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Apple’s New MacBook Incentivizes Not Screwing Around With It

By Oliver VanDervoort
Published on: 03:04 PST, Apr 26, 2016

Apple’s new MacBook has an interesting new feature that will allow the company to know if you’ve been messing with the device. This means that if you attempt to change the look of this new MacBook or fix it yourself, the company will be able to tell if you then try and send it in for warranty-covered service. The company has long been thought to outfit many of its products with tamper-proof fasteners, but a deep dive into the new MacBook shows definitive evidence of this practice.

ZDNet reports a recent teardown of the new MacBook demonstrates the hinge on the lid is using tamper-evident Torx screws. These screws come complete with a kind of compound that disintegrates when someone uses a screwdriver on them. This isn’t an issue when it’s being done on the Cupertino campus or at one of its satellite shops geared towards fixing their devices. It’s a whole other story if Apple finds you’ve been screwing around with your laptop on your own.

Apple’s new MacBook is sporting this new compound in a way that makes it obvious it was added after the hinges were fastened. This means there is a new step being included in the production of the device. Additionally, there is a blue threadlocker compound around the hinges that work to make sure the screws don’t come loose during normal wear and tear. All of this goes back to the Cupertino firm wanting to know exactly when someone does something to their new MacBook that shouldn’t be done.

It should be pointed out that Apple’s laptops are never all that easy to repair or modify. The company has made sure most of its devices are not going to be able to be fixed unless you go directly to one of its stores or send the device in. This seems to be just another step towards making sure people aren’t going to their local repair shop to get something done that might not fix it or might make the issue worse. The tamper-proof screws also make sure if you do go to a different repair shop to get work done on your new MacBook and make it worse, you aren’t going to be looking to get the repairs paid for by Apple after the fact.

TechRadar points out the tamper-proof screws being including in the new MacBook might be for the express purpose of making sure the firm knows when a user has voided their warranty. The bottom line: If you think there is something wrong with the device, you need to get it checked out by an expert in the field. It’s never been a good idea to try and work on these things by yourself, but now you could lose quite a bit of money in the process.

Whether talking about the new MacBooks or the old MacBooks, the laptops are among the most expensive on the market. You aren’t going to be able to replace one of these for less than $1,000 unless you’re buying a used one on a site like Craigslist.

The brand new MacBook carries plenty of features that make it attractive, including CPUs for better battery life and quicker browsing and working. The new MacBook, which was unleashed just last week, also comes with 8GB of memory and claims it will allow 10 hours of wireless browsing. This new MacBook allows for at least an hour more of internet browsing on a full charge compared to the “older” version. The new MacBook carries a pretty hefty price tag, starting around $1,525. The one-year warranty will cover a host of issues, but you won’t be getting the warranty on the new MacBook if you mess around under the hood.

[Photo by Bebeto Matthews/AP Images]

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