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Jun 2, 2006 2:53 PM
by: mhunter
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343
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Oct 26, 2005
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Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 23, 2006 11:20 PM
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I just disassembled and reassembled a macbook (see somewhat related post here: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=2392925) and found some things that SOME people might find interesting.
We've all seen the disassembly pictures on the internet, but as far as I can tell, they didn't mention these details:
1. The Macbook is built with a very sturdy metal frame, similar to a steel safety cage construction in a well-built car. The internal construction doesn't involve any flimsy metal pieces, so Kudos to Apple! From what I can tell as a materials science graduate student, it looks like cast aluminum or magnesium alloy. Very sturdy and light. All major components are screwed to the metal frame, and the plastic (black or white) just covers that frame.
2. The macbook has 3 internal speakers. One on each side of the laptop and one in the center. The one in the center is slightly bigger, about 2/3 inch in diameter. I presume it's the "bass" speaker. This is the only significant empty space in the entire laptop! It's below the F8 key and fires UP towards the keyboard. The ones on the side are oval shape and fires BACK towards the screen. The speakers are mounted with some sponge sound isolators-probably to prevent music from creating a buzz with the casing. Nice!
3. The ENTIRE hard drive assembly is mounted on shock absorbing soft rubber! The HD caddy slides on rubber rails, and is held by those rubber rails. There is also a rubber bumper behind the SATA connection, fully engloving the HD with rubber. And it's not just a hard piece of rubber - the rubber rails are designed with hollow channels to be flexible. *clap clap clap* You probably won't notice this even if you take the hard drive out.
4. Of the many many case screws, the two on the outside left near the front (left of left palmrest) is a SHAM! It's just a meaningless set of screws put to make the Macbook symmetric looking, and as far as I can see they serve no purpose! There are two screws accessible from the INSIDE of the case that holds that part of the casing together. Weird, huh?
5. The REAL fan exhaust grill only spands from F5 to F7. The rest of the grill is just there for show. The Macbook seems to include a lot of "features" that are only for show!
All in all, the design is simply incredible. I've taken apart a LOT of laptops (powerbook G4, iBook G4, about 6 thinkpads, 4 dells, etc) and none of them came even close to the attention to detail. So the blueprint was excellent. HOWEVER, the assembly quality is not very good. Some screws were loose, one of them was somewhat striped, one of the plastic pieces were slightly bent during assembly, etc. Apple needs some handle on quality control in assembly!!!
Finally, I do NOT recommend anyone take apart their macbook, as it is much easier to open than an iBookG4 but MUCH HARDER to put together than a iBookG4.
Mac Mini 1.58Ghz (OCed!) / MacBook black
Mac OS X (10.4.4)
60GB 7200RPM Hitachi HD.
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Posts:
102
Registered:
May 22, 2006
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Re: Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 23, 2006 11:38 PM
in response to: Yongwon Lee
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5. The REAL fan exhaust grill only spands from F5 to
F7. The rest of the grill is just there for show. The
Macbook seems to include a lot of "features" that are
only for show!
In fact, it may be done to increase the natural convection of the air, to keep the SuperDrive a bit cooler.
BTW, there is a Complete Disassembly photomanual at iFixit:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/86.1.0.html
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Posts:
144
Registered:
Apr 7, 2006
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Re: Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 23, 2006 11:43 PM
in response to: Yongwon Lee
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I'm curious, do you have the Apple Service Manual for the MB? I have been reviewing it and like you said it looks like a pain to put back together.
I am also curious to know if you took it upon yourself to reapply the thermal grease?
Mac OS X (10.4.6)
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Posts:
343
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Oct 26, 2005
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Re: Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 24, 2006 12:14 AM
in response to: Nate Roney
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I didn't use the service manual or tried applying the thermal paste. I just.. let the force guide me. 
It's a pain to put back together because the right side of the top cover relies on a plastic tab while the rest of the the cover uses screws. So You have to push down very hard on the right side to "click" the cover back into place.
The problem is, when you push down hard, the plastic around the superdrive opening will start bending and you could break/bend that piece. Also, the plastic tabs are replaceable (great!) and consequently loose (bad!). That description probably doesn't make sense, but all in all it's very ackward.
Mac Mini 1.58Ghz (OCed!) / MacBook black
Mac OS X (10.4.4)
60GB 7200RPM Hitachi HD.
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Posts:
70
Registered:
Dec 25, 2004
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Re: Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 24, 2006 11:06 AM
in response to: Yongwon Lee
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I assume that since you did not redo your thermal paste, you didn't take off the heat sink/fan assembly. I ask because nobody has posted whether the processor is socketed or soldered--do you happen to know from your travels inside the machine?
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Posts:
343
Registered:
Oct 26, 2005
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Re: Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 24, 2006 1:47 PM
in response to: Mark Berman
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I wanted to take a look at the fan mooing issue, so I didn't want to mess around with the processor..
However, there was clearly no indication of any sockets, and absolutely no space for such a configuration. My educated guess is that both the CPU and Chipset/GPU is soldered on.
Also, I think the Chipset and GPU are integrated into one chip. Anyway, the chipset and CPU share ONE heatsink and fan.
Mac Mini 1.58Ghz (OCed!) / MacBook black
Mac OS X (10.4.4)
60GB 7200RPM Hitachi HD.
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Posts:
70
Registered:
Dec 25, 2004
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Re: Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 24, 2006 2:08 PM
in response to: Yongwon Lee
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I wrote to the guys at ifixit.com and they confirmed what you suspected: the processor is soldered on. Too bad. I was hoping for a cheap upgrade path two years down the road ala the intel mac mini's socketed processor.
Thanks again for your adventurous explorations into your MacBook.
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Posts:
4,384
Registered:
Nov 23, 2004
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Re: Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 24, 2006 2:44 PM
in response to: Mark Berman
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I was hoping for a cheap upgrade path two years down the road ala the
intel mac mini's socketed processor.
Well, it's only a couple hundred pins to desolder. Definitely workable. Of course, it's not something every user would be able to do, but the more advanced could do this in a days work.
I'm sure one of the upgrade companies will probably offer a mail-in upgrade service like the one available for powerbooks.
1.25 GHz Mini 1 GB/40/Combo, OS 10.4.6, Mighty Mouse, OWC FireWire 120 GB HD
Mac OS X (10.4.6)
12" 1.33 GHz iBook 1.5GB/40/Combo, 333 MHz iMac G3 (Lime) 288 MB/13 GB/OS 10.2.8
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Posts:
102
Registered:
May 22, 2006
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Re: Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 24, 2006 9:42 PM
in response to: Mark Berman
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Pretty bad! I was thinking of low-voltage Core Duo installation experiment 
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Posts:
102
Registered:
May 22, 2006
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Re: Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 25, 2006 11:17 PM
in response to: mhunter
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The only question is "HOW?"
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Posts:
4,384
Registered:
Nov 23, 2004
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Re: Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 26, 2006 12:30 AM
in response to: st8ic
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The only question is "HOW?"
I've desoldered hundreds of chips.
You just use a soldering iron, and some copper braid to remove the solder from each pin individually.
Or, you can use a desoldering iron (which is essentially a soldering iron with a suction pump and hollow tip) to remove the solder from each pin.
Takes some practice, but once you've desoldered a bunch of chips, you get pretty fast at it. I could probably do a few hundred pins in a half-hour to an hour if they were all close together.
The trick is that they have to be pins soldered through the board to make this feasible. If they went "surface mount", then that opens-up a whole new process.
1.25 GHz Mini 1 GB/40/Combo, OS 10.4.6, Mighty Mouse, OWC FireWire 120 GB HD
Mac OS X (10.4.6)
12" 1.33 GHz iBook 1.5GB/40/Combo, 333 MHz iMac G3 (Lime) 288 MB/13 GB/OS 10.2.8
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Posts:
343
Registered:
Oct 26, 2005
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Re: Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 26, 2006 1:01 AM
in response to: mhunter
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just out of curiosity,
is it just as "easy" to solder a new chip onto a de-soldered board?
Mac Mini 1.58Ghz (OCed!) / MacBook black
Mac OS X (10.4.4)
60GB 7200RPM Hitachi HD.
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Posts:
4,384
Registered:
Nov 23, 2004
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Re: Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 26, 2006 1:24 AM
in response to: Yongwon Lee
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Hello,
just out of curiosity,
is it just as "easy" to solder a new chip onto a
de-soldered board?
As long as you don't mess anything up, and don't burn-off the copper traces on the board, it's quite easy. Just half-second of heat, touch the solder, and on to the next pin.
It's really not that bad. But, if you have never worked with a soldering iron, you should practice on some junk circuit boards first. Go find a dead PC and practice on it. Once you get the technique down, then move on to the important stuff.
Soldering is not really that difficult. It's just something that requires a delicate touch, and patience to perfect.
I wouldn't jump right in to soldering on important stuff. Practice first, then once you are confident in your abilities, move on to the big stuff.
Read over the guide at:
http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderfaq.htm
And, be sure to check out the link for "Desoldering Photo Gallery & Black Museum of Bad Soldering"
That should give you a basic understanding of the process.
Another guide is listed at:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/164
A quick search on Google will reveal a ton of other guides as well.
It's not that bad once you get some practice.
I've had great success with $15 and $30 soldering irons, and $40 desoldering irons / pumps. So, it's not terribly expensive to get the equipment.
I've had spools of solder last me a couple of years (you don't use much on each contact). And, the desoldering braids are only a couple of dollars each.
The idea is to only apply as much heat for the minimal amount of time needed to do the job. And, only apply as much solder as you need to do it right.
The guide listed above should give you a pretty good idea of what you need to get started. But, be sure to practice on old stuff first.
1.25 GHz Mini 1 GB/40/Combo, OS 10.4.6, Mighty Mouse, OWC FireWire 120 GB HD
Mac OS X (10.4.6)
12" 1.33 GHz iBook 1.5GB/40/Combo, 333 MHz iMac G3 (Lime) 288 MB/13 GB/OS 10.2.8
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Posts:
5
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Oct 29, 2003
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Re: Observations of Macbook Anatomy
Posted:
May 26, 2006 2:00 AM
in response to: mhunter
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My guess is that the chips in the MB are BGA (ball grid array) which means they are surface mounted with the pins UNDER the actual chip. The only way to desolder that would be to blast the other side of the board with hot air which would make half the other components come off as well.
eMac 1,25 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.3)
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Posts:
70
Registered:
Dec 25, 2004
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