iFixit is arguably best known for their teardowns of new technology, and Apple’s new iPad mini 5 is no exception. The internal exploration of Apple’s new smaller tablet reveals that while the new iPad mini’s exterior resembles previous models, its internals have seen substantial improvement.
iFixit mentions that only way to tell the new iPad mini from the previous model is by the model number, A2133, and the lack of regulatory markings on the back, which are now displayed via the Settings app.
However, internally, it’s a different story, as the iPad mini 5 has received a considerable bump when it comes to its internal components.
The new mini boasts an 8-megapixel rear camera and uses the same 7-megapixel ƒ/2.2 front-facing camera setup as used in the 10.5-inch iPad Pro.
Other new components include a faster A12 Bionic processor, 3GB of RAM (up from 2GB), True Tone sensors, microphones near the front-facing camera, and a 19.32 Wh battery that matches the rating of the previous battery, is of a different type.
The mini features two speakers providing stereo sound, Bluetooth 5.0, dual mics, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, and Gigabit LTE and eSIM on cellular models.
Specifically, the internals are:
- Apple APL1W81 A12 Bionic SoC, layered over Samsung K3UH4H40AM-MGCL 3 GB LPDDR4X DRAM
- Toshiba TSB3243VD1190CHNA1 64 GB flash memory
- Apple/USI 339S00551 Bluetooth/WiFi module
- Broadcom BCM15900 touchscreen controller
- Apple 343S00282-A0 and 343S00286-A0 (likely PMIC’s)
- NXP 1612A1 USB charging controller
- NXP 100VB27 NFC controller
iFixit gives the iPad mini 5 a repairability score of 2/10, due to the gobs of adhesive holding parts and cables in place, and the difficulty of replacing the battery.
For the full teardown rundown, visit the iFixit website.
