iFixit

The main board lifts out along with the heat sink still attached. This is a nice feature, as this way you have to remove the heat sink and reapply thermal paste only if you're completely replacing the logic board.

This machine features not only the large primary heat sink, but also two smaller heat sinks.

Holy thermal paste! Time will tell if the gobs of thermal paste applied to the CPU and GPU will cause overheating issues down the road.

The Mid 2010 15" Unibody was equipped with only one large heat sink to cool just the CPU and GPU. Also for that revision, the graphics switching chip seen in the second image was present, but didn't receive a heat sink.

The chip under the heat sink in the third image is a new chip that is most likely the Thunderbolt controller.

The Thunderbolt port is shown in the top left corner of the first picture. Also seen are the traces leading to what we think is the Thunderbolt controller IC.

In the second picture is the AMD Radeon HD 6490M GPU.

If you're wondering about the AMD GPU, ATI was purchased by AMD in 2006. However, only within the last few months has AMD retired the ATI name and begun branding their graphics chips with AMD.

In the third picture is the quad-core Intel i7 processor.

Front side of the logic board (gigantic version can be seen here):

• Intel BD82HM65 Platform Controller Hub
• AMD Radeon HD 6490M GPU (labeled as AMD 216-00809000)
• Quad-Core Intel i7-2630QM Mobile Processor (labeled as 2V041112A0127)
• Broadcom BCM57765B0KMLG Integrated Gigabit Ethernet and Memory Card Reader Controller
• Intel L051NB32 EFL (we assume this is the Thunderbolt port controller)
• Parade PS8301 U08FUC
• TDK 6T213HF 1045 H

Back side of the logic board (gigantic version here):

• Samsung K4G10325FE-HC04 1 Gb (128 MB) GDDR5 SGRAM graphics memory, a total of 2Gb (256 MB)
• Cirrus 4206ACNZ audio controller
• SMSC USB25138 USB 2.0 Hub Controller Family
• Lattice Semiconductor LFXP2-5E Low-Cost Non-Volatile FPGA (Field-programmable Gate Array)
• ST Microelectronics 6640 N053
• Intersil ISL6263 CHRZ and ISL6236 IRZ Single-Phase Synchronous-Buck PWM voltage regulators for GPU core power applications
• Cypress CY8C24794-24L

Aside from the logic board differences, there really isn't much else that makes this machine different from its 15" Unibody ancestors.

Small plastic plates adhered near the display hinges seem to keep the display data cable and antenna cable bundle stationary while the display is opened and closed.

The SuperDrive used on this machine has the model number UJ8A8, making it presumably different from the model UJ898 used in the Mid 2010 15" Unibody.

One thing that has us a little concerned about the new models is their quality control.

A stripped screw near the subwoofer enclosure and an unlocked ZIF socket for the IR sensor should not be things found inside a completely unmolested computer with an $1800 base price.