Apple’s new MacBook Neo isn’t just the most affordable MacBook by far. It is also the most repairable MacBook in about fourteen years, according to an in-depth teardown by the how-to website iFixit.
The big story, in iFixit’s view, is the battery. While older MacBook batteries are glued into place, the Neo’s battery is held by a tray secured with eighteen screws. That is a lot of screws, but iFixit declared that screws still beat adhesive every time. This new arrangement, which should make it much easier to replace your MacBook battery, reportedly sent cheers across the iFixit office.
Other changes that make the MacBook Neo more repairable include a flat disassembly tree, the fact that Repair Assistant appears to accept replacement parts without complaint, and an easier-to-replace display and keyboard.
Ultimately, iFixit still had enough concerns to give the Neo a repairability score of only six out of ten. Those concerns include soldered RAM and storage. But the company said that for a MacBook, that is a strong score.