How does the MacBook Pro M2 Pro compare to its predecessor? As expected, the differences are rather small, as a first teardown by the repair specialist iFixIt shows. However, more happened then than many observers assumed – and the reason seems to be problems in Apple’s supply chain.
SSD as in the MacBook AIr M2
First of all, the disassembly confirms the fear that Apple has cut the integrated SSD in the base model of the new professional notebook. Benchmarks had already suggested that: In measurements carried out with Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, the 512 GB SSD in the 14-inch MacBook Pro achieved read and write speeds of around 3000 MB/s. The 2023 MacBook Pro tested by Mac & i with a 2 TB SSD, on the other hand, achieved transfer rates that were practically twice as fast with read and write speeds of 5000 and 6000 MB/s respectively.
The reason for this is shown in the teardown: four smaller 128 GB modules, such as in the MacBook Pro with M1 Pro, have been replaced by two larger 256 GB memories. At the same time, this reduces the usable memory channels and obviously ensures that the transfer rates are almost halved. It is unclear why Apple is doing this to its professional devices – there may be difficulties when purchasing the smaller modules. Not only iFixIt wonders why Apple still offers a 512 GB version at all. Apple had already made this critical decision in the MacBook Air M2 and the MacBook Pro M2 with 13 inches, and it doesn’t go with the new professional devices at all.
New heat dissipation architecture
Furthermore, the teardown shows another interesting change. Apple has reduced the heatsink in the model examined. That can have several reasons. The size (footprint) of the M2 Pro SoC changed, which required an adjustment. The reason: The M1 Pro has an 8GB Samsung LPDDR5 RAM module on each side of the core, while the M2 Pro has two 4GB SK Hynix LPDDR5 RAM modules on each side of the core – a total of four. These are the same RAM modules found in the MacBook Air M2. The changed arrangement then made the heatsink smaller.
iFixIt speculates that the revamp could also have something to do with supply chain issues at Apple. A SemiAnalysis expert told the repair specialist that the ABF substrates necessary for heatsinks were hard to come by when Apple made its design decision, according to lead analyst Dylan Patel: “By using four smaller modules instead of two larger ones, they can reduce the complexity of the Reduce routings within the substrate from memory to the SoC, resulting in fewer layers on the substrate.” It remains to be seen whether this will affect the long-term thermal stability of the SoC. Fortunately, the previous benchmarks and tests do not suggest this.
(bsc)
To home page
