iPad Mini Teardown

Posted on: November 1, 2012 at 9:35am — By: Kyle


Apple is filling out their touchscreen device lineup just in time for Christmas. The iPod Touch has been extremely popular with families, and we expect the iPad Mini will be a big hit with kids. But what will happen to the glass when they hit it with the full force of their childlike glee? We took apart the new iPad Mini to find out just how durable and repairable it is.

This product continues Apple’s design pattern of creating devices with built-in consumables that are challenging to replace. Relative to the $329 price, Apple’s $99 battery replacement program is very expensive. Without regular battery replacements, the iPad Mini is doomed to the same 2-3 year maximum lifespan that the iPad has. Apple has not stated whether the iPad Mini’s battery has the same 1000 cycles rating as the iPad or the 400 cycle (12-18 month) capacity of the iPhone. With that in mind, we’re working on improved techniques to disassemble iPads.

Teardown highlights:

* We can confirm the iPad Mini has stereo speakers, no matter what Amazon says.

* We had to do some sleuthing to find some of the screws on this thing–several tiny screws were hidden underneath covers and inside crevices.

* In an odd typographic quality lapse, the kerning of the laser-etched serial number on our unit is quite poor.

* Apple wasn’t joking about “mini”; this iPad contains some of the smallest screws we have ever seen!

* Apple has reportedly been working to move away from Samsung as a primary supplier, so it’s somewhat surprising to see a Samsung chip driving the LCD. We cannot 100% confirm that this display is made by Samsung, although it seems likely. Apple could be multi-sourcing this component, since supply chain reports indicate that AU Optronics and LG are providing displays.

* The battery is a large, single 16.5 Whr cell.

* Components:

Repairability score: 2 out of 10. The screen is glued to the case. The battery is glued down. The logic board is really glued down. The headphone jack is glued in. The only good news is that the LCD is not fused to the front glass.

This iPad was delivered a bit early up the road from us in Berkeley. We’d like to thank friend-of-iFixit, the ever perspicacious Jeff Atwood, for helping us get our hands on it.

For more iPad Mini guts and glory, check out the full teardown.

Comments

I understand that apple don’t like people looking inside their devices and thats the reason for them to make them so hard to open but not being a reparable is really bad. Also, they really could have done better with the specs of the ipad mini first no retina display. Second the A5 chip, they could have put an A6 or maybe made a 32nm version of the A5X which is possible considering that the first A5 was 45nm and now is 32nm. Third 1gb of ram would be the obvious choice this is tablet not an iPod touch. I bought an ipad 2 last year and gave it to my mother because the weight and i didn’t felt very comfortable while using it. When i hear that the ipad mini was coming out i was so exited however after watching the keynote i was disappointed to know what the specs where and now by reading this 2 out of 10 in repairability is not looking so good. I take really good care of my electronics and i am willing to over look the repairability but the specs are a no no for me. I have seen many tablets for way less the price and more specs than that however those aren’t iPads thats why i will not buy those. Apple makes really good, elegant & quality products and thats the reason why many people love apple. I am not in a rush of buying one since i have in iphone 5 which have better specs than the iPad mini. I really understand that if they make an ipad mini with iPad specs then the iPads would not sell as good as the mini but they could have done better.

So for the next gen ipad mini i will be looking for these specs:

1. Retina display
2. A5X, A6 or even A6X CPU
3. 1gb Ram Memory
4. Same rear & front cameras of the iPhone 5
5. LED Flash
6. Colors like those of the iPods Nano & Touch which the red and blue look really good.

By: Alex - November 1, 2012 at 10:58 pm

One thing is that often one of the most widespread incentives for applying your credit cards is a cash-back or maybe rebate supply. Generally, you’re going to get 1-5% back on various buying. Depending on the credit cards, you may get 1% back on most buying, and 5% in return on buying made from convenience stores, filling stations, grocery stores and also ‘member merchants’.

By: news article - February 7, 2013 at 4:24 am

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