Desktops and Notebooks: Apple MacBook Pro Teardown Offers a Look at Thunderbolt, Antennas

Apple's new MacBook Pro notebook underwent an iFixit teardown and emerged with a repairability score of 7 out of 10—far better than the refreshed MacBook Air (with a 4 out of 10) fared during its October 2010 iFixit teardown. The MacBook Pro's Intel Thunderbolt port—a new, simplified way of connecting the laptop to peripherals that at one point had carried the "Light Peak" code name—was a point of interest and ongoing curiosity. While the new notebooks include Intel's second-generation Core "Sandy Bridge" processors, AMD Radeon graphics (in some models) and widescreen HD Webcams, the iFixit team was more interested in seeming improvements to the notebooks' wireless connectivity—improvements that Apple didn't mention in its introduction of the devices. Also uncharacteristic of Apple, iFixit's team came across a few details that made them wonder whether some quality control complaints might be in Apple's future. The new MacBook Pros run from $1,199 to $2,499 and are available now. Here, eWEEK shows you what iFixit found under the hood.