MacBook Pro, nekkid

We just saw the ritualistic unboxing pics and now we're happy to bring you the full graphic dissection of the new MacBook Pro courtesy of OWC. Anyone else notice the conspicuous absence of a particular logo? Just don't forget to mop your brow after checkin' that hot silicon on PCB action.

[distantbody @ Feb 22nd 2006 8:12AM]

I think the real shame about owning one of these is that you will never get the pleasure of gutting it yourself. Has anyone seen a transparent cased laptop?

[Jordan @ Feb 22nd 2006 8:17AM]

People have said that the bare part underneath the battery might be the bottom of the trackpad, but in this pick it looks like a DC inverter... Why would a DC inverter be in a laptop? Does the backlight in a laptop need one even though most of the laptop already uses DC?

[ch424 @ Feb 22nd 2006 8:31AM]

Yeah, LCD backlights need an inverter. I can't see it in the diagram, though... where are you talking about?

ch424

[Tim K @ Feb 22nd 2006 8:42AM]

Only a Mac can look good inside as much as it does outside. Gut a dell and I doubt it would look at clean as that.

[John from Buffalo @ Feb 22nd 2006 8:51AM]

I noticed that the duo-card that was first introduced inside of the Mac mini has found its way into the MBP. Combo-wifi w/ BT. I think its used elsewhere, but the "wifi/BT included" in ALL new configurations that have popped up in the last year seem to fit the mold that is continued forward. Its kind of neat, but also annoying to not have a option w/ or w/o ... eh. Everyone has wifi. I need to setup my sniffer now and go get money to pay for my new MacBook Pro.

[kuuuuki @ Feb 22nd 2006 9:03AM]

now anyone to open the battery housing to see if the battery is actually needing that much space?

i weren't in for that rumor about an screen touchpad but that space below the pad and the position of the (pretty big) battery seems leaving room for further speculation.

of course the change in construction- i.e. centering the battery- could also make sense concerning the weight.

i don't know :-/
back to work.

[Jjeff @ Feb 22nd 2006 9:11AM]

distantbody: there was a group in Japan who would make molds and recast pieces of their Powerbooks in clear resin.. everything from trackball buttons to entire cases. There used to be pictures at www.mobile-dog.com but I think that website has been changed to something else.

Jordan: Having taken apart numerous 17" powerbooks and looking at the MacBook pictures, the underside of the trackpad is in fact visible through the battery compartment. There is a DC inverter but that is for the backlight and along the bottom of the LCD enclosure.

Tim K: the aluminum Powerbooks (except for the 12") are a pleasure to disassemble. As complex as the aluminums are inside, they are very easy to repair. The only pitfall is possibly breaking the ($33!!!) flex cable to the optical drive if you pry up on it in the wrong place.

[Samuel McConnell @ Feb 22nd 2006 9:31AM]

I don't see the Core Duo anywhere. Is it under one of the fans?

[Tech^Cellfish @ Feb 22nd 2006 9:38AM]

Where can I get that yellow tape that's used all over that MacBook?

[Shaun @ Feb 22nd 2006 9:56AM]

That is the Trackpad under the battery.

In Image 8:
Tiny cable on bottom is the clicker button, Top cable on left runs to keyboard. Orange cable on right runs to logic board. (shown in image 13)

On powerbooks, all the Chips are located under the logic board (pushed up against a metal heatsink that connects to the blowers), so you won't see them unless some removes the logic board too.

(former mac tech from new orleans.)

[Shaun @ Feb 22nd 2006 10:01AM]

Logic board Underside.

http://tinypic.com/view/?pic=oa7vk1

[ch424 @ Feb 22nd 2006 10:04AM]

"Only a Mac can look good inside as much as it does outside. Gut a dell and I doubt it would look at clean as that."

I gutted a Dell and an ASUS the other day, and they all look the same. Remember lots of other notebooks are manufactured by the same company (possibly even at the same factory) as PowerBooks.

[Partridge @ Feb 22nd 2006 10:50AM]

Fully taken apart? I don't think so.

Also in the news: I bought a car the other day, and when I got it home, I opened the hood and looked in at the engine. Then I closed it. WooooooooooOooOOooOOooo. Oh. I forgot. I photographed the process.

What ever happened to fully taken apart photos as in _taken_apart_? Call me a traditionalist, but back when we had powerbook takeaparts, those things were actually gutted. This is more like taking a peek.

[Mike @ Feb 22nd 2006 10:55AM]

ch424, but they aren't all designed by the same company which is where the internal component layout would be decided instead of by the manufacturer.

[Pfft @ Feb 22nd 2006 11:37AM]

Shaun -- is that you? Shaun from CompUSA?

[rob @ Feb 22nd 2006 1:25PM]

the yellow tape is called "kapton"... you should be able to buy it online.

[mike_d85 @ Feb 22nd 2006 2:20PM]

I want to see every component seperate on a table. This sucks.

distantbody: wasn't that in teh movie "Hackers"?

[Baz @ Feb 22nd 2006 4:03PM]

Im I right in seeing that the RAM is attached to the MoBo using a thin little ribon cable? That cant be good.

[tnkgrl @ Feb 22nd 2006 4:49PM]

#9, you can get that yellow (Kapton) tape here: http://www.kaptontape.com/

That's where I get mine for my repair work - I'm not affiliated with them.

[kdoub1e @ Feb 22nd 2006 4:54PM]

Shaun, do you have a link to the macbookpro service pdf?

[Sirius @ Feb 22nd 2006 10:29PM]

"Only a Mac can look good inside as much as it does outside. Gut a dell and I doubt it would look at clean as that."

@Tim K: Ever wonder why u dun see engadget post things like: "Toshiba Satellite XXXX nekkid!!" ;) (not saying toshibas are ugly or watnot but jz as an example..)

You hardly see anything taken apart on engadget except apple products and a few other pmps.. (not including how-to projects, obviously) there's got to be a reason for this other than the whole "apple's fervent religious following" thing :D
i personally love the 'simplistic sophistication' of apple designs, oxymoronic as it may sound.

[EatingPie @ Feb 23rd 2006 7:06PM]

Yeah tear that bad boy apart! I wanna see if the Core Duo sits on a daughter card... unlikely as that is! Be the first CPU upgradable Powerbook ever!

I still use my ZIF-upgradable Beige G3... which has been a G4 for like 6 years.

-Pie

[EatingPie @ Feb 23rd 2006 7:07PM]

Yeah tear that bad boy apart! I wanna see if the Core Duo sits on a daughter card... unlikely as that is! Be the first CPU upgradable Powerbook ever!

I still use my ZIF-upgradable Beige G3... which has been a G4 for like... I dunno... 5 years.

-Pie

[Kevin @ Mar 17th 2006 1:11AM]

What is the largerst after market hard drive you can put in a mac book pro. I need space and put a 160gb in my 17" powerbook, want to upgrade to the mac book pro, but ma worried i will be limite to the 120gb. any help would be apreciated.