iFixit Teardown

iFixit released its teardown of Apple’s new AirPods Pro 3 Wednesday, providing a close-up look at new features including the foam-infused ear tips Apple includes for greater sound isolation, as well the new battery scheme and repositioned rare-earth magnets. 

But the group’s major finding should be unsurprising to anyone familiar with the company’s wireless earbuds. The latest generation earns the same dismal 0 out of 10 repairability score that has plagued the product line since its inception nine years ago.

Apple’s new iPhone Air surprised repair experts by proving ultra-thin doesn’t have to mean harder to fix. Despite measuring just 5.6mm thick — making it Apple’s thinnest iPhone ever — the device earned a solid 7 out of 10 repairability score from iFixit in its iPhone Air teardown, matching the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro. 

And the teardown reveals how they made it so thin in the first place.

Apple beefed up the batteries in all four models in the new iPhone 13 series. There are significant increases in capacity in all of them, especially the iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Teardowns of the iPhone 13 models are starting to appear, including ones from iFixit, revealing these battery sizes.

Not everyone has the nerve to crack open their 2021 iPad Pro, but an iFixit teardown reveals the interesting bits inside.

It’s not just for fun — taking the tablet apart is necessary to find out the exact battery capacity because Apple doesn’t share that detail.

Plus, iFixit took a magnifying glass to the mini-LED display in the 12.9-inch version.

iFixit took a deep dive into AirPods Max, fully disassembling Apple’s over-the-ear headphones. What they found in the teardown was a startling number of different types of screws. But also a craftsmanship that helps justify the hefty price tag.

Apple’s Magic Keyboard add-on for the iPad Pro looks amazing. And it appears even more spectacular when iFixit X-rayed this accessory to see the inner details of the scissor-switch keys, the trackpad and the hinges that make an iPad seem to float.

A LiDAR scanner is the highlight of the 2020 iPad Pro. So iFixit disassembled this just-released tablet to see how this 3D sensor works. And the company demonstrates why this scanner is not meant to be as accurate as Face ID.

Although Apple often draws criticism for making products that are difficult to repair, that’s not true of the 2019 Mac Pro.

After its tear-down, repair company iFixit gave this workstation high marks for repairability.

Disassembling the new 16-inch MacBook Pro finds plenty to like. There’s a keyboard that’s almost certainly more reliable, a revamped thermal system and a bigger battery.

On the other side of the coin, repair company iFixit did a teardown and gives this laptop a low, low rating for repairability.

A teardown of the iPhone 11 finds Apple’s less-expensive handset lacks any sign of inverse wireless charging. iFixit did discover hardware possibly related to this rumored feature in the iPhone 11 Pro series, however.

An X-ray of the iPhone 11 does turn up evidence of ultra-wideband support, however. That will prove important if Apple launches the item-tracking tags that also showed up in many rumors.

Buried in the iPhone 11 Pro Max are hardware quirks that iFixit suggests might be for reverse wireless charging, a feature reportedly planned and then dropped from this model.

Watch a video of techs from this repair company carefully disassembling Apple’s new flagship smartphone:

Apple’s latest tablet isn’t easy to take apart, even for experts. A video teardown by iFixit documents the difficulties that come from 12.9-inch iPad Pro components held in with tiny screws and glue. Lots of glue.

Still, the hard work revealed some interesting details about the new computer, including the size of its battery.

The first teardowns of the iPhone XR reveal a surprising fact: it has a larger battery than virtually all previous iOS smartphones, even the iPhone XS.

Reviews of the iPhone XR indicate it lasts a long time between charges, though no one agrees on exactly how long. Apple promises that this device will go 1.5 hours longer than the iPhone 8 Plus.

Apple makes no attempt to have MacBook Pro models easy to repair. The ones released just a few days ago are no exception. We all have to hope that the redesigned key mechanism fixes the previous problems because the keyboard is solidly glued to the battery and speakers. And that’s just the most obvious way that Apple frustrates the do-it-yourself crowd.

But the news isn’t all bad. At least one version of the 2018 MacBook Pro boasts a major battery improvement.

Apple made potential buyers of the new MacBook Pro models very nervous when it said no effort had been made to fix the problems plaguing the keyboards in earlier versions. Happily, it turns out the company was fibbing.

Taking apart this just-released Mac laptop shows that Apple definitely modified its butterfly keyboard mechanism to make it less likely to jam.

You wouldn’t dare crack open your new iMac Pro, the one you paid $5,000 for, just for a peek under the hood.

But the teardown team at iFixit happily and fearlessly disassembles devices just to sate your curiosity and maybe entice you to fix or upgrade your own machines. The wiki-based repair resource wasted no time in the new year to tear open Apple’s long-anticipated and rather expensive next-generation iMac.

iFixit’s iPhone 7 teardown involved 30 people in three countries, an X-ray machine and lots of sleepless nights. Thanks to iFixit’s hard work, iPhone teardowns have become a tech-culture phenomenon. Millions of fans eagerly await details of the internal components of Apple’s latest devices.

A lot of this has to do with Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, the second-biggest supplier of Apple parts after Apple itself, and publisher of the huge and amazing iFixit repair wiki.

In this week’s episode of Kahney’s Korner, I talk with Wiens about all the work that goes into making the iFixit teardowns for a massive global audience, and the hardware secrets of the iPhone 7.

For the Apple fans disappointed in the Quasimodo look of the new Smart Battery Case, there is probably great satisfaction in seeing it all busted up. Yes, the staff at iFixit wasted no time prying one open to behold the guts of the beast.

iFixit did not defend the case from the “ugly” tag so many people gave it in its’ first 24 hours of public life. The technicians were impressed with the ducting on the case, which turned a downward-facing speaker into one that faces forward. The microphone also faces forward and iFixit wonders if this a preview on future designs.