I would say that Apple never specifically built computers with repairability in mind save for your occasional Power Mac G3 type of model that was specifically meant for professional users installing specialized third party hardware.
No, it was more like, that’s just how computers used to be built. The only way to build a computer was to get a hard drive from Toshiba and screw it in.
Sure, occasionally you had a standout like the polycarbonate MacBook with removable battery and drive/RAM right behind an easily accessible panel. I’m sure at some point an engineer thought about upgrades and repairs and corporate management didn’t mind.
I think Lenovo even talked about their iFixit partnership in a similar way where they discussed how you’re under pressures that are really more important: you’re trying to design something and get it out the door in the right form factor and you are thinking about how you’re putting it together. Even if you want the computer to be repairable it’s always down below #1 on your list on priorities even if you don’t mean to specifically prevent people from repairing and upgrading the system.
I have owned four Apple laptops since 2005. The first one I got was the first Intel MacBook Pro. The last one I have is an M1 MacBook Air. The repairability score of these laptops has dropped linearly; I could with a guide and some dedicated tools, completely disassemble and reassemble the 2005 laptop. I would be a fool to try that with the MacBook Air.
That’s in line with what this article is saying, but I would be remiss if I did not say that the durability of those laptops has gone up inverse to the repairability. The 2020 M1 MacBook Air is one of the most durable machines I’ve ever bought from Apple. I strongly suspect that this trade-off of durability and repairability is real.
I should also point out that I needed to disassemble and reassemble the 2005 MacBook Pro because Apple screwed up the manufacturing. I had to take the whole computer apart and replace the thermal paste because they had put on too much. A later machine I had to replace the battery. I have not had to open up the last two that I bought.
It was cool and fun and scary to open that machine up and have to reassemble it and hope that it would work again, but I don’t really want to do that with a machine that I depend on. I would much rather never have to do that.
It’s possible that this, and not planned obsolescence, is what is driving things. If it is planned obsolescence, they’re doing a really bad job of obsoleting my six-year-old computer.
What's a 2005 MacBook Air? Apple has had lots of poorly built machines, the infamous butterfly keyboard, the multiple instances of widespread GPU failure. In my immediate family they are also the only brand to have the motherboard straight up die twice, granted it was after a few years but the Thinkpads keep on trucking...
I'm a fan of repairable devices. And I passionately hate Apple for their Anti-Consumer strategies like proprietary SSD connectors, lid closing sensors and all this nonsense.
However while planning to buy a framework I realized that some oft Apples decisions have techical reasons...
Lpcamm2 is great, but not fast enough for unified memory and eats up more battery.
Easy repairability is awesome, but has an impact not only look and feel, but also sound design and durability (dust, etc.). Thinkpads solved this quite well, though.
Moreover requiring certified replacements can also prevent scam and can be seen as anti theft.
However, I'm not saying Apple is great, but at least not all their decisions are only to make more money. I personally am and keep being a Linux man, so never buying an Apple device again until they make a new iPod Nano ;-)
For me, a replaceable battery is the most important factor. With my level of usage, it's not a question of if but rather when I'll need to replace my MacBook Pro battery.
It used to be so damn easy with my 2006 MBP. Pop the old one out, pop a new one in, literally seconds to replace. You could even carry an extra battery with you when traveling.
Now battery replacement is a giant PITA. And Apple wants you to mail the machine to them and be without it for days instead of getting onsite same-day replacement. I hate this situation.
Apple desktops also used to be more repairable. I remember Apple sending me an iMac G5 midplane, which was basically the "guts" of the computer, to replace at home. You could do fan and power supply replacement too.
For some items fit and finish can be better if things are assembled with glue/etc rather than screws; and certainly a lot less of volume. Great as long as it doesn't need to be opened.
Keyboard, Trackpad, Screen are a mix of cost and taste. Apple has streamlined product offerings and each model has significant volume. Other vendors either don't have much volume (Framework) or get their volume through a multitude of models and options (Lenovo, HP, Dell), they can't justify engineering costs to get a touchpad made for them, and the Apple one isn't available. Thinkpads models have a spectrum of repairability, so Lenovo probably has some market insights there... they do tend to offer things in less and more servicable generation after generation.
Apple can do well on battery life because they own the hardware design, the cpu design, the firmware, the OS, and at least some of the userland and they have only a handful of models to work with. And they have a roughly incomparable product; it's always Apples vs Oranges, so they can decide to take a 1% perf hit for a 2% battery life gain... whereas if the Lenovo Ryzen Max 390 HyperFighting laptop is 1% slower than the Dell laptop with the same chip, that's bad PR, even if there's 2% battery savings.
Microsoft's own brand laptops could maybe drive better integration of OS and system, but really haven't. Microsoft is busy selling their Cloud, and stuffing Clippy into Notepad. I suspect they don't really want to compete too hard against OEMs anyway.
The sucky components aren't even limited to one area. I really want a powerful Linux laptop that is at least decent, the problem is they don't appear to exist.
They are "garbage" (a gross exaggeration) because they don't have billions of dollars of research in designing and manufacturing them, and there is no longer standardisation of "repairable" parts (as nobody has an incentive to do so in the absence of regulation for it), which means everything is becoming more and more custom.
That's not really being "fair" though. I think the point is, if everyone who cares about "repairability" constantly chooses garbage for what's usually a least used attribute of the purchase, does their opinion on any other attribute even matter? It's like choosing the most repairable food to eat.
It's bit funny to use the iBook G3 as an example. While some parts are easy to remove it has a notoriously difficult HDD replacement process.
Yeah, shows you how bad the present situation is.
I would say that Apple never specifically built computers with repairability in mind save for your occasional Power Mac G3 type of model that was specifically meant for professional users installing specialized third party hardware.
No, it was more like, that’s just how computers used to be built. The only way to build a computer was to get a hard drive from Toshiba and screw it in.
Sure, occasionally you had a standout like the polycarbonate MacBook with removable battery and drive/RAM right behind an easily accessible panel. I’m sure at some point an engineer thought about upgrades and repairs and corporate management didn’t mind.
I think Lenovo even talked about their iFixit partnership in a similar way where they discussed how you’re under pressures that are really more important: you’re trying to design something and get it out the door in the right form factor and you are thinking about how you’re putting it together. Even if you want the computer to be repairable it’s always down below #1 on your list on priorities even if you don’t mean to specifically prevent people from repairing and upgrading the system.
I have owned four Apple laptops since 2005. The first one I got was the first Intel MacBook Pro. The last one I have is an M1 MacBook Air. The repairability score of these laptops has dropped linearly; I could with a guide and some dedicated tools, completely disassemble and reassemble the 2005 laptop. I would be a fool to try that with the MacBook Air.
That’s in line with what this article is saying, but I would be remiss if I did not say that the durability of those laptops has gone up inverse to the repairability. The 2020 M1 MacBook Air is one of the most durable machines I’ve ever bought from Apple. I strongly suspect that this trade-off of durability and repairability is real.
I should also point out that I needed to disassemble and reassemble the 2005 MacBook Pro because Apple screwed up the manufacturing. I had to take the whole computer apart and replace the thermal paste because they had put on too much. A later machine I had to replace the battery. I have not had to open up the last two that I bought.
It was cool and fun and scary to open that machine up and have to reassemble it and hope that it would work again, but I don’t really want to do that with a machine that I depend on. I would much rather never have to do that.
It’s possible that this, and not planned obsolescence, is what is driving things. If it is planned obsolescence, they’re doing a really bad job of obsoleting my six-year-old computer.
What's a 2005 MacBook Air? Apple has had lots of poorly built machines, the infamous butterfly keyboard, the multiple instances of widespread GPU failure. In my immediate family they are also the only brand to have the motherboard straight up die twice, granted it was after a few years but the Thinkpads keep on trucking...
Sorry that was a typo, it’s referring to the same 2005 machine I mentioned in the first paragraph.
Planned obsolescence is sure at play here, but I blame the design choices of Jony Ive and his team (thinness above all).
I'm a fan of repairable devices. And I passionately hate Apple for their Anti-Consumer strategies like proprietary SSD connectors, lid closing sensors and all this nonsense.
However while planning to buy a framework I realized that some oft Apples decisions have techical reasons...
Lpcamm2 is great, but not fast enough for unified memory and eats up more battery.
Easy repairability is awesome, but has an impact not only look and feel, but also sound design and durability (dust, etc.). Thinkpads solved this quite well, though.
Moreover requiring certified replacements can also prevent scam and can be seen as anti theft.
However, I'm not saying Apple is great, but at least not all their decisions are only to make more money. I personally am and keep being a Linux man, so never buying an Apple device again until they make a new iPod Nano ;-)
For me, a replaceable battery is the most important factor. With my level of usage, it's not a question of if but rather when I'll need to replace my MacBook Pro battery.
It used to be so damn easy with my 2006 MBP. Pop the old one out, pop a new one in, literally seconds to replace. You could even carry an extra battery with you when traveling.
Now battery replacement is a giant PITA. And Apple wants you to mail the machine to them and be without it for days instead of getting onsite same-day replacement. I hate this situation.
Apple desktops also used to be more repairable. I remember Apple sending me an iMac G5 midplane, which was basically the "guts" of the computer, to replace at home. You could do fan and power supply replacement too.
This is an incredibly cynical and naive take so forgive me: if repairability is such a desirable trait why are all repairable laptops utter garbage?
Even Framework has major quality issues. Thinkpads aren't like they used to be.
Every single one has a TERRIBLE keyboard, TERRIBLE trackpad. Mediocre screen. Bad battery life.
In principal, repairability seems good. But the least repairable laptop is also the best quality.
For some items fit and finish can be better if things are assembled with glue/etc rather than screws; and certainly a lot less of volume. Great as long as it doesn't need to be opened.
Keyboard, Trackpad, Screen are a mix of cost and taste. Apple has streamlined product offerings and each model has significant volume. Other vendors either don't have much volume (Framework) or get their volume through a multitude of models and options (Lenovo, HP, Dell), they can't justify engineering costs to get a touchpad made for them, and the Apple one isn't available. Thinkpads models have a spectrum of repairability, so Lenovo probably has some market insights there... they do tend to offer things in less and more servicable generation after generation.
Apple can do well on battery life because they own the hardware design, the cpu design, the firmware, the OS, and at least some of the userland and they have only a handful of models to work with. And they have a roughly incomparable product; it's always Apples vs Oranges, so they can decide to take a 1% perf hit for a 2% battery life gain... whereas if the Lenovo Ryzen Max 390 HyperFighting laptop is 1% slower than the Dell laptop with the same chip, that's bad PR, even if there's 2% battery savings.
Microsoft's own brand laptops could maybe drive better integration of OS and system, but really haven't. Microsoft is busy selling their Cloud, and stuffing Clippy into Notepad. I suspect they don't really want to compete too hard against OEMs anyway.
The sucky components aren't even limited to one area. I really want a powerful Linux laptop that is at least decent, the problem is they don't appear to exist.
They are "garbage" (a gross exaggeration) because they don't have billions of dollars of research in designing and manufacturing them, and there is no longer standardisation of "repairable" parts (as nobody has an incentive to do so in the absence of regulation for it), which means everything is becoming more and more custom.
TBF, in general most laptops are garbage.
That's not really being "fair" though. I think the point is, if everyone who cares about "repairability" constantly chooses garbage for what's usually a least used attribute of the purchase, does their opinion on any other attribute even matter? It's like choosing the most repairable food to eat.