iFixit iPad 2 Wi-Fi Teardown

iFixit’s Director of Technical Communication Miroslav Djuric says:

We got our hands on Apple’s newest tablet, the iPad 2, on March 11, 2011, and we just got a chance to peek at the innards. Here’s what the inside of the iPad 2 looks like:

Photo Courtesy iFixIt

Apple summarized the changes in 6 short phrases. “Thinner. Lighter. Faster. FaceTime. Smart Covers. 10-hour battery.”

Prior to starting the teardown, we guessed that the glass front panel was no longer held in place by tabs. We were correct. The new tapered edge on the iPad 2 prevents any kind of tabs from being used; instead, Apple engineers used generous helpings of adhesive to keep the front glass in place. Consequently, the front panel is very difficult to remove — it’s nearly impossible to open the iPad 2 without shattering the glass. We’ll be working hard in the forthcoming weeks to provide a solution to this problem, but for now: please don’t open your iPad 2.

The iPad 2 received a 4 out of 10 repairability score, mainly for the extreme difficulty of accessing anything inside. But if you do manage to get in, you’ll find that all screws are of the Phillips variety, and the LCD can be easily taken out once you separate it from the front panel glass (but separating it from the glass is difficult, of course).

Teardown video for your enjoyment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjwy7jkNfEE

Highlights:

* We did a quick glass and LCD thickness comparison:

* iPad 1: lcd = 3.2 mm glass = .85 mm
* iPad 2: lcd = 2.4 mm glass = .62 mm

* The thickness of these components – especially that of the glass – could drastically reduce the durability of the device, especially the glass’ resistance to shattering. We’ll see in due time if the percentage of folks with broken iPad 2 front glass is dramatically different than that of the original iPad.

* Lifting off the LCD exposes the iPad 2’s battery. We found a 3.8V, 25 watt-hour unit. That’s just a hair more than the original iPad’s 24.8 watt-hours, so any improved battery performance should be attributed to software and other hardware improvements.

Notable chips found on the logic board (left to right; (click here for mega size):

Photo Courtesy iFixIt

(Blue) Texas Instruments CD3240B0 11AZ4JT G1 touchscreen line driver, working with the Broadcom BCM5973 and BCM5974 chips shown above.

(Yellow) Apple 343S0542 – this looks like the Dialog Semi power management chip found in last year’s iPad – all of those inductors and capacitors surrounding it are a clue.

(Green) S6T2MLC N33C50V Power Management IC

(Red) Apple 1GHz A5 dual-core Processor with a 200MHz bus and 512 MB of RAM.

(Orange) Toshiba TH58NVG7D2FLA89 16GB NAND Flash

The A5 processor has manufacture dates of late January and mid-February 2011. Production was clearly ramping up through the last minute. It looks like the A5 processor is the APL0498, replacing the A4/APL0398 seen in the iPad 1 and iPhones.

Apple-branded 338S0940 A0BZ1101 SGP. This looks like the Cirrus audio codec Chipworks found in the Verizon iPhone, but they’ll have to get it off the board to make sure

* We confirmed via software that the iPad 2 indeed has 512 MB of RAM.

* The markings on the 1 GHz Apple A5 dual-core processor appear to be Samsung’s, but Chipworks will investigate in the forthcoming days to find out for sure.

Photo Courtesy iFixIt

* Other components that power the iPad 2:

* Toshiba TH58NVG7D2FLA89 16GB NAND Flash
* Broadcom BCM5973KFBGH Microcontroller
* Broadcom BCM5974 CKFBGH capacitative touchscreen controller
* Texas Instruments CD3240B0 11AZ4JT touchscreen line driver
* Broadcom BCM43291HKUBC Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM tuner combo chip
* S6T2MLC N33C50V Power Management IC
* ST Micro AGD8 2103 gyroscope
* ST Micro LIS331DLH accelerometer

* There’s also an Apple-branded 338S0940 A0BZ1101 SGP chip. This looks like the Cirrus audio codec Chipworks found in the Verizon iPhone, but they’ll have to get it off the board to make sure!

Great images:/p>

Final layout:
http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/aWxMGkM2Ov6QOiCD.huge

Lifting the LCD to uncover the battery:
http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/lDUhbAFUujnoK5oK.huge

Taking out the logic board:
http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/RDeS5iGCBfKWemMb.huge

We also found a ton of interesting stuff regarding the magnets in the iPad 2, but we’re still working on that analysis. Look for an update on Monday for a great explanation of how the whole system works.

Thank you,

Miroslav Djuric
Director of Technical Communication
iFixit