iFixit

Surface Pro teardown: Apple’s iPad wins the repair race

Ed Sutherland ∙ February 13, 2013

Microsoft's one-week old Surface Pro tablet already has some dings in its reputation. The device is more difficult to repair than Apple's iPad, according to a teardown by iFixit. The Surface Pro makes extensive use of glue to secure everything, including the battery and display, giving Microsoft's latest tablet a score of just one out of ten for repairability. And repairs could become common, given simply using the Surface Pro could be harmful to the hardware...

Teardown of 4th gen iPad reveals LG Retina display and more

Cody Lee ∙ November 2, 2012

With the newly-unveiled fourth generation iPad now on sale in some parts of the globe, the inevitable teardowns have begun. As usual, iFixit was first on scene, and has posted a detailed breakdown of the tablet's innards.

As you might expect, there aren't many internal differences between the new iPad and the one Apple launched 6 months ago. But it does have a new processor, and a few other changes, so it's certainly worth taking a look at...

iPad mini teardown reveals Samsung display, stereo speakers

Cody Lee ∙ November 1, 2012

We've still got about 24 hours or so until the iPad mini goes on sale here in the US, but the i-teardown experts over at iFixit have already scored their test subject. And they're ripping it apart as we speak.

This has become a bit of a ritual for the do-it-yourself repair site, with new Apple products, and it usually reveals some interesting things about the devices. So let's see what they've discovered thus far...

Microsoft’s Surface is more repairable than iPad 3

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 29, 2012

The repair experts over at iFixit pried open Microsoft's Surface RT tablet (model number 1516) and awarded the device a repairability score of four out of ten (ten is the easiest to repair), thanks to several components being modular and replaceable without requiring desoldering. Plus, the battery can be removed "pretty easily", iFixit notes.

This is better than a score of two out of ten for the third-generation iPad with Retina display, but lower than Amazon's Kindle Fire, which has an impressive eight out of ten repairability score. Google's seven-inch Nexus tablet is the easiest to repair among these tablets with a nice seven out of ten score. More tidbits and teardown analysis right below...

The new iPod nano teardown analysis finds five Apple-branded mystery chips

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 10, 2017

Solutions provider iFixit tore apart Apple's seventh-generation iPod nano which was released alongside the iPhone 5 and the fifth-generation iPod touch at the September 12 media event. In addition to a Broadcom Bluetooth module and a touchscreen controller from Texas Instruments (whose mobile arm could be acquired by Amazon), the music player also packs in five Apple-branded mystery chips and scores a lower repairability score than the iPhone 5...

iPod touch teardown: cheaper display assembly, weaker home button, low repairability

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 11, 2012

Apple's fifth-generation iPod touch, which debuted alongside the iPhone 5 during the September 12 keynote, is on sale now, first reviews are great and already the wizards at iFixit have done what they do best: they tore apart the device to peek under the hood and analyze its innards.

Unlike the iPhone 5 that runs the latest A6 chip with 1GB of RAM, Apple's ultra-thin (just 6.1mm) media player packs in the Apple-designed A5 processor with 512MB of Hynix-supplied RAM. The same silicon also powers the iPad 2 (the iPad 3 runs a souped up variant labeled the A5X). Perhaps unexpectedly, the new iPod touch has a weaker home button than that on the iPhone 5...

Samsung-made A6 chip has dual ARM CPU cores, 3 PowerVR GPU cores, 1GB RAM

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple claims the iPhone 5 is twice as fast as the iPhone 4S (which is no slouch) in terms of processing and graphics power, thanks to the in-house designed A6 chip. You could even say that the A6 pushes the iPhone 5 ahead of competing smartphones, at least in Javascript and Geekbench tests.

The A6 is clearly a beast of a chip, not just in terms of sheer power but also in delivering the world’s first phone powered by ARM’s Cortex-A15 CPU platform, completely customized to Apple's needs. In addition to two CPU cores, the first diffusion image by UBM TechInsights has also showed three GPUs.

And now, repair wizards iFixit teamed up with chip experts Chipworks who put the A6 silicon under a sophisticated microscope. Here's what we could glean from so-called "floorplans"...

iFixit gives the iPhone 5 the teardown treatment

Cody Lee ∙ September 20, 2012

Though we've still got a good 8 hours or so before the iPhone 5 officially goes on sale here in the US, due to the time difference, the handset has already launched in Australia.

And wouldn't you know it, the i-teardown experts over at iFixit were on hand to pick one up and have already started ripping it apart. More on their findings inside the fold...

iFixit tears down Apple’s new EarPods

Cody Lee ∙ September 18, 2012

In addition to a new iPhone, and iPods, Apple also unveiled a new set of headphones last week. Dubbed "EarPods," the company said that it spent more than three years developing the accessory.

Today, the team over at iFixit performed their usual teardown of the headphones, and published an extensive report of its findings. And as you can imagine, some of it is rather interesting...

Google’s Nexus 7 beats iPad 3 on repairability

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 4, 2012

Despite being only one millimeter thicker, Google's upcoming Nexus 7 slate is more repairable than the new iPad, a teardown analysis by iFixit has concluded. Its components are assembled using standard tools, unlike the new iPad's innards which are glued together.

A simpler assembly makes servicing the Google tablet fairly easy with standard plastic opening tools that make "cracking the Nexus shell like cutting through butter"...

The new iPad teardown

Cody Lee ∙ March 15, 2012

Every time Apple releases new hardware, the tech world awaits its inevitable teardown. Apple's products are just as much a feat in engineering as they are sleek and beautiful. And everyone wants to know how they've done it.

The new iPad is no exception. Apple has managed to squeeze over 3 million pixels into the tablet's Retina display, and add a high-speed LTE radio, all while maintaing [roughly] the same size, price and battery life of its predecessors.

So what's going on under the hood to make it all possible? Let's find out...

A closer look at the purported iPad 3 Retina display

Cody Lee ∙ February 23, 2012

Last week, MacRumors gave us a sneak peek at what many believe to be an iPad 3 'Retina' display panel. The component appeared to match the specifications of the oft-rumored tablet's high resolution screen.

Now it looks like the folks over at iFixit, a popular electronics repair site, has gotten its hands on the purported iPad 3 display. And while they weren't able to power the screen on, they were able to extrapolate some interesting information...