There is a little known fact about Apple computers that everyone should know. Apple does not want you to fix your own computer.

Over the years Apple has been slowly implementing “features” into their computers that will not allow you fix your Mac. I believe it started out with the 2009 Imac and Apple requiring you to buy compatible hard drives from them because of a proprietary cable system they implemented. No longer could you install any hard drive you wanted if yours went bad. If you tried the fans inside the computer would run at full speed making your Imac sound like it was about to use your desk as a runway.

The proprietary cable is still in effect today and due to the great success of it they’ve decided to move on to laptops. Recently Apple introduced the new Macbook Pro. You would think that a computer that has the name “Pro” would be very easy to work on and all kinds of possibilities for upgrades. When you say something is “Pro” to me it means it is fast, upgradeable, and a very big step above the normal in every way. Well that is not the case, not only is the MB Pro not upgradeable but Apple glued the thing together so you can’t even remove the battery. Imagine buying a sports car and having the hood glued shut so you can’t open it.

This is what Apple wants you to do. Use your computer for a while, suddenly have the battery no longer hold a charge, throw your hands up in disgust and start heading to the Apple store to buy another one. A few days ago the city of San Francisco has declared that they will no longer be buying Apple hardware because Apple has resigned itself from EPEAT. EPEAT is a rating system to determine how environmentally friendly an electronic device is. When your product can not have it’s battery removed it pretty much fails EPEAT. Apple was a founding father of EPEAT! They practically invented it, and now they are abandoning it in favor of profit.

Apple also likes to use proprietary screws when assembling it’s hardware, what this means is you will not be able to disassemble even if you wanted to. Glue is holding together the screen on the MB Pro so if you happen to break that you will be getting a new computer rather than just replacing the screen. The memory is not upgradeable it is soldered onto the motherboard. What this means is that you are locked into overpaying for the amount of memory you want rather than going to Newegg and picking it out way cheaper.

I will never recommend an Apple. Yes they are good looking machine, yes OS X is very user friendly and solid, yes Apple products hold their value well. But when a company resorts to strong arming you if your computer breaks there is no way it can be recommended in the first place.