iFixit: MacBook Pro Retina Display Is an “Engineering Marvel”

After tearing down the newest MacBook Pro giving it the lowest repairability score ever, the techies at iFixit weren’t satisfied. They wanted to tear down the computer’s flagship component and assess the engineering behind it.

And they did. In fact, after the iFixit team was done taking it apart piece by piece, they concluded that “the Retina display is an engineering marvel.” “Its LCD is essentially the entire display assembly,” iFixit explained. “Rather than sandwich an LCD panel between a back case and a piece of glass in front, Apple used the aluminum case itself as the frame for the LCD panel and used the LCD as the front glass.” They’ve managed to pack five times as many pixels as the last model in a display that’s actually a fraction of a millimeter thinner. And since there’s no front glass, glare is much less of an issue,” said the repair shop. They noted other key findings as well, such as the fact that it’s only a fraction of a milimeter thinner than the display found on the regular MacBook Pro.

The display hinges have the cables routed through them, and the FaceTime HD camera sends signals to the computer through a Vimicro VC0358 USB camera interface chip. “Underneath the top layer we find a series of films and sheets that manipulate light before sending it to the user’s eye,” iFixit said. “A strip of 48 LEDs at the bottom of the display assembly provides all the light your Retina display needs,” the company added. Finally, two features that iFixit found “pretty neat” were discovered at the bottom edge of the case – an internal use code engraved in laser and “a nifty arrangement of round indentations.”

Retina display teardown from 2012 MacBook Pro
Image credits to iFixit

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