Snippet: Sealing the Case ☇

Thomas Brand on Egg Freckles:

…The iMac G5 was easy to get into thanks to its large removable back cover, but few customers wanted to perform their own repairs. Never again has Apple compromised the design of their computers by making them as easy to get into…

…The era of Genius turning screws is coming to an end. Macs are becoming harder to get into, and instead of being repaired at the Apple Store most of the computers Apple sells these days are being refurbished at a central repair facility. Faulty iPhones, iPods, and iPads are replaced at the Genius bar, and shipped off to be disassembled and remade into refurbished devices with new cases and batteries. These refurbished computers return to the Apple Store to be used as iPhone, iPod, and iPad replacements.

I was never an Apple Genius, although I did my fair share of out-of-warranty repairs, upgrades, and tinkering. It makes sense for the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro to be sealed, due to the thin nature of Apple’s portables, but it’s a shame that Apple is needlessly going in this direction with the iMac, especially since most people don’t require an ultra-thin desktop. I guess the iMac got this treatment mostly because the lack of do-it-yourself upgrades and repairs on earlier models. I guess we’ll have to see if the Mac mini joins the ranks (maybe something that looks even more like an Apple TV) and how, if at all, Apple redesigns the Mac Pro.