Apple’s new 10.2-inch iPad only arrived in stores yesterday, and already the good folks at iFixit have gotten hold of the device and cracked it open for a teardown.
Here’s what they found. (Hint: a lot of things stay the same, but there are a couple of neat touches!)
iFixit’s teardown cements a few things we already knew — such as the fact that the new iPad is powered by Apple’s “aging” A10 Fusion processor. As they point out, this means a 2019 iPad is packing a 2016-era iPhone 7 processor.
iPad teardown: Ups and downs
There are also a few disappointing observations. For instance, Apple made a slight change to the digitizer cables that makes opening the iPad slightly easier. However, it “skipped the easiest serviceability improvement” which would be using stretch-release adhesive on the battery.
There’s plenty of good news, though. The report notes that Apple upped the RAM for the new iPad by 50% to 3GB. Perhaps most impressive of all, Apple managed to increase the size of the screen from 9.7 inches to 10.2 inches and keep the same battery life — despite using the exact same battery as last year. Apple has used the 9.7-inch screen size since the original iPad in 2010. That’s a testimony to Apple’s ever-improving efficiencies.
On the repairability front, iFixit ranks the new iPad a meagre 2 out of 10. There are some big challenges for the would-be repairer. For one thing, the Lightning port (a common point of failure) is soldered to the logic board. Battery and logic board replacements are also “particularly obnoxious” due to being adhered in place.
iPad can now use the Smart Keyboard Folio
The new iPad boasts a 2160-by-1620-pixel resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi). That’s a higher resolution than the smaller display in the previous model so PPI doesn’t change.
It has the same size casing as the 10.5-inch iPad Air that debuted in the spring. As a result it can use the Apple Smart Keyboard Folio designed for this model.
Do you plan to get the new iPad? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: iFixit
