Senior technical writer, photographer, and tinkerer at iFixit HQ in San Luis Obispo, California.
Like many folks here, I’ve been fixing things most of my life—cars, computers, time machines. (Wait, sorry—that last thing happens later.)
I joined iFixit in 2013 as a technical writer, working mainly on repair guides and teardowns. I later co-wrote a lot of the instructions for iFixit’s university technical writing project, and helped coach a few thousand engineering students from over 50 universities through their technical writing coursework. I’ve enjoyed being a guest lecturer and attending academic conferences on technical writing, and helped teach a few of iFixit’s in-house workshops for technical writing instructors.
If working at iFixit sounds awesome, that’s because frequently, it is—I’m grateful to have been at the right place and time to collaborate on some world-class projects with this team. Because of iFixit, I’ve helped Greenpeace create its guide to greener electronics, consulted on repairability for some of the world’s top hardware engineers, and written repair guides for Patagonia.
My wife Zan, seen here in a rare photograph that I’m allowed to share with the internet.
I’m naturally an introvert and prefer to stay behind the camera rather than in front of it, but sometimes accidents happen. My talking head has appeared on a few broadcast programs and podcasts, like that time we tore down a Magic Leap One. I’ve also appeared briefly in at least one VICE documentary, wherein I badly needed a haircut and hadn’t slept since two dinners ago.
VICE News chased us to Australia for our teardown of the iPhone X.
I do enjoy anonymously sharing my photos though, and they frequently pop up in the tech press. That’s one of the really fun aspects of this job—you never know when your work might help a technology journalist explain a battery problem, solve a waterproofing mystery, or break down a new laptop design.
In my free time I enjoy scuba diving and reading (and sometimes writing) a lot of science fiction nonsense.
Oh, we’ll sell you the thumbs—but if you have to ask how much, you can’t afford it.
We haven’t tested them yet, but to all appearances: Yes to processor upgrades, and yes to RAM upgrades. Both are modular, socketed, standard components.
Nintendo’s official specs for the Switch Lite say BT 4.1. The Cypress chip is an off-the-shelf design that may have some un-utilized capabilities.
It’s true, the battery chemistry is happiest when it’s partially charged (typically in the 40-80% range depending on who you ask). A full calibration probably does cause a minor hit to battery capacity, but it’s fine as long as you don’t do it too often. Once every month or two is fine for most people. The goal is just to make sure it’s working and reading accurately. At the end of the day batteries are still consumables, and nothing you can do will make them last forever! Feel free to use it as designed and not worry too much :)
@alphaumi You might want to try a simple SMC reset first, but from your description my guess would be it’s a defective battery. :(
Ouch! Your troubleshooting steps sound right to me—bad display would be my guess as well. Best of luck getting it sorted out!
A couple old credit cards should work fine.
It should be pretty easy to reattach. Put a dab of rubber cement or a bit of double-sided tape on top of each of the screws underneath the cover, press the cover down, and close up your MacBook. It should stay put. Don’t use superglue or anything else that will harden over the screw heads and make it impossible to fit a driver in there later.
@mrgrdn You might be thinking of memory effect. Calibration is still very much a thing and quite important, particularly on a new battery. Here’s some reading if you are curious!
@emika491 Glass-only repairs are possible for pros, but it’s not a DIY. It takes practice to perfect, and the equipment alone costs about as much as a new phone. I’d stick to replacing the whole display. ;)
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