Happy Tuesday,

It’s always exciting to get my hands on new stuff. I had my first look today at the new white MacBooks, and even mostly disassembled one. They’re much easier to disassemble than the previous-generation MacBook, have much improved battery life, and an efficient, evolutionary design that brings Apple’s entry-level portable offering up to par with the rest of the line. From a serviceability standpoint, I’m happy that Apple is sticking with one general design philosophy across its portable product line and making very conscious changes to service strategy that increase technician efficiency and lower their warranty costs.

While these are overwhelmingly positive, I question Apple’s decision to do whole display module replacements across the product line. Following up on my unibody screen replacement article a few weeks back, Rebecca produced a three-part video series demonstrating just how you can safely remove the glass from a 13-inch MacBook Pro. By replacing only defective components, instead of the whole screen assembly (including the rear housing, chassis, iSight, and other components), Apple can reduce their own costs and lower their environmental footprint. Of course, that would mean lower costs for customers. We’re currently testing custom replacement parts for the unibody screen modules, and will be able to offer you substantially more efficient repair in the not-too-distant future.

As always, thanks for reading, and keep in touch.

Matt
matt@smalldog.com