rigidity of the keyboard. If instead they had made the keyboard a separate module in order to facilitate easy replacement then it’d either be way less rigid or it would need an additional backing plate which would increase the overall thickness of the computer.

jwells89 3y ago

The models that were redesigned for M series CPUs actually do not have riveted in keyboards. The 13” M1 MPB is like that only because its design is a holdover from the Intel era. Here’s a video of the KB being replaced on an 2021 16” model. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Sd1cwO5Y5RY https://youtube.com/watch?v=Sd1cwO5Y5RY Replacement keyboards can be had for $30 according to Google, though I don’t know if that’s an official part or not.

baz00 3y ago
Have you tried looking at the service manual? The only replaceable FRU is the top cover with keyboard and battery assembly. Nope. $30 - but not much fun getting it out...
- jwells89 3y ago
  Still, it's an improvement over the previous gen and hopefully indicative of a trend. For some it's also worth the trade of not having to daily drive Windows. It is for me, and I say that also owning a ThinkPad. There's also Linux of course which I find good for "single purpose" machines (e.g. a "study pod" laptop), but making it my primary OS would take a number of changes that I'm not likely to get short of developing my own custom tailored DE.

kakwa_ 3y ago

Sad thing is, Apple used to make keyboards that were even easier to replace than Thinkpad ones: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/PowerBook+G3+Pismo+Keyboard+Replacement/18 https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/PowerBook+G3+Pismo+Keyboard+Rep...

sneak 3y ago
It’s not sad that Apple keyboards are much, much higher quality now than they were in the Powerbook G3 days.