Teardown

Teardown reveals the Pebble isn’t repairable at all

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 13, 2013

Perhaps in a slight indication of the kinds of limitations we could expect from Apple's rumored iWatch, repair wizards over at iFixit tore apart the Pebble smartwatch, having concluded that the components are so densely packed in such a tiny space that the gizmo is not repairable at all. As a result, iFixit refrained from giving the Pebble a repairability score in the first place.

And because the makers of the Pebble smartwatch had to use excessive adhesive for waterproofing, the battery is “very inaccessible” and there's no way of prying open the device “without compromising the display”...

Teardown finds iPad mini cost at least $188 to build

Cody Lee ∙ November 4, 2012

The iPad mini went on sale around the world on Friday, and though the official numbers aren't in yet, it appears to be selling rather well. This in spite of its lack of a Retina display, and its higher-than-average price tag.

In fact, Apple's had to defend the mini's pricing a couple of times now, claiming that its profit margins on the device are lower than on any of its other products. And according to a new teardown, that seems to be the case...

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"...

New A6 chip confirmed to have three GPU cores

Cody Lee ∙ September 22, 2012

The iPhone 5 launched yesterday, and first impressions seem to be in line with the early reviews: the thing is fast. As most of you know, Apple custom-built an all-new processor for the handset called the A6.

Now that the phone is available, we expect to learn more about the new chip as teardown experts continue to rip the device apart. In fact, a new tidbit has already surfaced: the A6 has triple-core graphics...

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...

First iPhone 5 teardown hits the web…

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 20, 2012

...but it ain't a kind of thorough analysis we'd come to expect from repair experts iFixIt. Instead, a German blog has obtained an iPhone 5 and pried it open, exposing the innards of Apple's new device to the world. As you know, the iPhone 5 goes on sale in the United States and eight international markets tomorrow at 8am.

This teardown does prove, however, that a bunch of parts that leaked in the run-up to the iPhone 5 keynote were legit. The layout of components appears to closely resemble both the slides and the promo video Apple execs used during the keynote. For true teardown analysis, we'll have to wait until iFixIt gets their hands on the iPhone 5...

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...