You're gonna LOBE this - Apple switching to new screw type

[Jimmypoo]

iFix looks more like a star than a lobe.

[RAMd®d]

...have what we might need?

[Rick-o]

Acer wrote:
HIVE MIND

Heh! No chit! (

[sekker]

Does this really help Apple's bottom line? It certainly alienates some current customers.

[DaviDC.]

See? Apple really is run by a bunch of control freaks!

[Lew Zealand]

RAMd®d wrote:
You've got drivers for three- and five-lobe screws?

Where?

I got a set of quarter-inch "bits" for about $10- it has several kinds including "security torx", but no lobes.

I think I got it about 9 months ago on a special from dealmac. It was ~30 bits and a driver for ~$8. Only problem with it is the driver is too fat and short (steric hindrance) to remove all the screws from my 2007 Mac Mini when removing the drive/fan casing part from the motherboard. Still need the trusty Craftsman 5-bit Philips/flat kit for that.

[Jimmypoo]

If, when I do a few experiments, I discover that my mini's video is dead/dying (vs the screen) I'll be turning to
my Torx kit to turn IT into a Kleenex Box if I can't get Apple Remote Desktop and it to work via USB wifi
that pokes from it.

A great deal at the time that got so little use, I wish I had the $300 back!

[lost in space]

Playing the devil's advocate, it might have been a decision based on manufacturing issues.
Fasteners are pushed by air from a bowl down a tube to the operator's auto-feed driver. The fastener must arrive at the driver in the right orientation. The driver bit must engage the fastener in a fraction of a second before the driver starts to turn. If it doesn't, the fastener doesn't get screwed down and it shows signs of stripping. If it's not screwed down, it has to be ejected from the driver and discarded. The operator on the line who puts the case together might have to do a phone every 20 seconds, maybe less, so at the end of a day, there could be hundreds of discarded fasteners if they don't engage well, plus lost time, so the head design is kind of a big deal.

But that's probably more than anybody wants to know, eh?

[what4]

World dominution! Or is damination? Diminotion?

Those screws are dominutritious.

[mrlynn]

lost in space wrote:
Playing the devil's advocate, it might have been a decision based on manufacturing issues. . .

You mean it's a rational decision, not a tinfoil-hat conspiracy?

Thanks for the description. I was wondering if the fastener-head type made a difference putting these little gizmos together.

My son just did an OWC-kit HD upgrade of the MBP I gave him. Worked well, though he was surprised at the variety of screws Apple used.

/Mr Lynn