Apple: 13" Macbook Pro without Touchbar suprises in teardown

Apple systems are moving towards integrated, non-upgradeable designs for years now. 5 years ago, the then current Macbook Pro Notebooks had a fairly maintainable design, the RAM, the 2.5" SSD/HDD and the ODD could be replaced and upgraded effortlessly, although they already were less open to the user then the non-Unibody Macbooks. One year later, when Apple launched the Retina models, things started to change fast: The RAM was soldered down now, the battery was glued down and ODDs were completely gone, of course. However, one thing the user could still change was the (now proprietary) SSD.

With the newest Macbook Pros, Apple seemed intend to kill even that last bit of upgradeability and follow the trend of the Macbook. In the specifications of the new models, the SSD was marked as "Onboard", just like the soldered RAM.

In a teardown, which was done by the component-upgrading service OWC, something surprising was revealed: The SSD in the smallest Macbook Pro 13 (without the Touchbar) is not soldered down, its still user replaceable. Before you get to excited about the possibility of upgrading the Macbook Pro however, you should keep in mind: The SSD is still in some proprietary format, which makes upgrading rather difficult and expensive.

If the newest models also have a user replaceable SSD is still unclear. The cheapest model has a vastly different component layout compared to the models with Touchbar, because it is lacking a second fan. So with this model, Apple has much more internal space available. It still seems most likely that the SSD is soldered on with the most expensive models.

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