Teardown: Apple Macbook Pro 16

While Apple may be most famous for its handheld internet-enabled devices, its Macbook Pro line has been a steady supply of revenue for the company for many years.

The Macbook Pro has been a staple for many corporate IT departments for years as well as a popular notebook for consumers who use it for anything from photo or video editing to streaming and artwork.

The Macbook Pro 16 is the latest generation of Apple notebook that includes the latest Apple applications processor, touchscreen display and 16 GB of mobile SDRAM.

The following is a partial teardown of the Macbook Pro 16 by TechInsights.

Summary points

• 16.2 inch mini LED
• 16 GB mobile LPDDR2X SDRAM
• 2MP CMOS
• 64-bit deca-core applications processor

Target market:IT, consumer

Released:October 2021

Pricing:$2,699

Availability: Worldwide

Main board

The main board houses the main processing power for the Apple Macbook Pro 16 notebook such as the 64-bit deca-core applications processor from Apple and the 8 GB mobile LPDDR4 SDRAM from Samsung. Other components include:

• Apple’s power management chip
• Texas Instruments 10-bit DAC
• Winbond’s serial flash memory
• Kioxia’s 256 GB 3D TLC NAND flash multichip memory

Microphone flex

The microphone flex board houses the components needed to communicate while video conferencing or streaming. The main component is a MEMS microphone from Goertek.

Touchpad board

The touchpad board includes the controller and components needed for consumers to use the touchscreen functions of the Apple Macbook Pro 16 notebook. Specifically, the components include:

• An ARM Cortex-M4 32-bit MCU from ST Microelectronics
• Texas Instruments’ 2A load switch, voltage monitor and the remote and local temperature sensor
• Broadcom’s touchpad controller
• Bosch Sensortec’s three-axis MEMS accelerometer
• Maxim’s analog to digital converter and 1.252 V comparator

Fingerprint sensor

The fingerprint sensor contains the components needed to enable fingerprint identification on the Apple Macbook Pro 16. This includes the Touch ID capacitive sensor module from Apple.

Main components

• $420.79 — 120 Hz display subsystem — LG (Qty: 1)
• $237.30 — 64-bit deca-core application processor — Apple (Qty: 1)
• $127.11 — Multichip memory — 256 GB 3D TLC NAND flash memory controller — Kioxia (Qty: 4)
• $79.92 — Multichip memory — 8 GB mobile LPDDR5 SDRAM — Samsung (Qty: 2)
• $70.93 — Battery subsystem — Huzhou Desay Battery Co. (Qty: 1)
• $32.77 — Touchpad subsystem (Qty: 1)
• $30.58 — 15 layer buildup FR4/HF Unimicron Technologies (Qty: 1)
• $24.31 — Internal enclosure (Qty: 1)
• $15.09 — Heat pipe with processor plate (Qty: 1)
• $14.84 — Top enclosure (Qty: 1)