Introduction
We disassembled this computer on October 30, 2006.
Tools
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The MacBook Core 2 Duo (Merom) ships in the same surprisingly thin box as the original MacBook Pro (only 3.25") thick. Our machine arrived this morning (Oct 30th).
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The internals are mostly the same as the previous model. We'll point out the notable differences.
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Removing the upper case.
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The Bluetooth board has moved from near the hard drive in the lower case, and is now mounted on the upper case near the new Firewire port on the right side.
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The antenna is mounted so it is in contact with the aluminum. You'll be wanting to put your Bluetooth cell phone and mouse on the right side of your computer for best reception. Sorry, lefties.
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Internals view with the upper case removed. Notable features:
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120 GB longitudinal recording Fujitsu drive. Rumor has it the 160 GB model ships with a perpendicular drive.
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The optical drive is now a 6X, dual-layer, 9.7mm SuperDrive (DVD-R DL/DVD-RW/CD-RW). The drive itself says UJ-857C, while System Profiler reports it as a UJ-857D. We can't explain the discrepancy.
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Here's the new Airport board. The world's worst kept secret is that this is actually an 802.11n draft chipset. We're not aware of any way to get the n-functionality in OS X yet, but some have been successful in Boot Camp with drivers for the D-Link DWA-645.
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