In keeping with their tradition regarding new Apple products, the folks at iFixit have gotten their hands on a new iPad mini, and are doing what they do best – ripping it to pieces!
Trick-or-Treat! While making our yearly October 31st rounds, we came across something interesting: a brand new iPad Mini! All hopped up on sugar, we eagerly tore into Apple’s first small tablet. Smaller than an iPad, larger than an iPod, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, we’d heard mighty claims about the Mini. It was finally time to crack it open and take a look for ourselves.
The teardown is still in progress, but so far they’ve already found a number of interesting details. First, they found a Samsung display driver – although it’s unclear whether the display itself is made by Samsung (Apple is reportedly moving away from Samsung as a display provider).
As expected, the logic board reveals an A5 chip powering the device (it’s actually a revised version – the A5X), and codes were found suggesting that their device was manufactured in late July or early August. They also found that the iPad mini contains stereo speakers – the first in any iPad to date.
The iPad mini isn’t very easy to get into. Like previous iPads, the glass is held on with glue, and must be heated before it can be opened. Once you get inside, however, it’s significantly easier to repair than previous iPads. The LCD, in particular, is far easier to replace than competing tablets:
Bad news: due to the placement of connectors, you’ll need to remove the LCD prior to removing the digitizer. Great news: the LCD and front glass are two separate components. This contrasts the fused glass-LCD assemblies in both the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7. Thanks for the repairability, Apple!
For more details, and to see all the gorey gadget porn that iFixit teardowns inevitably bring, head on over to iFixit!
