The latest Mac Pro is the most powerful Mac yet and they have made it super modular for ease of upgrade and expansion. The folks at ifixit have gotten a unit for their tear down and they have given it a high repairability score of 9 out of 10. According to them, the new Mac Pro is the easiest Mac to repair since 2006.
Unlike typical Apple products including the 2013 “trash-can” Mac Pro, opening the new version is super easy as you can slide out the aluminium cover with a simple turn and lift on the handle. There are no complicated tools required and some repairs can be done without any tools at all.
Most of the major components are modular and use industry-standard sockets and connectors. As a nice touch, Apple has included some diagrams on the inside which include a RAM diagram that tells you how you should slot your RAM sticks based on the number of sticks you have.
The Mac Pro comes with 32GB DDR ECC RAM on the base model and you can upgrade it to a whopping 1.5TB that uses 12 x 128GB sticks. As mentioned in our previous post, this upgrade alone costs RM110,000 extra.
Although the SSD is super easy to remove, you can’t just replace it yourself as it is bounded by Apple’s T2 security chip. This means if you need more storage, you’ll need to purchase them via Apple’s authorised service provider.
Another interesting thing they noticed is the power button which has pogo pins instead of a typical cable connection. This means if you take off the cover, the Mac Pro will shut down. So you can’t run the machine without the aluminium cover.
In ifixit’s teardown, they conclude that the new Mac Pro is a Fixmas miracle that’s beautiful and amazingly well put together and it is a masterclass in repairability. They liked how a number of components are easily removed without tools and the provided guides, repair manuals and videos are also very helpful. Although storage expansion can be tricky with its proprietary SSD sticks, overall, the Mac Pro is well designed for ease of repair at your own desk.
You can read the full teardown guide here.
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