5 ms·

I love "the process was quite friendly" coupled with "two of the connectors broke when I looked at them and one costs hundreds of dollars to replace".

diggan 1y ago
To be fair, compared to the typical Apple experience of modifying stuff, that is quite friendly. Although author seems to have broken the TouchID sensor and button in the process, which is less neat and maybe not so friendly even for Apple.
- pier25 1y ago
  > that is quite friendly Maybe if you're referring to iPhones and iPads. The Intel Macbooks were always super easy to open for cleanup or replacing parts. I did it for years and never broke anything.
  - diggan 1y ago
    > Maybe if you're referring to iPhones and iPads. Or the new laptops ;) They're no longer Intel Macbooks, and compared to laptops from other brands, the new Apple hardware seems way harder (although I'd confess to not having the experience of picking any of the M* models apart personally). https://www.ifixit.com/repairability/laptop-repairability-scores https://www.ifixit.com/repairability/laptop-repairability-sc... Didn't the latest iPhones have some sort of "repairability" push or something? Don't remember exactly, but seems to have given me the idea that Apple is moving towards making it easier to repair the iPhones specifically.
    - pier25 1y ago
      > Or the new laptops ;) Yeah that was obvious from the OP :)
    - fckgw 1y ago
      Yes, they moved all their batteries away from glued adhesives to "Command Strips" pull-tab style adhesive pads. Same pads have been on the laptops for a bit as well. The latest iPhone also rotated the guts to where the battery is easier to get to and does not require removal of the logic board. https://www.ifixit.com/News/100693/more-modular-than-ever-before-iphone-16-pro-and-pro-max-teardown https://www.ifixit.com/News/100693/more-modular-than-ever-be...
      - sokoloff 1y ago
        I’m something like 3 for 20 lifetime in getting those CommandStrip style adhesives to release completely, no matter how many videos I watch for technique.
        05 1y ago
        Yeah at this point I don't even bother, just heat up the phone with a hair dryer until it's hot to touch and then rip out the battery, never got one out in anything else but a horribly bent condition. Pro tip: discharge the device to 0% before, so that if it's accidentally pierced during that delicate process it won't set everything on fire. If I ever need to do the same thing with a laptop, I'll try to get my hands on a barrel of sand just in case..
volkl48 1y ago
Kind of a thing that isn't uniquely difficult if you've ever worked in a laptop before, hard if you've never done it. ----- The ZIF connectors for those fans aren't different or much more fragile than the ones in most other laptops. The adhesives on certain cables tend to trip people up a bit with causing them to pull more than they should and damage things. Gently working under and releasing the adhesives on those fan cables with the spudger (or a fingernail) before you even start trying to move/unplug them will work a lot better for not tearing things than grabbing them with tweezers will. The TouchID cable is fragile. Still shouldn't be any serious risk of breaking if you know to treat it with caution, but that would always be the one to take the most care with and watch the most closely while you're working around it. ----- The secondary challenge is pretty much just making sure you have all the cables out of the way when you're putting the board back in, because you've got a dozen or more that you need to watch the positioning of and/or tape out of the way.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- esperent 1y ago
  I've opened up my MSI laptop a bunch of times - upgrading RAM, SSD, repasting, cleaning the fans. Maybe six or seven times over four years. Repasting in particular involves removing a lot of cables and screws, then lifting of the large heatsink. I've never had any feeling that anything is going to break. Certainly not any of the cables or connectors. I had worked on desktop computers before, but never done anything more complex than changing RAM on a laptop.
- jchw 1y ago
  Honestly I think this is overstating things, most connectors on most laptops and phones are surprisingly robust. I've opened god knows how many laptops and phones, including some iPhones, and really those tiny ribbon cables have surprised me. Funny enough the one time I did break a ribbon cable it was actually the right joycon rail on a Nintendo Switch and it was quite an unreasonable amount of force I applied (by accident, of course...) I always smile a little seeing people on YouTube with super fine pliars carefully and tenderly taking off connectors, I usually use a butter knife or something like that to get them off and then replace them just using my finger. I actually worry more about carelessly creasing them too much rather than ripping them. Some of those things feel like they would require quite a lot of force to actually outright rip. The actual issue I have with phones isn't that the connectors/cables break apart if you look at them funny, it's actually the god damn screens are insane to deal with and replace, with all of that adhesive crap. This all to say, I think Apple is doing poorly here, their ribbon cables should probably be more robust on these often quite expensive devices. I know they can do it because I've experienced Apple devices with pretty robust internals... (and also similarly, have seen and heard of Apple devices where they've mysteriously cheaped out on components like voltage regulators and made their devices totally unnecessarily worse and more failure prone.)
axoltl 1y ago
I'm actually very surprised this happened. I've dis- and reassembled dozens of iPhones (from the iPhone 4 all the way up to the iPhone 16) and I've never torn a single flex cable. You just have to be careful not to pull on the flex, but the connector instead. This logic applies as much to pulling a plug out of a wall socket as it does a thin flex with a board-to-board connector. That said, would I characterize disassembling any Apple product as "quite friendly"? No. Do not attempt unless you're either familiar with how things go together or you're willing to spend the money to replace the parts you broke. If those aren't options, find a local repair shop.
- diffuse_l 1y ago
  I tried to repair a macbook air, and did manage to tear the microphone cable, because I didn't notice the connector :| Like you said, you need to be careful, but you better be prepared to pay dearly (or manage without) for your mistakes...
  - mh- 1y ago
    Maybe I'm not adventurous enough, but I would never open an Apple product without a teardown video/instructions at hand. iFixit is a fantastic resource if they have covered your device previously.

diggan 1y ago

To be fair, compared to the typical Apple experience of modifying stuff, that is quite friendly. Although author seems to have broken the TouchID sensor and button in the process, which is less neat and maybe not so friendly even for Apple.

pier25 1y ago
> that is quite friendly Maybe if you're referring to iPhones and iPads. The Intel Macbooks were always super easy to open for cleanup or replacing parts. I did it for years and never broke anything.
- diggan 1y ago
  > Maybe if you're referring to iPhones and iPads. Or the new laptops ;) They're no longer Intel Macbooks, and compared to laptops from other brands, the new Apple hardware seems way harder (although I'd confess to not having the experience of picking any of the M* models apart personally). https://www.ifixit.com/repairability/laptop-repairability-scores https://www.ifixit.com/repairability/laptop-repairability-sc... Didn't the latest iPhones have some sort of "repairability" push or something? Don't remember exactly, but seems to have given me the idea that Apple is moving towards making it easier to repair the iPhones specifically.
  - pier25 1y ago
    > Or the new laptops ;) Yeah that was obvious from the OP :)
  - fckgw 1y ago
    Yes, they moved all their batteries away from glued adhesives to "Command Strips" pull-tab style adhesive pads. Same pads have been on the laptops for a bit as well. The latest iPhone also rotated the guts to where the battery is easier to get to and does not require removal of the logic board. https://www.ifixit.com/News/100693/more-modular-than-ever-before-iphone-16-pro-and-pro-max-teardown https://www.ifixit.com/News/100693/more-modular-than-ever-be...
    - sokoloff 1y ago
      I’m something like 3 for 20 lifetime in getting those CommandStrip style adhesives to release completely, no matter how many videos I watch for technique.
      - 05 1y ago
        Yeah at this point I don't even bother, just heat up the phone with a hair dryer until it's hot to touch and then rip out the battery, never got one out in anything else but a horribly bent condition. Pro tip: discharge the device to 0% before, so that if it's accidentally pierced during that delicate process it won't set everything on fire. If I ever need to do the same thing with a laptop, I'll try to get my hands on a barrel of sand just in case..

volkl48 1y ago

Kind of a thing that isn't uniquely difficult if you've ever worked in a laptop before, hard if you've never done it. ----- The ZIF connectors for those fans aren't different or much more fragile than the ones in most other laptops. The adhesives on certain cables tend to trip people up a bit with causing them to pull more than they should and damage things. Gently working under and releasing the adhesives on those fan cables with the spudger (or a fingernail) before you even start trying to move/unplug them will work a lot better for not tearing things than grabbing them with tweezers will. The TouchID cable is fragile. Still shouldn't be any serious risk of breaking if you know to treat it with caution, but that would always be the one to take the most care with and watch the most closely while you're working around it. ----- The secondary challenge is pretty much just making sure you have all the cables out of the way when you're putting the board back in, because you've got a dozen or more that you need to watch the positioning of and/or tape out of the way.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
esperent 1y ago
I've opened up my MSI laptop a bunch of times - upgrading RAM, SSD, repasting, cleaning the fans. Maybe six or seven times over four years. Repasting in particular involves removing a lot of cables and screws, then lifting of the large heatsink. I've never had any feeling that anything is going to break. Certainly not any of the cables or connectors. I had worked on desktop computers before, but never done anything more complex than changing RAM on a laptop.
jchw 1y ago
Honestly I think this is overstating things, most connectors on most laptops and phones are surprisingly robust. I've opened god knows how many laptops and phones, including some iPhones, and really those tiny ribbon cables have surprised me. Funny enough the one time I did break a ribbon cable it was actually the right joycon rail on a Nintendo Switch and it was quite an unreasonable amount of force I applied (by accident, of course...) I always smile a little seeing people on YouTube with super fine pliars carefully and tenderly taking off connectors, I usually use a butter knife or something like that to get them off and then replace them just using my finger. I actually worry more about carelessly creasing them too much rather than ripping them. Some of those things feel like they would require quite a lot of force to actually outright rip. The actual issue I have with phones isn't that the connectors/cables break apart if you look at them funny, it's actually the god damn screens are insane to deal with and replace, with all of that adhesive crap. This all to say, I think Apple is doing poorly here, their ribbon cables should probably be more robust on these often quite expensive devices. I know they can do it because I've experienced Apple devices with pretty robust internals... (and also similarly, have seen and heard of Apple devices where they've mysteriously cheaped out on components like voltage regulators and made their devices totally unnecessarily worse and more failure prone.)

axoltl 1y ago

I'm actually very surprised this happened. I've dis- and reassembled dozens of iPhones (from the iPhone 4 all the way up to the iPhone 16) and I've never torn a single flex cable. You just have to be careful not to pull on the flex, but the connector instead. This logic applies as much to pulling a plug out of a wall socket as it does a thin flex with a board-to-board connector. That said, would I characterize disassembling any Apple product as "quite friendly"? No. Do not attempt unless you're either familiar with how things go together or you're willing to spend the money to replace the parts you broke. If those aren't options, find a local repair shop.

diffuse_l 1y ago
I tried to repair a macbook air, and did manage to tear the microphone cable, because I didn't notice the connector :| Like you said, you need to be careful, but you better be prepared to pay dearly (or manage without) for your mistakes...
- mh- 1y ago
  Maybe I'm not adventurous enough, but I would never open an Apple product without a teardown video/instructions at hand. iFixit is a fantastic resource if they have covered your device previously.