iFixit

Apple’s iPhone 7 Lightning headphone adapter packs in a surprising amount of circuitry

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 6, 2016

Repair wizards over at iFixit along with their pals at Creative Electron gave Apple’s new $9 iPhone 7 Lightning headphone adapter a thorough X-ray treatment. The analysis has revealed a surprising amount of circuitry inside of the dongle.

Most notably, it packs in a pretty unique integrated circuit that's most likely a built-in digital-to-analog (DAC) converter. There’s actually a lot going on in the diminutive adapter aside from the DAC, writes iFixit, including things like an integrated amplifier and an analog-to-digital-converter (ADC).

“We’re surprised how much electronics Apple was able to include inside this little cable,” said Creative Electron, which builds X-ray inspection systems for electronics.

iFixit publishes detailed iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus repair guides

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2016

Want to learn how to perform DIY repairs of the iPhone 7/Plus? Look no further than iFixit, the world's top authority when it comes to repairing consumer electronics devices like smartphones, tablets, game consoles, computers and so forth. Today, the site published a series of repair guides with detailed instructions on replacing the iPhone 7/Plus display, battery and the Taptic Engine.

iPhone 7 Plus teardown: 3GB of RAM, faux speaker grille, bigger battery & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 16, 2016

Repair wizards over at iFixit flew out to Japan to obtain their iPhone 7 Plus (in Rose Gold), performing their ritual teardown dance which has helped confirm what we've been suspecting all along: that a second grille at the bottom doesn't house a second speaker.

Other interesting observations gleaned from peeking under the hood of the iPhone 7 Plus include a replaceable Home button, a lot bigger Taptic Engine than in the iPhone 6s, a bigger 2,900 mAh battery, dust and water-proofing measures and other tidbits.

iFixit tears down the 2016 Retina MacBook, finds minor hardware tweaks

Anthony Bouchard ∙ April 25, 2016

Just last week, Apple launched the second generation of its Retina MacBook lineup with a bump in CPU and SSD speed performance, as well as in battery life.

iFixit has now torn down the new 2016 Retina MacBook to reveal what kinds of hardware gems could be hidden inside of the very familiar aluminum enclosure.

Unsurprisingly, they have torn down the new rose gold-colored model. For the most part, a lot of the internals are similar, although there are a few tweaks to the design and internal hardware that users will love and hate.

iFixit: 9.7-inch iPad Pro uses ‘gobs of adhesive’, making repair ‘miserable’

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 4, 2016

Repair wizards over at iFixit have torn apart Apple's new 9.7-inch iPad Pro (model A1673) only to discover that the device is extremely difficult to repair due to “gobs of adhesive” used to keep the components secured in place.

In addition to copious adhesive, the device's smaller form factor, the addition of four speakers and some “weird cabling choices” have earned the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro a sad 2 out of 10 repairability score, same as the original iPad Air and a point less than the first iPad Pro. “We think this is the most glue we’ve seen in an iPad to date, making repair miserable,” concluded iFixit.

iFixit tears down iPhone SE, reveals some interchangeable 5s parts

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 31, 2016

Following the first day of availability of the iPhone SE, iFixit has gotten their hands on their own unit and has started their ritualistic practice of disconnecting every little screw, cable, and hinge that comes on it.

The iFixit teardown comes a day after Chipworks' version, which revealed a lot of familiar parts in the iPhone SE that could be found in previous iPhone models, such as the 5s, 6, and 6s.

iFixit has not only confirmed these findings from Chipworks, but also provides some new insight about the iPhone SE's parts that is sure to interest its consumers.

iFixit tears down the iPhone 6s Smart Battery Case

Jeff Benjamin ∙ December 10, 2015

It was only a matter of time before the folks over at iFixit got their hands on Apple's newly-released Smart Battery Case for the proper teardown treatment, and today is the day that we get a peek inside of the case's innards.

It goes without saying that the $99 Smart Battery Case will score low on iFixit's repairability scale, as tearing down the case means peeling back the soft lining inside the housing and dealing with lots of sticky adhesive.

iFixit gives Apple’s Smart Keyboard the lowest repairability score possible

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 24, 2015

Repair experts over at iFixit today pried open Apple's new $169 Smart Keyboard case for the iPad Pro.

As you know, the Smart Keyboard is covered in Apple's mysterious conductive fabric that actually connects the keyboard to the iPad Pro's Smart Connector and allows for a “two‑way flow of power and data.”

But more important than that, the accessory is completely glued together, which makes servicing next to impossible. In fact, the Smart Keyboard files as one of the least repairable devices iFixit has ever analyzed so small wonder they gave it a repairability score of zero out of ten, ten being the easiest to repair.

Apple Pencil packs in the smallest logic board iFixit has ever seen

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 19, 2015

According to a teardown analysis of the Apple Pencil performed by iFixit, Apple's optional Bluetooth stylus accessory for the iPad Pro packs in the smallest logic board that the repair firm has ever seen. Despite its minuscule appearance, Apple's engineers had to fold it in half to fit inside the Pencil's tiny enclosure.

As if that weren't enough, the Apple Pencil is choke full of other radical technological solutions, said iFixit.

Teardown analysis of Magic accessories finds chips from other Apple products and more tidbits

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 23, 2015

Repair experts over at iFixit have performed an interesting triple teardown of Apple's latest Magic accessories—the Magic Mouse 2, Magic Trackpad 2 and Magic Keyboard—and found that all three devices are outfitted with many of the same chips also found in other Apple products.

On the downside, Apple's unified approach to engineering the new Magic devices has resulted in just 3 out of 10 in iFixit's Repairability ratings due to high level of integration and excessive amount of adhesive.

Examining iPhone 6s’s 3D Touch panel in detail

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 14, 2015

The new iPhones have a pressure-sensitive screen that provides quick access to app-specific shortcuts from the Home screen while enabling a pair of new gestures within apps: Peek and Pop.

Teardown experts over at iFixit have now taken a closer look at how 3D Touch has been implemented on the new devices, here are your key takeaways.

Apple bans iFixit from App Store over tearing apart unreleased 4th generation Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 1, 2015

Those prolific electronics wizards over at iFixit have found out the hard way that breaking Apple's NDA has consequences. The site fell out of favor with Apple after posting a teardown analysis of an unreleased 4th generation Apple TV with Siri Remote.

According to iFixit itself, not only has Apple yanked their iPhone app from the App Store but also banned their developer account. iFixit's Apple TV unit was obtained as part of development kits provided to some developers who were selected to take part in Apple's early access program.