The last MacBook Pro that was hard to take apart and put together again was sold in 2008. I have one from 2007 and it was pretty easy to replace the (non-defective but slow) HDD with an SSD. That’s, as I said, a MacBook Pro that still had the hard to replace HDD. The newer ones make the process much easier.
I’m very annoyed that the battery in newer MacBook Pros isn’t user replaceable. It’s not that the battery is hard to access and replace – certainly no harder than the HDD. I’m guessing there is some sort of legal requirement – probably? Maybe batteries have to be sold with a hard shell, the MacBook Pro battery doesn’t have that in order to save space. Since they can’t sell it on its own (only as part of the device) they can’t make it user-replaceable.
At least it’s priced appropriately (relatively): The replacement will cost you €180 (parts and work), that’s not all that much more compared to the old user-replaceable batteries which cost €140.
But yeah, except for the battery the MacBook Pros are very accessible.
Yeah, the last troublesome Apple laptops I had to deal with were 2001-era iBooks. Those were kinda tricky.
" Maybe batteries have to be sold with a hard shell, the MacBook Pro battery doesn’t have that in order to save space"
And the saved space can either be used for more battery, or to reduce the size of the computer. They save the thickness of the battery case, and the thickness of any internal walls in the battery compartment with which a removable battery would mate. I'd think those walls might need to be somewhat substantial, to keep the battery in and prevent flexing and loose connections.
I suppose in theory they could also use irregularly-shaped batteries, that would let them fill every bit of space with battery.
The last MacBook Pro that was hard to take apart and put together again was sold in 2008. I have one from 2007 and it was pretty easy to replace the (non-defective but slow) HDD with an SSD. That’s, as I said, a MacBook Pro that still had the hard to replace HDD. The newer ones make the process much easier.
I’m very annoyed that the battery in newer MacBook Pros isn’t user replaceable. It’s not that the battery is hard to access and replace – certainly no harder than the HDD. I’m guessing there is some sort of legal requirement – probably? Maybe batteries have to be sold with a hard shell, the MacBook Pro battery doesn’t have that in order to save space. Since they can’t sell it on its own (only as part of the device) they can’t make it user-replaceable.
At least it’s priced appropriately (relatively): The replacement will cost you €180 (parts and work), that’s not all that much more compared to the old user-replaceable batteries which cost €140.
But yeah, except for the battery the MacBook Pros are very accessible.