iPad Mini Gets Teardown; Tablet Similar to iPod Touch

By Zak Islam
published

Apple's tablet is fairly difficult to repair.

iFixit has published its teardown of Apple's iPad Mini, finding that the tablet features several similarities to the iPod Touch.

The repair experts found that the amount of screws and metal plates that have to be removed in order to get into the device's internal components bears a similar resemblance to the iPod Touch.

One notable difference from the iPod Touch is the battery's installation process. iFixit said the iPad Mini, which scores a 2 on a scale of 10 for repairability (10 being the easiest), "inherited the connector-fastened battery from its larger sibling, not the soldered-in battery found in the iPod Touch."

It also discussed the confusion surrounding the revised tablet's battery. Apple said the battery is 16.3Wh, but the teardown shows it could be 16.5Wh or 16.9Wh. Either way, as expected, it's much smaller than the larger iPad's battery; the iPad 3 features a 43Wh battery, while the iPad 2 has a 25Wh battery.

In addition to the reduced battery size, iFixit found that the screws in the iPad Mini are smaller than its predecessors, as well as the iPhone 5.

The iPad Mini's glass, meanwhile, is easier to remove than previous iPad units, but Apple has instilled several hidden screws securing the display. There's also a large metal plate situated below the display that's held with around 16 screws.

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Zak Islam
13 Comments Comment from the forums
  • kawininjazx
    Gotta love those Apple repair ability scores...
    Reply
  • assasin32
    kawininjazxGotta love those Apple repair ability scores...
    But in defense of apple, the last review I saw of the teardown which was for the iphone or itouch the design of it was improved. It incorporated a more simplified design which reduced the number of number of fail points which is a good thing.

    The side effect of that was that is that if something failed you had to replace one large entire part instead of having the option of replacing smaller cheaper parts.

    And lets be honest here this is a device meant to be used and not meant to be self repaired as there is no standard for parts for these types of things. So the primary goal is to build it cheaply and reliably. I seriously doubt any company spends times to make things harder to repair because it will mean it takes longer to manufacture and repair themselves.
    Reply
  • nebun
    kawininjazxGotta love those Apple repair ability scores...who cares....if it breaks use your warranty or just get a new one....why complain if you can't do something about it.
    Reply
  • SinisterSalad
    So, they're saying it's more a giant iPod, not a mini iPad? lol
    Reply
  • gamingboy
    nebunwho cares....if it breaks use your warranty or just get a new one....why complain if you can't do something about it.
    That's the thing.. They want the device to break after the warranty expires. And if you can't repair it or if it's simply too troublesome, you'll end up buying a new one. And you know how Apple loves to sell us their overpriced devices, that's where they gain their huge profits from.
    Reply
  • CaedenV
    assasin32But in defense of apple, the last review I saw of the teardown which was for the iphone or itouch the design of it was improved. It incorporated a more simplified design which reduced the number of number of fail points which is a good thing.The side effect of that was that is that if something failed you had to replace one large entire part instead of having the option of replacing smaller cheaper parts.And lets be honest here this is a device meant to be used and not meant to be self repaired as there is no standard for parts for these types of things. So the primary goal is to build it cheaply and reliably. I seriously doubt any company spends times to make things harder to repair because it will mean it takes longer to manufacture and repair themselves.
    fail points are a tricky thing. Netbooks (crap as they are) have a TON of failure points... but because each individual part is cheap and relatively easy to get to, they are nice to work on. With apple products there are less points of failure due to the integration of parts... which means that when your wireless card, or a ram module dies, then you are replacing the entire board which includes the CPU, ram, wireless, graphics, audio, and motherboard, which is expensive. that is fine IF you happen to have a product that is rock-solid. But when it is not a solid device (last gen G5 towers, 1st gen intel Macbooks and Macbook pro, 3rd gen intel macbook pro, and various ipod devices) then you end up with a ton of failures where the only real option is to replace the entire device.
    Reply
  • razor512
    Here is a link to the guide, tomshardware seems to have forgotten the link http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPad+Mini+Teardown/11423/1
    Reply
  • I don't see why people complain about Apple devices and their ability to be repaired. I can't remember the last time I bought anything that was the least bit repairable. (INC flood of people with products that had specific repairable components).

    The only reason iFixit exists in the first place is due to Apple products. I don't really see iFixit attempting to breakdown any sort of competing products on a regular basis. Who really cares anyway? Don't buy it if you don't like it (that goes for anything).
    Reply
  • LightningStryk17
    kawininjazxGotta love those Apple repair ability scores...

    Apple has made it hard to repair there products since the dawn of time
    Reply
  • ddpruitt
    nebunwho cares....if it breaks use your warranty or just get a new one....why complain if you can't do something about it.
    Because lots of people buy these used because they want an Apple product. I volunteer to fix electronics for friends and people I know (laptops, phones, etc) because they break out of warranty or the cost of replacement under warranty is prohibitive (specially for Apple stuff). Most of these devices are expensive to replace and I can usually fix most things on the cheap. However I will absolutely REFUSE to work on anymore Apple products because they are a PITA to fix and are not worth the effort I have to go through to replace a moronic part like a battery. On the other hand I'll happily work on other stuff.
    Reply