iFixit teardown: MacBook Pro M5 reveals cumbersome repairs but also improvements

The new 14-inch MacBook Pro has received few upgrades on paper, most notably the Apple M5 ARM chip and a faster SSD, while the design remains unchanged. We found certain points of criticism in our detailed review, such as the very loud fans under load, the lack of Wi-Fi 7 and the lack of maintenance options, like the previous model.

The teardown experts at iFixit have taken the new MacBook Pro apart to see if there were more changes under the hood than in the design. At the very least, replacing the battery remains unnecessarily cumbersome. After removing the screwed-on bottom and disconnecting the trackpad cable, twelve adhesive strips have to be removed to hold the six battery cells in place. Since Apple apparently doesn't trust customers to do this, the company only sells the battery in conjunction with a new upper case half including the keyboard; in order to carry out the repair as recommended by Apple, the MacBook Pro must be almost completely disassembled.

At least both speakers can be replaced quickly, but for almost all other repairs, the motherboard must be removed, which requires loosening numerous different screws and disconnecting cables. Afterwards, users can replacing all connections, the trackpad and the fan. Compared to the previous model, there are some improvements in detail. For example, the battery can now be replaced without removing the trackpad, and Apple offers a repair manual upon purchase of the laptop. However, due to the occasionally very cumbersome repair process, it only scores four out of ten possible points on the iFixit repair scale.