For years, MacBook repairs have typically involved battling stubborn adhesive and hard-to-reach components. The new MacBook Neo breaks from that tradition, featuring solid day-one repair manuals, easier keyboard servicing, and a battery secured in a screwed-down tray that had the entire iFixit team cheering.
This budget-friendly machine demonstrates that affordability and strong repairability can go hand in hand.
Elizabeth Chamberlain for iFixit:
There are still eight pentalobe screws on the underside, which is annoying. Maybe one day Macs will go full team Torx Plus. But, pentalobes out, and the lower case can be unclipped by hand. No heat, no opening pick, no suction handle, no careful prying around the perimeter. Inside, our new friend Neo makes a very strong first impression.
The battery is the big story here. Older MacBook batteries have usually been glued in place, which makes a normal wear repair harder, riskier, and more expensive than it needs to be… The Neo’s battery, by contrast, sits on a tray and comes out with screws. Eighteen of them, to be exact. That’s a lot (and probably for good reason–more on that later), but screws still beat adhesive every time. You remove them, lift the battery out, and move on.
That may sound like a small thing. It’s not. Battery replacement on the Neo feels ordinary in a way MacBook battery replacement has not for a very long time. The pack itself is made of two cells rated for a combined 36.48 Wh, and replacing it no longer feels like a delicate extraction job.
What about those 18 screws? The battery tray is probably doubling as extra chassis rigidity: it’s perfectly placed underneath the keyboard (a section of the top case that’s naturally less rigid due to less material) and the tray has a full length stamped rib to keep it stiff. This, paired with eighteen screws, and you have a helpful structural member…
[T]he parts that fail first are easier to reach than they have been on any MacBook in a long time. The battery is screwed down instead of glued in. The ports are modular. The display is easier to replace. The internal layout is unusually sensible. Apple’s manuals are available on day one. The software side did not sabotage the hardware side. It comes in cool colors.
That’s enough for a 6 out of 10 on our repairability scale. By MacBook standards, this is a strong score. It also makes the Neo the most repairable MacBook we’ve seen in about fourteen years.
MacDailyNews Take: We really hope that Apple can make enough MacBook Neo units to satisfy demand. We cannot wait to see Apple’s future Mac sales!
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Amazing the logic board is that narrow strip, but I suppose it fits (rearranged) inside an iPhone. I tried using Neo at Apple Store and that mechanical trackpad is quite satisfying with springy tactile feel, equal pressure needed over entire surface, NOT harder toward top like on my old MacBook Air. I’d like to look inside to see how it works.
Good to see a familiar name on here. Where are all the classic MDN commenters? Miss that crew.
Bought one for my wife and she loves it! She was always frustrated using the iPad. I have an M1 14″ MacBook Pro and I am very impressed with the Neo.
Now bring that to the rest of the product line. Bring back some class into the build.