In hopes of creating a better product and improving the way MBP are assembled, in this last WWDC we got to see the Retina Display MBP, which solid features are now more merged into a single, inseparable piece unable to be fixed if not as a whole or totally replaced by another computer.
Unlike the previous model, the display is fused to the glass, which means replacing the LCD requires buying an expensive display assembly. The RAM is now soldered to the logic board — making future memory upgrades impossible. And the battery is glued to the case, requiring customers to mail their laptop to Apple every so often for a $200 replacement. The design may well be comprised of “highly recyclable aluminum and glass” — but my friends in the electronics recycling industry tell me they have no way of recycling aluminum that has glass glued to it like Apple did with both this machine and the recent iPad.
The 2008 Air went in a new direction entirely: It sacrificed performance and upgradeability in exchange for a thinner design. Its RAM is soldered to the logic board (as in the Retina MacBook Pro), so upgrading it means replacing the entire expensive logic board. And like all laptops, the Air has a built-in consumable. The MacBook Air’s battery was rated to last just 300 charges when it was introduced.
The success of the non-upgradeable Air empowered Apple to release the iPad two years later, in which the battery was glued into the case. In the next iteration of the iPad, the glass was fused to the frame.
Even the MacBook Pro was originally touted as an accessible, repairable machine but Apple has consistently introduced thinner, lighter products because that's what we are all waiting for, design innovation sometimes over functionality and simplicity when it comes to repairing or fixing assets.
What do you think on this? would you rather Apple's so world-wide claimed neat and apparent simple design, or would you prefer it to keep it just functional and even component-dividable for fixing purposes?
In the end it's just a matter of how we get gadget's functionality, isn't it?
