Here it is: the impenetrable fortress of pixels known as the Retina display.

Despite our initial apprehension about tearing down such an impressive (and expensive) piece of equipment, we are very curious to see for ourselves just how Apple managed to squeeze more than an entire HDTV inside a 15" display.

At first glance, it looks like a normal MacBook Pro display assembly with a skinnier bezel and no logo at the bottom.

Would you call us crazy if we told you that the display assembly from the latest MacBook Pro is the same size as its predecessor?

• You caught us; we lied. The new display is actually a fraction of a millimeter smaller than the old one. Neat!

At its fattest point, the display assembly is a hair over 7 mm thick, and all the way down to just over 3 mm at the edges.

What's astounding is that Apple's engineers managed to cram four times the pixels of the previous 15" MacBook Pro into a display assembly that is (nearly) the same size.

The big savings here is weight, not thickness. The Retina display weighs in at 673 grams, while a standard 15" MacBook Pro display tips the scale at 908 grams. That's a solid 25% weight savings!

The disassembly begins pretty routinely. Like most Apple laptops, the clutch cover pries off fairly easily with a plastic opening tool.

But differences start popping up as soon as the clutch cover comes off. The array of antennas underneath the clutch cover looks a lot more involved than in previous generations.

The left display hinge comes out with no issues, but good luck separating it from the display data cable.

Devices with cables fed through hinges can be a real bear to work on. None of that will be an issue with this machine, though, as the display hinge is pretty much sealed shut at the factory. Rather than routing the cable under a cable retainer -- as it's done in non-Retina MacBook Pros -- you just have to replace both cable and hinge together.

Don't think that the guys (and gals) who designed this machine are just out to get you. Routing the cables through the hinge is a way to save space and weight in the laptop.

In the opposite corner we find another hinge that holds the antenna and FaceTime cables captive.

Again, if you need to replace these cables, the hinge has got to go, as well. That might not be so bad, but having to replace all of those cables just because a hinge breaks would be less than ideal.

Markings on the inverter board read LP154WT1 (SJ) (A1) GD. Given that the board is soldered to the rest of the display, it appears to be a display manufactured by LG Display.

Things go back to being a little more familiar as we begin pulling off the rubber display gasket.

We were pleasantly surprised to find Phillips screws holding the Retina display in place. If you are trying to repair your Retina display and made it this far, you have earned the right to lay down your pentalobe and Torx bits and dust off your Phillips drivers.

The 1 mm gap between the aluminum panel and LCD layers might not seem very large, but to dust and debris it's a gaping hole.

Q: What happens when you hand over a groundbreaking notebook display to a group of careful, highly trained technicians?

A: They break it.

We were as careful as we could possibly be, but the glass on the Retina display is just too fragile.

So, how badly did we break it? Well, upon closer inspection we noticed two very distinct lines running around the perimeter of the display, the inner of which was filled with tiny bubbles.

• Could those be the LCs of our LCD?

Once we got over the fact that obliterating the front panel of the display was the only way to get it out, we grabbed the skinniest tool we could find—an iFixit 6" ruler—and started prying.

With the top and sides of the display panel freed, we were able to slide the shattered remains out of the display assembly.

There were two thin strips of adhesive underneath the glass holding it in place, with a pattern that closely matched our trail of bubbles.

So, what's the lesson here? If you want a world-class laptop screen that doesn't take up much real estate, don't expect to be able to pop it out and back in at will.