iFixit

New teardown video zooms in 7,000x on iPhone 15 guts

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This borrowed microscope lets the video zoom in thousands of times on iPhone 15 components.
This borrowed microscope lets the video zoom in thousands of times on iPhone 15 components.
Photo: iFixit

iFixit brought in a new toy for its iPhone 15 teardown video Friday — an Olympus DSX1000 digital microscope. That enabled magnification of up to 7,000x on the tiny bits inside Apple’s newest base handset.

Watch the video below and see some shots from it above and below.

iFixit’s new USB-C charger looks cool while powering your devices

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iFixit’s new USB-C charger looks cool while powering your devices
You don’t have to do a teardown to see inside the new iFixit USB-C wall charger.
Photo: iFixit

While most people know iFixit for its brilliant teardown videos of Apple gear, its primary business is selling repair tools and other accessories. And that now includes a new 65W wall charger with a 6-foot cable.

As one might expect from a company known for looking inside devices, part of the housing for the new iFixit Fast Charger USB-C AC Adapter is transparent, showing off the internal components.

On the inside, Apple Studio Display looks more sophisticated than expected

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On the inside, Apple Studio Display looks more sophisticated than iMac
One of these is an iMac and the other is the Apple Studio Display. Which is which?
Photo: iFixit

iFixit showed people the interior of the new Apple Studio Display next to a partially disassembled iMac and asked them to pick which is which. You can play along at home by looking at the image above.

Most people got it wrong. Apple’s latest external monitor (on the left) is packed with features, and that’s reflected in its surprisingly complex internal design.

iFixit put the device through a full teardown and found that many of the most important components of the new external monitor showed up in previous Apple devices.

iFixit takes a peek at Mac Studio’s amazing insides

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Mac Studio teardown
Mac Studio's X-ray is oddly terrifying.
Photo: Creative Electron/iFixit

The gadget butchers at iFixit have finally gotten their hands on Mac Studio. After many hours on the operating table, Apple’s newest desktop has been pulled apart to give us a detailed look at its compact yet powerful insides.

You may be surprised to learn that many of Mac Studio’s components — including its SSDs and connectivity ports — are modular, which means they can be replaced if things go wrong. But user upgrades are out of the question.

This awesome X-ray wallpaper lets you see inside your Apple Watch

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Apple Watch X-ray wallpaper
One of the coolest ways to use the Photos face.
Photo: iFixit

Your Apple Watch is surprisingly pretty on the inside. Take a peek behind the screen with this awesome wallpaper from the fine folks over at iFixit.

The photo is a real X-ray image of Apple Watch Series 7. It clearly shows off a number of important components, including its Taptic Engine, intricate chipset, and the wireless charging coil. And it works great as a watch face.

Control freak Apple makes iPhone 13 the ‘strongest case yet for right to repair’

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iPhone 13 display repairs kill Face ID
Way to go, Apple.
Photo: iFixit

The teardown experts at iFixit have confirmed that unauthorized display replacements break Face ID on iPhone 13. They also warn that Apple’s rather unscrupulous move has “huge implications for the professional repair industry.”

The only way around the change is to employ incredibly complicated micro soldering practices to transfer the display chip from the original screen over to the new one. It is “the strongest case yet for right to repair laws,” iFixit says.

Apple makes 2021 MacBook Pro’s battery much easier to replace

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2021 MacBook Pro teardown battery
All six cells can be easily removed.
Photo: iFixit

When the time comes to replace the battery inside your 2021 MacBook Pro, you can avoid the pricey repair shops. Apple has made this particular process significantly easier than it was on earlier MacBook models.

All six battery cells inside the new machines are easily accessible — with no need to remove the logic board first — and much easier to remove. The changes make for a fairly simply at-home repair for those who are brave enough.

Apple Watch Series 7 teardown reveals bigger batteries, new display tech

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Apple Watch Series 7 teardown
Very familiar but with some big differences.
Photo: iFixit

Apple Watch Series 7 just got its customary teardown by iFixit, revealing some small but significant changes to its internals — including slightly larger batteries — and a somewhat surprising repairability score.

It looks like Apple’s newest wearable now uses more advanced display technology, which could explain why it faced such a lengthy delay.

iPhone 13 series increases battery sizes by up to 18%

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iPhone 13 series increases battery sizes by up to 18%
Pull the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 batteries out to find their exact storage capacities.
Photo: iFixit

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.

2021 iPad Pro teardown finds larger battery, so many tiny LEDs

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2021 iPad Pro teardown explores the mini-LED display.
A 2021 iPad Pro teardown compares the mini-LED backlights to a grain of rice.
Screenshot: iFixit

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 tears open new M1 iMac to find … very little

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M1 iMac teardown
There's a surprising amount of space in the new iMac.
Photo: iFixit

Apple’s awesome new M1 iMac finally received its obligatory teardown by the fine folks over at iFixit. You may not be surprised to learn there’s very little packed into the computer’s slender aluminum shell.

That doesn’t mean it’s not exciting. The M1 iMac is, as we’ve come to expect from Apple, an engineering marvel. It’s rather astonishing that the brilliant minds in Cupertino can squeeze so much power out of so little.

AirPods Max teardown finds mystery chips, screwy screws and impressive engineering

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iFixit AirPods Max teardown finds much to like
An AirPods Max Teardown wouldn’t be complete without an X-ray of Apple’s new over-the-ears headphones.
Photo: iFixit

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.

Initial AirPods Max teardown reveals they’re difficult to take apart

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Teardown of AirPods Max
Replacing batteries may not be too easy.
Photo: iFixit

The new AirPods Max headphones have plenty going for them. But “easy to take apart” apparently isn’t among their positive attributes.

Our friends over at iFixit have published the first installment of their AirPods Max teardown and — while it’s too early to know for certain whether these are going to any more repairable than the significantly tinier AirPods and AirPods Pro — the early signs show that they’re not particularly easy to gain access to.

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro teardown reveals smaller battery

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An iPhone 12 teardown wouldn’t be complete without a cool X-ray.
Dive deep into the iPhone 12 standard and Pro with an X-ray.
Photo: Creative Electron

Open up the standard iPhone 12 and and you’d be hard pressed to find a difference between it and the iPhone 12 Pro. An iFixit teardown shows these handsets so similar internally that they can share many parts.

But the news isn’t all good. Another tidbit revealed by cracking open Apple’s latest is that that have smaller batteries than their predecessors.

This is how Superman sees iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard

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iPad Pro Magic Keyboard in X-ray
There’s no need to teardown an iPad Pro Magic Keyboard when you can discover its secrets with X-rays.
Photo: iFixit

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.

Lots of iPhone SE components are swappable with iPhone 8 — but not all

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2020-iPhone-SE-lineup-hero
Well, that should make repairs a bit cheaper.
Photo: Apple

A 2020 iPhone SE teardown shows just how similar the new phone is to the iPhone 8. Many — but not all — components of the new handset are totally swappable with the 2017 iPhone, according to a weekend report from iFixit.

The iPhone SE’s cameras, SIM tray, Taptic Engine and display assembly can be directly swapped out with the iPhone 8. However, not all parts are so switchable. The iPhone SE’s battery might look the same, but it won’t work on the earlier iPhone due to a different logic board connector.

2020 MacBook Air teardown reveals new keyboard and better repairability

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2020 macbook air
The guts of the 2020 MacBook Air on full display.
Photo: iFixit

The 2020 MacBook Air has been put under the knife by the folks at iFixit, revealing some subtle and important changes that make Apple’s thinnest laptop more repairable.

Headlining the list of changes is the new Magic Keyboard with scissor-switch keys. iFixit found that the new keys don’t need a silicone barrier to keep dust out like the previous generation. The butterfly keyboards were supposed to enable MacBooks to be thinner, however, iFixit says going back to old scissor switches only adds .5mm to the device’s thickness.

iFixit wants to make fixing medical devices easier during COVID-19 pandemic

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med device
Repairing medical devices is a lot more confusing than fixing iPhones.
Photo: iFixit

iFixit, the second-largest Apple parts supplier after Apple, is launching a new section on its website today dedicated to fixing medical equipment.

The growing COVID-19 pandemic is already beginning to strain hospitals and the supply of breathing ventilators that are crucial to fighting acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by COVID-19. With ventilators running 24/7, keeping them repaired and running will be a colossal task, so iFixit has taken it upon itself to create a central database of how-to resources on maintaining medical equipment. And they need your help.

Apple Activation Lock: Security feature or recycling roadblock?

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Activation Lock on iPad and iPhone
Activation Lock is apparently a surprisingly controversial security feature.
Photo: Apple

An editorial by an iFixit employee condemns Activation Lock, a security feature of iPhones and recent Macs because it makes these computers hard to recycle.

But Walt Mossberg, well-known journalist formerly of the Wall Street Journal, calls the editorial “outrageous.”

Teardown shows 16-inch MacBook Pro is full of Magic Keyboard goodness

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16-inch MacBook teardown by iFixit
Explore the inside of the new 16-inch MacBook with a teardown by iFixit.
Photo: iFixit

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.

AirPods Pro teardown reveals a ton of tiny tech

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AirPods-Pro-teardown-1
Yes, that's a button cell battery!
Photo: iFixit

Most of us lovingly look after our newest Apple devices to ensure they last as long as possible. iFixit pulls them apart in the name of science. Its latest teardown victim? AirPods Pro.

You won’t be shocked to find that there’s loads of tiny tech inside Apple’s newest earbuds. But you might be surprised to see how different they are to regular AirPods on the inside.