Teardown: new Apple TV + Siri Remote

iFixit teardown Apple TV 4 image 001

Following the teardown analysis of Apple’s fourth-generation iPad mini, repair wizards over at iFixit have torn apart the new Apple TV and its Bluetooth-based Siri Remote with touch trackpad.

The new box has a high repairability score thanks to a fairly modular design and just a few major components, which simplifies repair. It’s also a half-inch taller and more than fifty percent heavier than the third-generation model.

On the inside, it features a beefier heatsink and power supply to support the speed monster that is the dual-core A8 microchip with 2GB of RAM, clocked at 1.8GHz.

Teardown highlights

Apple TV hardware:

  • Apple A8 APL1011 SoC, with SK Hynix H9CKNNNBKTBRWR-NTH 2 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
  • SK Hynix H2JTEG8VD1BMR 32 GB NAND flash
  • Universal Scientific Industrial 339S00045 Wi-Fi module
  • SMSC LAN9730 USB 2.0 to 10/100 ethernet controller
  • Apple 338S00057
  • Texas Instruments PA61
  • Fairchild Semiconductor DF25AU
  • NXP 1112

Siri Remote hardware:

  • ST Microelectronics STM32L151QD ultra-low-power ARM Cortex-M3 MCU
  • Broadcom BCM5976C1KUB6G touch screen controller
  • CSR (Qualcomm) CSR1010 Bluetooth radio
  • Texas Instruments TMS320C55 ultra-low-power digital signal processor
  • ST Microelectronics AS5C Y523
  • Texas Instruments TI49C37GI and TI55CHL6I

“There’s a distinct lack of cables connecting the power supply to the logic board,” iFixit said, speculating the the power is transmitted through the new heat sink screw posts.

iFixit teardown Apple TV 4 image 009

But what about the new Siri Remote?

“The remote’s battery and Lightning cable are soldered together—but not to anything else, so they should be inexpensive components to replace,” they added.

iFixit teardown Apple TV 4 image 008

iFixit gave the new Apple TV a repairability score of 8 out of 10, same like the previous model (1o being the easiest to repair), due to its modular construction, reduced number of components and the following:

  • The power supply is a separate, replaceable component, and even its AC-in jack is modular
  • Standard Torx screws used throughout, nothing proprietary.
  • The remote is held together with adhesive, but a wide gap makes it easy to pry apart.
  • The remote’s battery and Lightning cable are soldered together—but not to anything else, so they should be an inexpensive component to replace.

Again, as almost everything important on the Apple TV is soldered to the logic board, replacement or board-level soldering is required to solve port problems.

Source: iFixit