MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar 2017 Teardown

Written By: Blake Klein
Published: 08/06/17
  • Comments: 34

MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar 2017 Teardown

Published: 08/06/17

Teardown

Introduction

Love is in the MacBook Air and we have a brand new MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar 2017 to fall for. What's new, borrowed, and blue in this MacBook Air killer successor? We'll have to teardown to find out.

Tie the knot with us, or just hang out on our Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

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    • Gotta love that new Mac smell, but just how new is this Pro? Get a whiff of these specs:

    • 13.3” LED-backlit IPS Retina display with 2560 × 1600 resolution (227 dpi), P3 wide color gamut

    • 3.1 GHz Kaby Lake dual-core Intel Core i5 (Turbo Boost up to 3.5 GHz)

    • 8 GB of 2133 MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM

    • 256 GB PCIe-based SSD

    • Integrated Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650

    • Four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports and 3.5 mm headphone port

    • 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2

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    • Thanks to prior experience, we've got the obnoxious suction-prying-sliding maneuver down, and we pop this little guy open in no time.

    • Once the oyster is cracked, and the pearl revealed, we get some serious deja vu.

    • Compare the MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar 2017 (second)...

    • ... to the MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar 2016 (third).

    • Everything looks pretty much the same to us, right down to the 49.2 Wh battery.

    • The only difference we spot is the finish on the fans. Looks like the 4K iMac got the real refresh juice this year.

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    • We pick some cuffs out of this notebook and turn them into some mustaches. Here are the secrets within:

    • Intel Core i5-7267U processor with Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650

    • Intel® JHL6540 Thunderbolt™ 3 Controller

    • SanDisk SDRQKBDC4 064G 64 GB NAND flash memory (x2 for a total of 128 GB on this side of the board)

    • Samsung K4E6E304EB-EGCG LPDDR3 DRAM (4 x 2 GB for 8 GB total)

    • Texas Instruments SN650839 power management, and TI/Stellaris LM4FS1EH SMC Controller (replacement codename for TM4EA231)

    • SK Hynix H9CKNNN4GTATMR-NTH memory with custom SSD controller layered underneath (likely)

    • Murata/Apple 339S00056 Wi-Fi Module

    how did you remove the heatsink?

    Christian Echavez -

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    • On the opposite side we find:

    • 2x SanDisk SDRQKBDC4 064G 64 GB NAND flash storage (as seen in the 2016 Escape Edition's removable SSD)—bringing the total to 256 GB

    • APL1023/343S00736 (likely the custom Apple T1 chip that pairs with the Touch Bar) and (Apple?) 338S00193-A1 (probably both power management)

    • 2x Texas Instruments TI CD3215C00 USB-C controller (+2 on the other side)

    • Intersil ISL95828 PWM controller for Intel CPUs (likely)

    • Texas Instruments HD3SS215 6.0 Gbps HDMI DisplayPort 2:1/1:2 Differential Switch

    • Macronix MX25L6473EZNI-10G Serial Flash Memory

    • NXP 66V10 (PN66V ?) NFC controller, containing Secure Element 008 and NXP PN549 (as seen in the iPhone 6s)

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    • IC Identification, continued:

    • Texas Instruments TPS51980A power management and likely Renesas battery charger

    • Texas Instruments TPS51916 DDR memory power supply

    • Cirrus Logic/Analog Devices audio codec and amplifier (likely)

    • Texas Instruments TMPxxx temperature sensor (assumption)

    • Vishay SiC635 power stage

    • Serial Flash and EEPROM Memory (likely)

    • Apple SSD power management (assumption)

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    • The MacBook Pro 13" with Touch Bar earns a 1 out of 10 on our repairability scale (10 is the easiest to repair):

    • The trackpad can be removed without first removing the battery.

    • Proprietary pentalobe screws continue to make working on the device unnecessarily difficult.

    • The battery assembly is entirely, and very solidly, glued into the case, thus complicating replacement.

    • The processor, RAM, and flash memory are soldered to the logic board.

    • The Touch Bar adds a second, difficult to replace, screen to damage.

    • The Touch ID sensor doubles as the power switch, and is paired with the T1 chip on the logic board. Fixing a broken power switch may require help from Apple, or a new logic board.

Author

Blake Klein

Member since: 30/01/17

67684 Reputation

33 comments

Also, good luck getting your data off of those pci-e style hard drives.

j0vian -

There is a special boot mode in which the Mac basically acts like a network connected drive (NAS)

Mining15 -

I'll stick with my repairable and upgrade friendly MacBook Pro 2012 thanks.

Apple lost a winning edge when they removed user serviceable from their vernacular.

Justin -

I’m inclined to agree.

This will very likely be my last Mac.

When did Apple decide to play games like MS used to?

Corey DeLasaux -

You should do an in-depth analysis of they new keyboard, and see if there are actual structural differences between the 2016 keyboard and the new 2017 one, and if so provide some pictures.

Johannes -

I would LOVE this!!!

beezermigs -

There is NFC chip on Mac? I didn't see that in 2016 RMBP13. So I guess these should be NFC chip on 2017 RMBP 15 as well?

Justin -

I guess the NXP 66V10 is there for the secure element (to hold keys for payment security & maybe vault etc.), rather than NFC.

Eric Coetzee -

Very interested in whether the 2017 keyboard is different to the 2016 version. I had to return mine (and 2 CRUs) because keys kept sticking. Really hoping the mechanism might be updated!

Jammy -

In MBP Esc-Edition 2017 flash memory are soldered also?

2016 - removable.

Marcin -

This time again I will keep my MBP late 2008 unibody and I will not spend my $$ for this un-repairable too expensive 2017 laptop

Mike -

Can someone confirm if the SSD is removable and that it can be replaced with a bigger version?

Peace Freak -

The SSD is composed of Apple proprietary SSD controller and four NAND Flash chip that are soldered on the main board. It is not removable. The SSD can support larger capacity with higher density NAND Flash chip. Larger capacity support is an option when end user order it. End user can not change it.

JJ Wu -

Can you also show how to replace a new display for the Touch Bar laptop?

Chandrashekar H S -

这个只能算是入门级的拆解吧？

夏天里的冰夜 -

现代的苹果笔记本很难修也不能换配件。用这个网站的向导有很多让你可以自己diy。可惜这台苹果笔记本貌似没有能自己做的

beau danner -

The funny connector to nowhere is the connector to tap into the SSD. When the Apple connector is mounted (as supplied) it connects the CPU to the SSD. When removed the signals for the SSD can be accessed.

harald -

Only an idiot would buy this crap.

Paolo -

wish ppl stop buying those new crap, so apple knows they are fking with us.

Liangshi Xu -

I just hope apple starts using cherry mx switches for the keyboard soon. That and/or put rbg would make me happy.

EpicDonut Productions -

wanted to upgrade my 2009y MacBook Pro ….. but this “solid” non upgradable,non fixable brick, even battery is glued like”once it go old - you go and buy new laptop” … sorry apple,not this time

Neo G -

Unbelievable, but camera failure requires screen replacement -> 1000 USD/€… :-(

(MPB end 2016, 15”, Touch Bar)

Philippe Annet -

Is there any way to upgrade the SSD in the 13 inch 2017 Macbook Pro?

Finn Arnold -

No way, it’s embedded into the logic board.

konglik -

Hi I would like to ask you a question, just above the speakers there are 2 Flex cables on the motherboard. In the opening maneuver the more external one on the right side (looking at the motherboard from above) I would like to know what it is, because I saw that in the left part always above the speakers there are the same 2 Flex cables. The MacBook works but I can not figure out what I broke in the opening.

Giavomo -

So how do I upgrade my memory to 1 terabyte?

tonytrilex -

Can I upgrade the ssd and ram in MacBook Pro 2017 without Touch Bar

Omar -

I have a working HDD in an otherwise dead 2017 Touch Bar MBPro. Is there any way to remove the HDD and mount it so I can backup? Thank you!!!!

bspam1 -

My MacBook Pro 2017, A1706 don’t recognize my firmware password blocked with black screen and padlock

rasheath almaboudi -

“ The Touch ID sensor doubles as the power switch, and is paired with the T1 chip on the logic board. Fixing a broken power switch may require help from Apple, or a new logic board”

actually you can replace the Power Button / Touch ID . Power button will work but not Touch ID

Arfan Chowdhury -

How to fix screen issue of macbook pro touchbar A1706 model display having black lines on it

Amol Dahe -

Hello, I have an issue with my MacBook Pro 13" Touch Bar 2017 , the keyboard stop responding, but the touch bar and the trackpad are working perfectly. I took it back to apple store but it will cost me £570 ( cos is out of warranty) so I declined the repaired.. I can repaired it by myself but I don’t know what repair parts to purchase from here. Any suggestions will be appreciated . Thank you.

zachariasl -

Hi. I have the 3.1Ghz i5 version of this MBP. Aside from it being difficult to work on, is there any reason I can't swap out the logic board and replace it with the 3.5Ghz i7 logic board? Has anyone tried this? A faster processor, double the RAM and HD capacity. This particular A1706 has the 4 USB-C ports. Is it worth the time and effort? I'd love to hear back from you about this.

Anthony Aquilato -