Hasta La Gadget!

We can always count on the geeks over at iFixit to buy the latest and greatest gadgets and then tear them up so we can see what they look like on the inside. It’s nice to see someone else open up their gadgets giving us a glimpse at how things are packaged and how repairable the device might be should we ever need to get into it on our own

iFixit used a heat gun, plastic opening tools, a spudger, and a T4 torx screwdriver, a T5 torx, and a set of iFixit Guitar Picks to open the tablet up.

Under its hood, iFixit found the following chips:

• NVIDIA 1.4 GHz Tegra 3 Processor
• Samsung KLMBG4GE4A 32 GB NAND Flash
• Micron 2RE22 D9QBJ 2 GB DDR3 SDRAM
• Texas Instruments TPS659110 power management IC
• Marvell 88W8797-BMP2 wireless MIMO SoC
• Wolfson 8962E low power audio codec
• Cypress Semiconductor CY8C20466A capacitive touchscreen controller

In fact, they found multiple touchscreen controllers – presumably to help detect inputs from the touch cover keyboard as well as the screen. One of the components that’s most likely to fail over time in any gadget is the battery. It appears that while the battery is glued in, it is removable and said to be easier to remove than the battery of the iPad. Though that certainly doesn’t mean that the Surface tablet is easy to repair. iFixit rates the Surface tablet on repairability scale as 4/10 with 10 being the easiest to repair and 1 being the hardest. This is only slightly better than the nearly impossible-to-service iPad series.

I can’t help but wonder each time I see one of these tear downs of a new gadget if they’re able to put it back together so it works again.

[via iFixit]

Microsoft‘s latest piece of hardware, the Surface tablet running Windows RT, has been placed on the surgery bed and was given a full dissection by the fellows over at iFixit. While they were able to tear it apart completely, it wasn’t an easy feat, and they came across some obstacles along the way.

The whole process begins with removing the rugged kickstand from the tablet, which is actually held in place by torx screws. Of course, there are a whopping 17 torx screws that hold the entire device together, but once those are out, you’ll be able to carefully take off the rear panel, which is only attached to the rest of device by a small ribbon cable.

The battery is glued onto the rear panel, but it’s easier to remove then the iPad. Plus, all of the small components like the speakers, connectors, and ports come out fairly easily. However, some components, like the camera, couldn’t be removed until the motherboard was taken out. The top of motherboard obviously is home to the main circuitry like the CPU, graphics, and flash memory, but the bottom consists of the smaller features, like the WiFi antenna, the ambient light sensor, and a couple of microphones. Everything that deals with the touchscreen display is on a completely separate “daughterboard.”

Removing the display takes some work. It requires a heat gun, some guitar picks, and “plenty of patience.” Just like the iPad, the LCD and the glass are fused together and strongly adhered to the casing, making it a rough repair if the display breaks down. Overall, iFixit gave it a 4 out of 10 for repairability, which isn’t great, but it’s certainly not as bad as the third-gen iPad’s 2 out of 10 score.

Microsoft Surface gets complete teardown is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Now that the Microsoft Surface is in the wild and we’ve probed it from the outside, the tool-toters at iFixit have opened one up to see what makes it tick — and whether you dare attempt a repair yourself. The first thing they noticed was how tricky it was to remove a plastic access cover, which caused unavoidable damage to the tamper-evident label when they finally got it off. That would tip repair depots that you’ve been rummaging about, likely rendering your warranty moot. Other sore spots included the LCD and glass being fused together, along with a keyboard connector that’s impossible to get out without pulling the display off first. On the plus side, the iFixit team found the battery easy to remove despite being glued to the case (unlike other recent devices), and many un-soldered components that were also swappable. All that added up to a score of four on the repairability scale — meaning that fixing one probably isn’t a great DIY project, unless you’re the patient type.

Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft

Microsoft Surface exposes its guts to iFixit, knows if you’ve been meddling with it originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 08:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple tried to dissuade the teardown merchants from ripping apart the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display by showing exactly what was folded inside during its Tuesday keynote, but to no avail. The new pixel-packed portable has shown up on the cruel teardown bench of iFixit, only to be dismantled to its slimline parts. Overall, the news for those (few) wanting to do DIY maintenance is not good: the notebook scores just 2 out of 10 for repairability.

Considering what we’ve already seen of the 15-inch version, which iFixit accused of introducing new levels of hands-off design, that the 13-inch model isn’t repair-friendly hardly comes as a surprise. The repair team calls out the glued-in battery – easier to get out than the bigger model, but still not easy – and the RAM being soldered to the logic board, which means no upgrades there.

Meanwhile, the display assembly is apparently “almost impossible to take apart” which means replacement, not repair, and Apple has used its proprietary “pentalobe” screws so that even just getting into the chassis is a struggle. Interestingly, iFixit reckons that – with a custom cable – you could “fit a regular 5 mm or 7 mm 2.5″ laptop drive” inside, though how many would actually want that is unclear.

As per the 15-incher, the new 13-inch Retina goes on sale alongside its optical drive toting predecessor, rather than replacing it, so users who want more flexibility in how they repair or generally tinker with their notebook do have a choice. Still, the extra resolution on offer from Retina graphics means most buyers are likely to be swayed over to the new design.

If you’d rather see the MacBook Pro 13 with Retina Display in one piece, check out our hands-on from the launch on Tuesday.

Teardown time for Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When it comes to buying new electronic equipment, ease of repair could be one of the factors that some take into consideration before making a decision. That being said, the folks at iFixit have gotten their hands on Apple’s new iPod nano and gave it the teardown treatment. In the process they have discovered that there are several components within the iPod nano which will make it pretty tricky to repair, especially for the end-user who might not be familiar with their way around soldering kits and electronic components.

These issues come from the fact that the battery is glued in place, while essential components such as the Lightning cable socket and volume rocker have been soldered to the motherboard. Considering that the Lightning socket is accessed frequently to charge the device and to transfer media, and that the volume rocker is used often to adjust the volume, it is not a stretch of the imagination to think that these are some of the more often used components. In turn this means that they could be more prone to wear and tear and if they are soldered directly onto the motherboard, then this might prove tricky not just to repair, but also to replace. In any case for the full teardown, head on over to iFixit’s website for the details.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Amazon Kindle Fire HD gets the teardown treatment, New iPod nano unveiled with larger display and Lightning connector,