By Michael Degnan • Difficulty: Moderate
ICYMI, Apple’s having a midsummer’s nightmare:
- June 22: Apple announced a free keyboard replacement program after mounting pressure from a class-action lawsuit over the faulty design of the butterfly keyboard in Macbook Pros.
- July 12: Apple quietly discontinued the 2015 MacBook Pro after a three-year run—which means every laptop in their Pro lineup comes equipped with the controversial butterfly keyboard.
- July 13: Apple launched the new MacBook Pro and carefully mentioned that its third-generation keyboard was re-engineered purely for quietude. We found a silicone membrane under each key cap, seemingly designed to prevent the ingress failures we keep hearing about. And then we found a patent to prove it—from 2016.
- July 16: We teardown the MacBook Pro 15” Touch Bar 2018 and score it a 1.
- The trackpad can be replaced without removing the battery.
- The processor, RAM, and flash memory are soldered to the logic board. Repairs and upgrades will be impractical at best.
- The top case assembly, which includes the keyboard, battery, and speakers, is firmly glued in place—making all those components hard to replace separately.
- The Touch ID sensor doubles as the power switch, and is paired with the T2 chip on the logic board. Fixing a broken power switch may require help from Apple, or a new logic board.