MacBook Pro dissected

[iGary]

The little metal doo-dad to the right of the wireless card - and next to the fan .

 

[cw2k]

What about the silver enclosure to the right of the Airport Card?

Thats the expresscard/34 connector

 

[ITASOR]

I can't follow their pictures. The one where it's opened up (the first one), did they remove the LCD? Because I can see the MacBook Pro wording....but there's no LCD, or is that the top case (trackpad area) flipped up covering the LCD? If it's the latter, yeah, looks easy to get in there to replace stuff!

 

[cw2k]

Looking at it the CPU and GPU are probably mounted on the other side of the motherboard that you don't see.

CPU is most proberly in the space above the memory slot and 2 screws on the rear of the board and the GPU should be to the right of that near the 4 Samsung RAM chips.

 

[simie]

Here is the manual for the Macbook Pro

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook_Pro_Users_Guide.pdf

Interesting points

Calibrating Your Battery

To get the longest running time from your battery, calibrate it sometime during the
first week you have your MacBook Pro and repeat these steps occasionally to keep your
battery functioning at its fullest capacity.

Your MacBook Pro has a 15.4-inch display with a default resolution of 1440 x 900.

You can choose scaled resolutions in the Displays pane of System Preferences. When
you switch to a scaled resolution, items on the screen appear larger, making them
easier to see. Scaled resolutions might not be as sharp as the display’s default
resolution.
With some resolutions, a black band appears on each side of the display. If you do not
want to see the bands, you can choose a “stretched” version of the resolution to have
the image cover the entire screen and eliminate the bands.

Credit card eraser.

The MacBook Pro power adapter port contains a magnet that can erase
data on a credit card, iPod, or other device. To preserve your data, keep these and
other magnetic media away from the power adapter port.

Transfering Data via Firewire

To connect your MacBook Pro to another computer in FireWire Target Disk Mode:
1Make sure that your MacBook Pro is shut down.
2 Use a FireWire cable to connect your MacBook Pro to another FireWire-equipped
computer.
3 Start up your MacBook Pro and immediately hold down the T key.
Your MacBook Pro display shows the FireWire logo. The other computer’s display shows
the MacBook Pro internal hard disk icon. You can now drag and drop files between the
computers.
4 When you finish transferring files, drag the MacBook Pro hard disk icon to the Trash
(Eject icon).
5 Press the power (®) button on the MacBook Pro to shut it down, and then disconnect
the FireWire cable.

Memory

Your computer has two memory slots that you access by removing the memory door
in the battery bay. Your MacBook Pro comes with a minimum of 512 megabytes (MB) of
667 MHz Double Data Rate (DDR2) Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory
(SDRAM) installed. Both memory slots can accept an SDRAM module that meets the
following specifications:
 Double Data Rate Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Module (DDR SO-DIMM) format
 1.25 inch or smaller
 512 MB or 1 gigabyte (GB)
 200-pin
 PC2-5300 DDR2 667 MHz Type RAM

If the computer doesn’t respond or the pointer doesn’t move

 Press Command (x)-Option-Esc to force a frozen application to quit. In the dialog
that appears, select the application you would like to quit and click Force Quit.
Next, save your work in any open applications and restart the computer to make sure
the problem is entirely cleared up.
 If you are unable to force the application to quit, press and hold the power (®)
button for a few seconds to shut down the computer.
 If the computer still doesn’t respond, try to restart it by simultaneously pressing the
Command (x) and Control keys on your keyboard and the power (®) button.

 

[atari1356]

Atari, I believe that that is the track pad.

Looking at it the CPU and GPU are probably mounted on the other side of the motherboard that you don't see.

Ah... you're right. I didn't think of that, and now that you mention it, it's obvious that it's for the trackpad and not the CPU.

EDIT: and/or perhaps some controller chips for the backlighting of the keyboard

 

[ncoffey]

Another interesting point on page 62:

How AirPort Provides Wireless Internet Access
With AirPort Extreme technology, your MacBook Pro makes a wireless connection to an
AirPort Express, Airport Extreme Base Station, or any 802.11a-, 802.11b-, or 802.11g-
compliant product that is connected to the phone line, a DSL or cable modem, or a
local-area network with Internet access.

Looks like they do support 802.11a.

 

[EGT]

Here is the manual for the Macbook Pro

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook_Pro_Users_Guide.pdf

Credit card eraser.

The MacBook Pro power adapter port contains a magnet that can erase
data on a credit card, iPod, or other device. To preserve your data, keep these and other magnetic media away from the power adapter port.

I don't like the sound of that! You're going to be carrying it with your Macbook when you're traveling so it's going to be near it at some point. Does this pose any risk to the internal hard drive?

 

[MattyP]

I think it is the on button

Where's the second speaker?

Edit: Let me rephrase that. If the speakers are the black circular rubber-looking things. What is the green circular thing attached to the speaker grill?

I think it is the on button

 

[russed]

what crazy person in their right mind would get the box with it in, then go, humm, instead of turning it on, lets get teh screwdrivers out and have a look inside :O :O :O

 

[dmw007]

Such a nice looking laptop. No way I would have the guts to tear it open...but it does provide some nice pictures.

 

[katie ta achoo]

what crazy person in their right mind would get the box with it in, then go, humm, instead of turning it on, lets get teh screwdrivers out and have a look inside :O :O :O

That's what I would do if I didn't have to worry about warranties or having it work again

 

[Over Achiever]

I replaced the HD on my 17" PB, it wasn't that hard to take apart. Looks like the process for the MBP is similar, which doesn't make taking it apart that hard.

The interior layout looks similar to old PBs ... very similar in layout.

-OA

EDIT: The screen was not removed, they just unplugged the trackpad/keyboard from the back (edit: looks like that step is unnecessary on the new MBP), removed a few screws (8-10 I think) then removed the screws on the side (if it's the same process). Then one just lifts the top of the powerbook (keyboard, trackpad, etc) up, and bam. Access to HD, DC-in board, fans, optical drive, and some other things.

 

[simie]

Where's the CPU?

Is it this thing? If so, that certainly looks upgradeable... or is it somewhere else and I'm just not seeing it?

There are three cpu's that are suface mounted on the other side of the logic board. The one on the left looks like Yonah aka Core Duo and the the others being the north and south bridge


After blowing up the image Yonah appears not to be surface mounted

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/182117/

 

[NeuronBasher]

There are three cpu's that are suface mounted on the other side of the logic board. The one on the left looks like Yonah aka Core Duo and the the others being the north and south bridge

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/182117/

So much for the hope of socketed and user-upgradeable CPUs.

 

[thefunkymunky]

Where is the GPU?

 

[simie]

Where is the GPU?

I was forgetting out that one - one of them must the GPU then.

Here's a picture of airport card

 

[thegreatluke]

I can't follow their pictures. The one where it's opened up (the first one), did they remove the LCD? Because I can see the MacBook Pro wording....but there's no LCD, or is that the top case (trackpad area) flipped up covering the LCD? If it's the latter, yeah, looks easy to get in there to replace stuff!

It looks like the bottom half of the case flips open, so no, the LCD was not taken off (I assume).

Consider this - on this picture, look at the top. The rounded rectangular thing is the underside of the trackpad, and the general area in black is the underside of the keyboard.