We've waited many a full moon for an update to the MacBook Pro. What will we find? We know the basics:

13.3” LED-backlit IPS “Retina” display with 2560 × 1600 resolution (227 dpi), P3 color gamut

2.0 GHz "Skylake" dual-core Intel Core i5 (Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz) with integrated Intel Iris Graphics 540

8 GB of 1866 MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory (16 GB configuration available)

256 GB, 512 GB, or 1 TB PCIe-based SSD

Two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports supporting charging, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, USB 3.1 Gen 2

Two Thunderbolt 3 ports populate the left side of this laptop... and that's all.

On the right side, a lone 3.5 mm headphone jack.

After all the hubbub about how the headphone jack is antiquated hardware that doesn't deserve a space on the iPhone 7, this seems... odd.

But hey, who are we to judge? It's a widely used standard and we're 100% on board with that. Just know that you can't plug in your iPhone 7's Lightning EarPods, as the necessary dongle doesn't exist.

Completing our inspection of the outer case, we note the new model number: A1708.

Although we're dying to send emojis with a tap of the Touch Bar, this 'Book is missing the headlining feature of the 2016 MacBook Pro series—it sports physical function keys instead.

However, we do spy an XL (extra-long) escape key that sets this row of function keys apart.

The Pro looks like a giant beside its pink sibling, sporting a significantly larger trackpad.

Also, the speaker grilles have migrated down from the upper edge of the keyboard to flank it on the left and right sides, now possible due to the Pro's extra half-inch of depth.

Here's one last X-ray preview of the internals. Time to get our hands dirty!

After six years of removing proprietary pentalobe screws from MacBook laptops, we can remove the six of them from the back of this laptop with our eyes closed.

We also happen to sell the prettiest pentalobe screwdriver you'll ever see, useful for all of your MacBook opening needs.

Six screws! That's the fewest we've seen on a unibody MacBook of any vintage, with 8 on the 2015 MacBook and 10 on most MacBooks Pro.

Well, this is new. We're momentarily stumped by the new, extra-secure lower case, before we crack the code to remove it.

A suction cup helps lift the lower edge enough to get an opening pick in, to pop hidden clips on each side. After that, you slide the entire lower case down and you're home free.

Code cracked and panel removed, we move on to disconnect the battery and realize things are strange.

This wide-headed T5 screw serves as a super-secure press connector for the battery.

Folding the connector back reveals some copper pads. Two large ones for positive and ground from the battery, and several smaller points. Perhaps... Test Points?

Following our intuition, we try for the trackpad next, and are pleasantly surprised at the ease of its removal.

This represents a huge improvement over the previous 13" MacBook Pro, where the trackpad was trapped under the battery.

STMicroelectronics STM32F103VB ARM Cortex-M3 MCU

Broadcom BCM5976C1KUFBG Touch Controller

Bosch Sensortec BMA282 accelerometer

Texas Instruments TMP421 remote/local temperature sensor

We also find the Taptic Engine, AKA the magic electromagnet behind Force Touch, to be simply secured with screws and spring contacts.

Touchpad IC identifications, continued:

Monolithic Power Systems MP24830 white LED driver

Maxim Integrated MAX11291ENX 20 bit analog to digital converter (likely)

Macronix MX25L2006EZUI-12G 2 Mb serial NOR flash

Maxim Integrated MAX9026 comparator w/ internal reference

Emboldened by our trackpad success, we tackle the battery next.

Our confidence is quickly crushed by tenacious adhesive. Bring on the frustration and flashbacks.

Good thing we're armed to deal with tacky-battery warfare at iFixit. We charge into battle with heat and plastic cards.

Also a good thing, with the trackpad out first we're finally able to pry at that super-annoying center cell, a common source of repair annoyance.

Through perseverance we liberate the battery. Let us continue the good fight!

At 54.5 Wh, this battery doles out ~27% less power between charges than last year's edition—although with just three cells instead of six, it might be a tad easier to remove.

That said, this Pro actually packs more oomph than its Touch Bar-equipped sibling, whose battery clocks in at 49.2 Wh.

Up top, we find this battery control board which — unlike the impeccably manicured components surrounding it — is coated in thick epoxy à la Apple's Lightning-to-headphone dongle.

Turning our attention to the very well-shielded SSD, we start by peeling up this massive patch of protective tape.

Per Apple, we know the SSD itself uses a high-speed PCIe-based interface—but this form factor and pin configuration look new.

Time to pry those shields off and see exactly what Apple cooked up here...

Let's take a look at what's powering this sideways storage slate:

SanDisk SDRQKBDC4 064G 64 GB NAND flash memory (x4 for a total of 256 GB).

Apple 338S00227 SSD power management

Texas Instruments CSD58879D MOSFET

F4432ACPE-GD-F likely Micron 512 MB DDR2 RAM

Success! A reflow revealed: Apple 338S00199 SSD controller

We stumble upon another familiarity in this MacBook as we begin speaker extraction: vibration dampening screw gaskets, similar to those found in the iMac.

These speakers supposedly deliver more oomph than previous gens', and clearly need a more robust mounting system to keep from shaking your laptop off your lap.

One speaker, two speaker, black speaker, black speaker. This teardown is starting to have a nice rhyme to it.

Given our excitement surrounding the logic board removal (and the amount of ornaments and wrapping paper just unleashed in stores everywhere), you might think Christmas came 54 days early.

We begin to look for the "advanced thermal architecture" Apple boasted in its press release the way a child might rifle through her stocking on Christmas morning.

...We're a little disappointed that advanced architecture really meant "relocation of the heat sink screws to the backside of the logic board."

We tackle the front side of the logic board:

Intel Core i5-6360U processor with Intel Iris Graphics 540

SKhynix H9CCNNNBJTML LPDDR3 high-speed synchronous DRAM

Universal Scientific Industrial 339S0251 Wi-Fi Module

Intel JHL6540 Thunderbolt 3 controller

Texas Instruments CSD87350Q5D Synchronous Buck NexFET Power Block MOSFET Pair (and some other MOSFETs are found on this PCB)

Broadcom BCM15700A2 camera processor

Micron MT41K256M16TW-107 512 MB DDR3L SDRAM

We flip the logic board over to the reverse side and keep scouring:

Making a second appearance, SK Hynix H9CCNNNBJTMLAR-NUD LPDDR3 high-speed synchronous DRAM

Texas Instruments SN650839 (as seen in the 2016 Retina MacBook) Skylake CPU power management

2x Texas Instruments CD3215B03 USB type-C controller

Winbond W25Q64FV 64 Mb serial NOR flash memory

Texas Instruments TM4EA231 system management controller

Cirrus Logic CS42L63A Audio Codec

Intersil ISL95828HRTZ Intel CPU PWM controller

IC identification, pt. 2:

Texas Instruments TPS51980A 2-phase step-down controller

Renesas (formerly Intersil) ISL9239 battery charger

Texas Instruments TPS51916 DDR memory power management

Vishay SiC635 power stage

Vishay SiC532 30 A power stage

Analog Devices SSM3515B 31 W Class-D audio amplifier

Texas Instruments (formerly National Semiconductor) LP8548B1 backlight driver

IC identification, pt. 3:

Texas Instruments TMP513A triple remote/local temperature sensor

Winbond W25Q80DVUXIE 8 Mb serial NOR flash memory

Winbond W25X20CLUXIG 2 Mb serial NOR flash memory

Microchip (formerly Atmel) AT93C66B 4 Kb serial EEPROM memory

Maxim Integrated MAX77596 300 mA buck converter

Texas Instruments TPS22966 6 A load switch

Likely hall sensor

Given Apple's renowned port-removing courage, it wasn't unreasonable to think the headphone jack would find itself getting voted off the island prior to this round of MacBook Pros.

Miraculously, the headphone jack survived... but given that it's a single modular unit (with two attached microphones) taped to the bottom of the fan, it could easily be dropped in favor of a Lightning or USB-C connector at the next Tribal Council MacBook release.

Next, we take a closer look at the speaker grilles: Most of the holes are actually just dents posing as holes. The only through-holes are dedicated to the four speaker drivers and the two microphones.

Before we hit Retina, we scrape out a fancy fan. These blades are supposedly super quiet due to their asymmetrically spaced blades.

There's also a significant amount of space not taken up by blades—that's probably another sick thermal system feature. Plus it looks nice in the video.

Time to mosey on down to display town, we decap some shields and take a peek at the hardware powering those pixels:

Parade Technologies DP805 DisplayPort timing controller (likely)

Texas Instruments (formerly National Semiconductor) LP8549B1 backlight driver

Texas Instruments TPS65157 display power management

NXP Semiconductor LPC812 ARM Cortex M0+ 32-bit MCU

Texas Instruments TPS65158 High Resolution LCD Bias IC for TV

Texas Instruments TCA9406YZPR 2-bit SMBus voltage-level translator

At MacBook's edge we come across a shiny bar (held in by 12 P2 Pentalobe screws) that also serves as an antenna.

Behind the antenna bracket, we spy some fancy tech along the Pro's spine.

A spring mechanism rolls a flat cable up when the display is closed, and unravels when the display opens. This seems to make it a bit easier to close the lid.

We'll skip tearing down the display itself—we've been down that road before—so how about a lovely X-ray instead? Here you can see the camera board with its long data cable, the solid metal Apple logo, and even the little magnets embedded in the lid for sleep/wake functionality.

We gently detach the gutted shell of the keyboard/upper case from the display, and take a closer look at the fancy new hinge system.

Sometimes seemingly standard hardware deserves an Ooh and an Ahh: These small, precision hinges are likely injection molded, allowing for thinner and more precise parts.

The Butterfly 2.0 keys are indeed updated! Check this sweet MacBook/MacBook Pro (with function keys) rollover!

The Pro's keycaps (first image) are a little taller at the edges, making keys easier to find with your fingers.

The dome switch under the butterfly mechanism also appears to be heftier and better mated to the keycap than the ones in the MacBook (second image).

And for the grand finale: All those beautiful bits all in one place!

Don't forget: Apple had some slick computer-generated imagery of their new machines' internals, but we got the real thing! Today's hi-res X-ray images were brought to you by the amazing team at Creative Electron.