After seeing in iFixit's teardown that the base model of the new 2016 MacBook Pro without the Touch Bar had a removable PCIe SSD storage unit, many were excited at the possibility of aftermarket upgrade parts across the new MacBook Pro lineup.
But new images surfacing on the web this week after the first MacBook Pro with Touch Bar units began reaching the hands of buyers are showing that the Touch Bar models don't follow suit and have SSD storage chips soldered into their logic boards instead.
iFixit officially got its hands on the 2016 MacBook Pro without the Touch Bar at the top of the keyboard, and their team has already completed one of the detailed teardowns the firm is known for.
The new MacBook Pro appears to contain a lot of new tech, highlighting large advancements in Apple's pro notebook lineup.
YouTubers like JerryRigEverything and repair wizards over at iFixit tore apart their Pixel XL smartphone from Google to peek under its hood, revealing easily removed battery, standard screws, the use of modular internal components that can be replaced independently and—quite surprisingly—the front-facing earpiece slit which is made of cloth.
Launched on October 4, both new Google-designed smartphones, the Pixel and Pixel XL, are exclusive to Verizon in the U.S. Contract-free Pixels are available via Google's online store and from Best Buy.
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.
Following iFixit's analysis of the components and internal layout changes in the iPhone 7 Plus, semiconductor experts over at Chipworks and TechInsights have performed a joint in-depth analysis of the chips in the 128GB iPhone 7 model “A1778” to identify the key integrated circuits at play.
The Apple-designed A10 Fusion chip is “incredibly thin,” Chipworks has discovered, thanks to TSMC's InFO packaging technique resulting in a thinner package. Perhaps more interesting than that, the AT&T and T-Mobile edition of the handset indeed comes with Intel's LTE modem inside versus Qualcomm's that powers cellular connectivity in other hardware versions of the device.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The first legitimate hardware teardown of Apple's new 4-inch smartphone, the iPhone SE, has been conducted by Chipworks. Apple just unveiled this new handset at its recent 'Let us loop you in' event alongside the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
The teardown finds that the iPhone SE is more than just a new generation of smaller iPhone from Apple, but that it's actually a very clever device that takes the best from the performance world and combines it with the economics of older devices. This allows Apple to provide a product at a cheaper cost, but with similar performance.
As the teardown reveals, the iPhone SE is actually a Frankenstein of iPhone 5s, 6, and 6s parts that all work together to create a powerful 6s-like performance experience in a smaller 4-inch package.
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.
The fine folks over at Chipworks have provided the first up close and personal look at the A9X processor found inside of the recently launched iPad Pro. What it uncovered was yet another impressive design job, one that should, again, make Intel take notice.
Not only is the A9X extremely powerful, besting some laptop machines powered by Intel chips, but it's also much bigger than the A9 processors supplied by both Samsung and TSMC that are found in the iPhone 6s.
The Motley Fool recently contacted Chipworks for insight into Apple's newest SoC. What it found was a technical achievement that Apple's designers should be more than proud of.