Apple's retina MacBook Pro may well be the platonic ideal of a portable computer. It's fast, it's thin, it's brilliantly realized. Oh, and as iFixit has discovered, it's a gigantic—and expensive—pain in the ass to fix yourself.


That Apple made the retina MacBook Pro a difficult nut to crack isn't a new revelation; iFixit already deemed it the "least repairable laptop" ever back in June. But now we know that if your fancy $2200+ does break, it's going to cost almost a new laptop's worth to fix it.


Need to replace the FaceTime camera? You'll need to remove the LCD frame from the display first, which will break it, which means you'll need an entirely new assembly. Have to switch out one of Apple's proprietary components? Sorry, there's no third party analog. Oh, and replacing the battery alone will cost over $500 from a third party. Apple charges $200, but not everyone has access to an Apple Store (or can afford to wait for the mail-in service turnaround).

So look it may feel weird spending $350 on AppleCare for a rig that's already taking such a big bite out of your wallet. But there's maybe no other Apple product that merits that kind of three-year all-inclusive protection more. Because if literally anything breaks or malfunctions, it's going to cost a whole lot more than $350 to repair. If it's even possible to in the first place. [iFixit via 9to5Mac]