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MacBook Pro 2016 13 Inch Gets Teardown Treatment; Reveals Custom SSD Controller and Smaller Battery

MacBook Pro 2016 13-Inch Gets Teardown Treatment; Reveals Custom SSD Controller and Smaller Battery

By Tasneem Akolawala | Updated: 2 November 2016 19:00 IST

Highlights

The 13-inch MacBook Pro has a smaller 54.5Wh battery
It sports a custom SSD controller
Benchmark tests reveal that the SSD unit performs incredibly

Apple unveiled the MacBook Pro with the OLED Touch Bar panel at an event last week in Cupertino. The laptop is touted to be thinner, lighter, and faster than its predecessor. Now, iFixit has performed a teardown of the MacBook Pro 2016 13-inch With Function Keys, and has released all the interesting findings on its site. Furthermore, a GeekBench score also shows just how much faster the new MacBook Pro 2016 really is compared to its predecessor.

First up, iFixit performed a teardown of the base model 13-inch MacBook Pro 2016 without Touch Bar, and found a custom Apple controller for the SSD inside. The 256GB PCIe SSD is removable (which makes for easier upgrades) and made out of four 64GB SanDisk NAND modules, and Apple claims the SSD performance is 100 percent faster than the previous generation. iFixit says, "This marks the first time we've seen Apple's super-custom SSD controller in a removable PCIe SSD."

The 13-inch variant sports a 54.5Wh battery which is surprisingly smaller than the predecessor. However, Apple claims that even though the new battery is 25 percent smaller, it still extracts ten hours of use, and in no way hampers everyday usage. The battery is also smaller in size and is stuck to the laptop with tough glue.

(Also see: Here's Why Apple Never Introduced a Touchscreen MacBook)

iFixit also noticed that even though the MacBook Pro 2016 supports the 3.5mm audio jack, the component appears to be modular, which means that either it was a last minute addition, or is made in such a way that it can be easily replaced in the future. There is the addition of rubber bumpers on the stereo speakers as well, and this could be to limit the vibration. The speakers are touted to be significantly louder and have a long dynamic range.

(Also see: New MacBook Pro Models Turn on Automatically When the Lid Is Opened)

iFixit gave the MacBook Pro 2016 an overall repairability score of 2 out of 10, because of its pentalobe screws that make opening the device unnecessarily difficult. The battery is also stuck to the case with tough glue making replacement a complicated task. Lastly the RAM is also soldered to the logic board, so users have no option but to pay Apple for an upgrade.

Separately, 9to5Mac also did an SSD benchmark test, and found out that the 13-inch MacBook Pro (Without Touch Bar) has an insanely fast SSD. The test results fall right on Apple's claim of sequential read speeds up to 3.1 GB/s, and write speeds of up to 2.1GB/s.

(Also see: The Touch Bar on MacBook Pro 2016 Is Essentially an Embedded Apple Watch)

Furthermore, the publication did a Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, and the 13-inch MacBook Pro 2016 proved to be worth the money on that front as well. The laptop maxed out at 2000MB/s read speed testifying just how fast the SSD is.

(Also see: MacBook Pro Models Will Be Cheaper Next Year, Claims Analyst)

The exact availability of these latest offerings in India are not yet known, however the prices are out, and the 13-inch MacBook Pro 2016 is priced at Rs. 1,29,900, the 13-inch MacBook Pro 2016 with Touch Bar and Touch ID will be priced starting at Rs. 1,55,900 while the 15-inch model will start at Rs. 2,05,900.

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