Kinda/Sorta OT - Laptop Repair Mini Rant

[ChazzC]

OK, I have a lot of laptops, all of them Mac's (don't need PC's now that I'm retired), and to the extent possible I do my own repairs for non-warranty stuff. Yesterday, my newly returned from college granddaughter texts me that her screen (2017 MacBook Air) is messed up. She brings it over, I check it out, discuss options with my wife and we decide to buy her a new one (well, 2020 version but new and on sale). I'll repair the screen on the old one and the my wife will have a newer laptop (now using my 2012 MacBook Pro).

All of the above goes OK, spent yesterday afternoon migrating stuff over to the new MBA, updating the system software, wiping the old MBA, etc. This morning, I start prepping the old MBA for a new display (cleaning the case & keyboard), and looking for parts (primarily Amazon, where I've had good luck in the past. Then I remember that Apple has recently started a Self Repair Program: I check out their website, look for a 2017 repair manual so I can order the display, and they don't support MacBooks older than 2020. However, I have a 2020 MBA (same as the one we just bought), so out of curiosity I download the repair manual for that. Very nice manual, step-by-step with lots of photos, lists common tools needed that can be purchased and references the Repair Tool Kit that can be rented for certain repairs. Now come the surprises:

Required Locally Sourced "Tools"​

These include safety glasses, ESD mat, ESD wrist strap and similar items you would expect for electronics repair. But they also include:​

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What?? So I search the manual for "sand" and found this:​

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Actually not a bad thing to be included, as these laptops have some serious batteries that are not encased in hard shells (once you take the bottom of the laptop off), and Apple wants to avoid lawsuits. iFixIt has a video of what can happen if you're not careful.​

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Rental Tool Kit​

This kit includes all of the special tools required (recommended?), other than common items that you may already have or can easily get (like the sand, etc.). The kits only cost $49 for 7 days on-site to rent, including shipping. Details of the program and kit contents can be found here, but this caught my eye:​

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Digging into the detailed list and the Manual, it turns out you need a fixture and press to install a new battery.​

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OK, you can fix it yourself, but small footprint, high power laptops come with a price, so maybe some things I'll leave to others: added cost of the rental kit may outweigh the satisfaction of doing it myself. Of course, I could just buy the tool kit (just don't return it and pay the replacement cost), but while some items have lower than expected costs (molded battery cover to prevent damage to the battery during repair is only $4.50), others are higher as one might expect (battery installation fixture $99.50 & press $216) and some are outrageous:

OK, it's a nice driver, but my iFixIt toolkits include pentalobe driver bits and a complete set (with a lifetime guarantee) can be had for as little as $15.

Rant complete.

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[markba633csi]

Difficult products to repair outside the factory- I'd rather fix a dozen Thinkpads than one of those
Anything that requires unpeeling adhesive doesn't fit my definition of repairable
Same with many cell phones and products with soldered in batteries, memory, etc.

 

[Boswell]

I don't think that these were designed to be field repairable and even for shop repair, the size and weight design requirement was higher priority than the "ease of repair" requirement. The "right to repair" movement has been gaining traction over the last few year. I think I read somewhere that this influenced Apples decision to provide repair manuals and kits to the general public.

 

[ChazzC]

I don't think that these were designed to be field repairable and even for shop repair, the size and weight design requirement was higher priority than the "ease of repair" requirement. The "right to repair" movement has been gaining traction over the last few year. I think I read somewhere that this influenced Apples decision to provide repair manuals and kits to the general public.

Yes, Right To Repair has been growing: just getting exploded parts diagrams & parts lists for anything is getting better. The biggest change is not voiding a warranty just because you’re replacing a component that’s not covered under the warranty.

Ease of repair vs. size &weight has always been a trade-off. My biggest gripe currently is that you can’t upgrade RAM or SSD as both are soldered to the logic board. Earlier MBA’s had socketed SSD’s and Pro’s had socketed RAM and hard drives that could be replaced with larger HD’s or SSD’s.