Apple ’s pursuit to make its laptop computer ultra slim and extremist lighting have lead to the society increasingly solder upgradable parts into the guts of its notebook computers .

For example , with the newMacBook Pro with Touch Barnotebooks , you ’ll need to be certain to configure it with the SSD size you most trust out of the logic gate , because upgrading it yourself just is n’t possible .

shell in point : intrepidMacRumorsforum penis fs454 opened up his novel 15 - inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and chance that the SSD chip are now soldered inside . This is a alteration from premature MacBook Pro models ( and even thenon - tactile sensation Bar MacBook Pro ) , in that it is entirely non user - replaceable .

Image: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo

Image: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo

If you have a Mac Pro or a 27 - column inch iMac , the installed RAM ( and with enough cubital joint grease , the hard effort as well ) is user - approachable , but Apple is increasingly making all of its other devices less and less upgrade or repair friendly .

Over the years , it ’s been harder and harder toupgrade or self - rectify your Apple product . Starting with the MacBook Air back in 2010 , Apple commence soldering RAM straight into the gimmick . This proceed with the MacBook Pro with Retina a few age later . Moreover , user - replaceable batteries were also glued into the casing , and Apple even employ its anti - repair strategy on a more basi level . impost screwson its iPhones and Macs to make it harder to get in spite of appearance .

This is n’t the first time Apple has solder an SSD straight off into its products , however . The latest MacBook , released in 2015 , had its depot chipsconnected directly to the board , with no drug user intervention possible . Still , Apple has opted to habituate a replaceable ( though proprietary ) SSD memory chip with its non - Touch Bar MacBook Pro .

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

That ’s why it ’s interesting that the more expensive Touch Bar versions have solder - on scrap . Was this a design determination or is this just another fashion Apple wants to get more money out of its customers ? We ’re not certain why Apple is doing this , but it feel like greed .

Most modern laptops are not very DIY - friendly anyway , but Apple is oftencriticizedby the mending community for its usance of proprietary share and panoptic measuring stick to make drug user - upgrades all but impossible . The counter - statement is that Apple is trade its computers — particularly its laptop computer — as appliances . Nevertheless , it ’s a little disconcerting to know that the $ 1,800-$4,200 you spend on a laptop ca n’t even get an aftermarket SSD upgrade or a third - political party repair .

We ’ve reached out to Apple for gossip on the change and will update if we hear back .

William Duplessie

AppleMacBook Prorepair

Daily Newsletter

Get the good technical school , science , and civilisation intelligence in your inbox daily .

intelligence from the futurity , present to your present .

You May Also Like

Starship Test 9

Lilo And Stitch 2025

CMF by Nothing Phone 2 Pro has an Essential Key that’s an AI button

Photo: Jae C. Hong

Doctor Who Omega

Roborock Saros Z70 Review

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

William Duplessie

Starship Test 9

Lilo And Stitch 2025

Roborock Saros Z70 Review

Polaroid Flip 09

Feno smart electric toothbrush

Govee Game Pixel Light 06