(347) 552-2258 help@rossmanngroup.com

General Thoughts on 2016+ MacBook Pro Models?

D

dukefawks

Administrator
I hate them, everyone hates them. If you thought someone could fuck up a retina, these go to a whole new level of fucked upness. Destroyed connectors, missing screws and brackets are very common if you are not the first one in.

USB-C controllers are hard to get, USB-C ports get corroded and are a bitch to replace. LCD are also more prone to get liquid damage and staining in the backlight. Undefilled chips are common on the newest ones and are just a PITA.

This new generation of machines is the beginning of boards that are many times not worth repairing. More and more it will need to shift to data recovery only as you really don't want to spend a whole day trying to get those USB-C ports to work again and then finding out the LCD is also trash.
Cleaning the keyboards from sticky residue is also pretty impossible with the new design, so half of the liquid damaged machines will also require an expensive hard to replace keyboard.

The only common fault that is not liquid so far I have seen is U7000 dies for no reason.

All in all I hate them, they are a PITA and it is only getting worse, sorry for the bad news.
 
S

SMMRepair

Member
Pretty much what I figured, thanks Duke. I like pragmatic information that's not tainted with undue optimism, so I appreciate it. Going to have to learn to pivot with this stuff, so maybe focusing on data recovery and learning the ins and outs is going to be absolutely necessary. Shifting to refurbishing units might be a route here, too; liquid-damage considered a replace-only situation and counting on the 2013/2014/2015 units holding their value a bit longer once market stabilizes after AppleCare runs out on new stuff.

Let me ask; do you focus on repair of any other devices? I'm trying to plan now to pivot, and knowing of some other product to repair would be a good thing to have in mind right now. I've done a fair amount of DSLR camera repair, but there are many, many fewer people with $1,000 cameras than $1,000 laptops. Higher-end PC laptops might be the way to go for the next 5 years. Curious to know your thoughts on that. I love repair, component-level especially, and wanting to stay in the field is genuinely more about the work than the money for me. I enjoy the work, and am OK not making huge profit as long as I can continue working for myself in some capacity. If that means learning an entirely new product, I'm all for it.

Thanks for the input for sure, I really appreciate it.
 
Last edited:
D

dukefawks

Administrator
The retina stuff will still be around for another 5 years to fix.

Automotive stuff is where the next money is to be made. Need to specialize in a specific brand though, Tesla's are a computer on wheels and once they go bankrupt this crap needs to be kept running.
 
S

SMMRepair

Member
I've actually been thinking about automotive stuff, but need the market to get larger (WRT Tesla/EV). Can't imagine how dreadful sourcing parts for that stuff would be, but I suppose at a certain level electronics are electronics. As long as shit is being made in China, it will be available to an extent. But with Apple going proprietary with a lot of chips in a $1,000 laptop, I'd imagine it would be even more the case in a $50,000 vehicle, etc.

Speaking of the retina stuff; you have any luck with the 3662/3787/00138 regulators we were testing? I sent out a few boards repaired with new chips and are waiting to see how it goes. I know you had mentioned ordering some new chips, was curious how you've fared with it. Solving that CPU issue would go a long way in maintaining the market for the retina stuff.
 
D

dukefawks

Administrator
I got some new chips and now have 2 machines out there for testing. Just have to wait a few weeks till I call this good. I did replace all 3 FETs just to be sure.
 
S

SMMRepair

Member
Same here, replaced all three on all boards. I replaced them on 4 boards total--one 3787, one 3662 and two 00138. Let the two 00138 units literally sleep/stay on for 2 weeks each with 1-3 hours periods of usage every few days mixed in (personal use by me, casual browsing/low-stress stuff). Not a single crash, so here's hoping. I've sold two and will see if they come back...fingers crossed here. Thanks again, Duke.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top