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Inside the Macbok!
Wednesday, May 17, 2006 / Disassemblies
Apple has just released the replacement to the allstar consumer laptop, the iBook! Now it’s called the MacBook, but the same burly childproof construction is still there. Well, nothing’s childproof, but this comes pretty darn close in our opinion. The case is made from the same tough polycarbonate that contributed to the legendary durability of the previous iBook line. Only now there’s a smoking Intel Core Duo chipset in there! Let’s take a look-see…
Here's what comes out of the box...
The overall style of the new MacBook borrows a lot from the previous iBook, and that’s a good thing in our opinion. It features the typical beauty through simplicity for which Apple is well-known.
Inside the back bay...
A big panel comes off the underside of the case to get at the battery, and something else.
What the... is that a REMOVABLE hard drive?
That’s right, now you can swap out drives w/o needing a degree in electrical engineering! This is something we’ve always wanted in our laptops, which typically come with anemic slow-spinning stock drives. Now you can soup it up, or increase capacity later on. A great addition!
Here's the MacBook with the keyboard and top removed.
There is A LOT going on inside the case of these MacBooks! Fortunately, it’s easy to get at it all, and installing RAM seems to be a fairly simple procedure.
The RAM slots are quite easy to get at.
Here’s the two RAM slots. RAM comes stock installed in pairs, so if you want to upgrade, you’ll need to take out a chip.
Tiny logic board! Here's a look at the Intel graphics chipset and main CPU
Some people will balk at the integrated Intel graphics, which are slower for complex games and other OpenGL applications. However, they are plenty fast for all but the most serious gamers.
A closer look at the AirPort Extreme Wireless Card
The wireless card is tightly integrated into the system, as is pretty much everything else! It’s quite a compact setup, yet remarkably simple to upgrade! It looks like we have another winner here!
