At the end of this year, I've decided to stop putting efforts towards repairing boards older than Mid-2012. They're getting more difficult to warranty, and the market has almost totally died for many of them. I'm going to begin moving out stock/inventory of most unit parts/components and shift to only handling retina+ models. We've only seen ~5 of the 2016+/Touchbar models, and luckily the repairs were pretty minimal and didn't require much troubleshooting or time under the microscope. I know from this minimal experience with them that they're an entirely different beast. I'm sure some others are in a similar boat, so I wanted to just put out a general "feeler" for some input and opinions from you guys on some things:
1. What is your general overall opinion as to the repairability (i.e. the "percent" of repairable units versus the Retina/Pre-Retina units) of the newest-generation of MBPs? I know the obvious stuff--underfill, integrated SSDs, etc. But what are some things that might have taken you by surprise when it comes to working on them? What are some things you had to put effort into "keeping in mind" when one comes across your bench?
2. What procedural/repair-workflow type issues have you had to change? I'm thinking sort of specifically on this one--i.e. avoiding underfill on some chips, determining bad SSDs prior to spending a ton of time repairing them, data-recovery being a new "essential" service maybe, etc. Are there any new tools you've found particularly useful or necessary? How have you handled the underfill issue? I haven't even encountered it yet (thank goodness), but I hear it's an absolute pain. Are the new connectors easier/more-difficult to replace? The eDP connector on the retina stuff is a breeze, but I'd imagine the new ribbon-style connectors are easily damaged (the one you're putting on) when replacing.
3. What are some "common" issues you may have noticed with these models? For example, the CPU issue on the 3662/3787/00138/00426 boards, RAM slots on the 3115, the good ole' tantalum capacitor issues, etc. I'm not looking for an "easy out" here with common failures, but also just things to "look out for" when repairing other issues on these boards. For example, I'm a lot less likely to spend 3-4 hours repairing a heavily liquid-damaged 820-3662 board because of the chance of it having the CPU issue.
4. Are there any GOOD things you've found with these models? I doubt there are, but anything that might be easier or less of a headache with these than with prior models? The Apple keyboard program has to be a relief, because replacing the keyboard on these seems to suck a whole lot. The way the LCDs are held on seems crazy (mainly due to the wifi assembly being moved "outside" the display), but I like the display cable being in the center of the unit now. And I believe the LCD ribbon cables can be changed more easily as well...which is nice, right?
I'm mainly wanting to start building my confidence to work on these models. I've not spent any time tracking down schematics/boardviews, comparing power rails to others, etc. I'm not "requesting" the schematics/boardviews here, but if anyone wanted to reply with which ones are/are-not available right now (I can source them), that would be helpful as well.
Thanks for any input/opinions. The repair of these units is certainly getting more and more difficult, but all we can say is, "we'll survive".
1. What is your general overall opinion as to the repairability (i.e. the "percent" of repairable units versus the Retina/Pre-Retina units) of the newest-generation of MBPs? I know the obvious stuff--underfill, integrated SSDs, etc. But what are some things that might have taken you by surprise when it comes to working on them? What are some things you had to put effort into "keeping in mind" when one comes across your bench?
2. What procedural/repair-workflow type issues have you had to change? I'm thinking sort of specifically on this one--i.e. avoiding underfill on some chips, determining bad SSDs prior to spending a ton of time repairing them, data-recovery being a new "essential" service maybe, etc. Are there any new tools you've found particularly useful or necessary? How have you handled the underfill issue? I haven't even encountered it yet (thank goodness), but I hear it's an absolute pain. Are the new connectors easier/more-difficult to replace? The eDP connector on the retina stuff is a breeze, but I'd imagine the new ribbon-style connectors are easily damaged (the one you're putting on) when replacing.
3. What are some "common" issues you may have noticed with these models? For example, the CPU issue on the 3662/3787/00138/00426 boards, RAM slots on the 3115, the good ole' tantalum capacitor issues, etc. I'm not looking for an "easy out" here with common failures, but also just things to "look out for" when repairing other issues on these boards. For example, I'm a lot less likely to spend 3-4 hours repairing a heavily liquid-damaged 820-3662 board because of the chance of it having the CPU issue.
4. Are there any GOOD things you've found with these models? I doubt there are, but anything that might be easier or less of a headache with these than with prior models? The Apple keyboard program has to be a relief, because replacing the keyboard on these seems to suck a whole lot. The way the LCDs are held on seems crazy (mainly due to the wifi assembly being moved "outside" the display), but I like the display cable being in the center of the unit now. And I believe the LCD ribbon cables can be changed more easily as well...which is nice, right?
I'm mainly wanting to start building my confidence to work on these models. I've not spent any time tracking down schematics/boardviews, comparing power rails to others, etc. I'm not "requesting" the schematics/boardviews here, but if anyone wanted to reply with which ones are/are-not available right now (I can source them), that would be helpful as well.
Thanks for any input/opinions. The repair of these units is certainly getting more and more difficult, but all we can say is, "we'll survive".
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