Apple's touchscreen PROLED MacBook Pro has a glowing logo on its lid, and a teardown by iFixit shows how it works: four LEDs, a reflective layer and a diffuser.
There is no display backlight behind the logo to borrow light from, so Apple built a small lighting stack of its own. When the LEDs are off, a two-way mirror coating gives the logo a shiny finish.
Apple says the machine has a hinge designed for touch. iFixit found it is basically identical to the hinge on the M6 MacBook Pro, only stiffer, so the screen holds its angle when someone taps near the top edge.
Repair is a mixed picture. The Thunderbolt/USB-C ports and the fans are replaceable, though the logic board (the main circuit board) has to come out first. The HDMI port and SDXC card slot are soldered to that board, as are the SSD and memory. iFixit also said the touchscreen did not add any new parts pairing problems, meaning no new components tied by software to one specific machine.
The weight numbers are the surprise. The lower case weighs 364 grams against 456 grams for the M6 model, a 92-gram gap. iFixit said that came from removing some aluminum, and the trackpad is a little smaller than the M6 model's. The display assembly is 101 grams lighter despite the touchscreen and the lit logo, and the battery is two grams lighter.
Taken together, the parts iFixit itemized suggest Apple handled touch with a modest hardware change: a stiffer hinge and a lighter build rather than a redesigned machine. Touch also arrives without a new layer of parts pairing, which has been the usual complaint about Apple repairs. What it does not change is the older one. Anyone who damages the soldered ports, storage or memory is still looking at logic board work.