Teardowns

Apple’s Refreshed 16 GB iPod Touch Torn Apart

So, how do you create a refreshed product?

1. Take an existing product you’ve been selling a couple of years
2. Swap the flash memory to a lower quantity, let’s say 16 GB
3. ???
4. Profit

At least, that’s the way this camera-laden, 16 GB iPod Touch came to be. We delved inside Apple’s “refreshed” device and found the same components we’d seen in Touches of yesteryear, but with 16 GB of on-board flash memory. So it’s not really that this 16 GB variant gains a camera — instead, it loses half of its 32 GB of storage.

Refreshed iPod touch 16 GB teardown

Unfortunately, the same construction means the same dismal repairability. All the issues from the previous generation are present, leading to its 3 out of 10 repairability score. It’s tough to pry open, the battery is soldered on, and most of the other components are linked together via interconnect cables. If one component fails, you’ll have to replace two or three functional components in addition to the broken one.

We’re hopeful newer versions of the Touch are more fixable, but it looks like we might have to wait a while until a proper refresh is released.