Apple’s pricey Mac Pro is also the company’s most repairable item in forever

As it turns out, Apple’s $6,000 Mac Pro isn’t easy to grate cheese with, but it’s easy to repair. 

iFixit’s teardown of the pricey hardware received an impressive 9/10 repairability score. By the end of its disassembly, the Mac Pro was described as “a Fixmas miracle: beautiful, amazingly well put together, and a masterclass in repairability.”

Wow. I truly hope someone says the same thing about me one day.

But let’s get the important thing out of the way: its cheese grating capabilities. Before tearing down any part of the Mac Pro, iFix made sure to first grind a block of cheese against it. Unfortunately, the computer doesn’t double as a useful kitchen tool (those holes on the front are for its internal fans). You can watch the attempt for yourself.

As for its repairability, a majority of the final thoughts were positive. 

For starters, the Mac Pro is easy to open; doing so requires literally no tools. The iFixit team specified they’d come prepared with a complete set, but only had to use their fingers. 

The same goes for basic repairs and swapping out modules. Rather than using proprietary components, Apple uses industry-standard sockets that make it easy to replace or upgrade if needed.

The company was nice enough to include some handy-dandy step numbers and diagrams on the hardware, too. After loosening the I/O boards to access other modules, like the video card and power supply, iFixit pointed out there are numbers on the side of the case that label the order of operations.

Additionally, Apple also publishes free repair manuals that you can download online for some of the repairs, in case you need extra help. 

That’s way more than you’ll get if you try to repair the iPhone, by the way. Apple keeps those repair manuals locked up somewhere far, far away.

In true Apple fashion, however, there are still parts of the expensive machine that aren’t so simple to replace or fix, like the SSD cards, which are custom-made by Apple. In that case, you’ll likely have to order a new replacement part from the company.

iFixit notes that the manuals feature a disclaimer directing you to an Apple Service Provider for help, but the team says a lot of the repairs can easily be done on your own — like replacing the CPU. They took it upon themselves to use their own methods by unscrewing the heat sink bracket from the back of the logic board. This released both the bracket and CPU from the socket.

“We hope Apple is hard at work fleshing out the rest of the service manual for this Pro Mac,” iFixit said. “(But our hopes aren’t too high—we’ve already started making the instructions they’re missing.)”

Regardless, iFixit’s high score makes the steep price of the computer a little easier to stomach. For those who have the cash, the Mac Pro is now available for pre-order, but dates on when it will actually ship are still under wraps.