The guys over at iLounge wanted to figure out why Apple had decided to so radically change the design of the iPad dock between the first and second generation of the device, so they decided to tear that sucker open and see what they could find.
Their conclusion? The iPad dock was made bigger and heavier to provide a more stable base, which is obvious enough. But I was more interested by their takeaway:
The biggest takeaway from the experience? Case incompatibilities aside—and they increasingly seem to be by design—Apple builds these docks amazingly well. Given that we’re talking about $29 accessories that look like they’re made entirely from plastic, they were surprisingly challenging to disassemble, resilient to all but surface damage, and unusually substantial for items that could have just as easily been rendered disposable. The industrial engineers only cut obvious corners on the sequel in ways that would never impact an average user, replacing internal screws and glue with more efficient fasteners. They obviously also created a dock that uses substantially more metal than before while maintaining the same $29 price. It’s actually pretty impressive.
Of course, that’s the difference between Apple and other electronics makers in a nutshell: a commitment to quality in even the most superfluous accessory. The iPad Dock could have just been a piece of molded plastic with a USB passthrough cable, but it’s not.
[via 9to5Mac]
