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Hardware Apple Technology

iPad Mini Teardown Reveals a Frankenstein of Components From Different iPads (arstechnica.com) 45

Posted by BeauHD from the new-and-shiny dept.
The updated fifth-generation iPad mini has been torn apart by iFixit, revealing an "amalgamation of components and designs from other iPads -- the internals of a previous iPad mini, the camera system of an iPad Pro, and the exterior design of an iPad Air," reports Ars Technica. From the report: iFixit has published its teardown of the new, fifth-generation iPad mini -- the first update to Apple's smaller-sized tablet since 2015. The iFixit team -- which sells gear for repairing and servicing gadgets and uses these teardown series to promote said gearâ"noted that the iPad mini looks on the outside like a smaller version of the new iPad Air. But on the inside, it's an updated iPad mini 4, the team wrote.

On opening the tablet up, iFixit discovered a 19.32Wh battery -- the same capacity as the previous-generation iPad mini. But there are some notable changes. The front-facing camera module has been updated to a 7-megapixel Æ'/2.2, like the 10.5-inch iPad Pro. That's a marked improvement over the iPad mini 4. There's also Apple's A12 Bionic system-on-a-chip (the same found in the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR) with 3GB of LPDDR4X DRAM. The updated microphone array has been moved near the selfie cam, and new ambient light sensors support the True Tone feature, which adjusts the white balance of the display based on ambient light conditions for user comfort. The repair site gave the 2019 iPad mini a score of two out of 10 for repairability. "The only positive cited was that a single Phillips screwdriver can deal with all the screws in the device," Ars reports. "However, replacing the battery is 'unnecessarily difficult,' there's adhesive everywhere, and removing the home button (no small feat) is required in order to replace the screen."
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iPad Mini Teardown Reveals a Frankenstein of Components From Different iPads More

iPad Mini Teardown Reveals a Frankenstein of Components From Different iPads

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  • The first story [slashdot.org] is still on the front page.

  • Need to depreciate the assembly lines (Score:5, Interesting)

    by known_coward_69 ( 4151743 ) on Tuesday April 02, 2019 @09:45PM (#58375646)

    The reveal of a demo device is nothing. At apple's size they spend a lot of money building out the assembly lines and buying the machines and those need to be used for years to make the devices profitable. And even if they don't make a part, they need to sign contracts with suppliers that last years.

    I remember some of the original hockey puck apple TV's had CPU's that were basically rejects from what got used in iphones but were good enough for something else. Still have to pay to have them made, why junk them?

  • iTODDLERS BTFO

  • Similar to the episode with the Newton Message Pad - Apple's first foray into handheld computing power. It was one slick puppy with the look of the black icon from the movie 2001 and a double hinged door that opened to the screen and wrapped around the back of the device with a reassuring click. The hi-tech green screen was able to handle graphics, text, and to translate human handwriting to text. Even the writing device was a work of art. Outrageously expensive but obviously worth it from the design ethics

  • "Frankenstein of components" (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    A frankenstein computer is a computer somebody had cobbled together with parts from other computers. This was often done when somebody was low on money (or didn't want to waste money), and wanted a computer that met their needs. I've built and used a few frankenstein PCs in my life

      The Ipad Mini is just using previous designs used in other iPads. Unless Apple is now building new iPads out of salvage components, I don't consider this a frankenstein machine.

    • The Ipad Mini is just using previous designs used in other iPads. Unless Apple is now building new iPads out of salvage components, I don't consider this a frankenstein machine.

      A Frankenstein design, perhaps?

  • Sustainable development (Score:3)

    by mveloso ( 325617 ) on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @01:58AM (#58376322)

    This is sustainable development. Why bother re-designing new shit when the old stuff is fine?

    The title implies that component re-use is a bad thing. When has it even been bad to re-use components that work?

    • Indeed. In fact, many iFans seem to forget that iPhone 6, 6s, 7 and 8 were basically the same product, for four years. Same basic design, same screen, same form factor, but with a few tweaks inside here and there. In fact, I must say the 6S was the peak of that series because it upgraded RAM from 1GB to 2GB compared to the previous model, while still retaining the headphone jack. The 7 and 8 erased the headphone jack, and that make 6S still the better one of that bunch.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        You can have my 6S when you can pry it out of my cold, dead hands...

        Seriously, when you consider all aspects of the device - it's the best iPhone Apple's made.

  • Hope it was not a surprise that Apple's entry level iPad Mini 5 is recycling components from Apple's other tablets. In fact, if you recall the Mini's 2 through 4, those models were in a way a letdown because 3 was basically the same as 2 plus a fingerprint reader. The 4 wasn't much different. Nonetheless, I think the 5 is going to be a success because its SoC and storage options are a solid improvement over the previous models, and there is a large number of consumers who like the mini form factor.

  • Frankenstein? (Score:3)

    by Dan East ( 318230 ) on Wednesday April 03, 2019 @07:52AM (#58377142) Journal

    Frankenstein huh? Talk about bias in an article. So every single component in the iPad mini - the camera, CPU, battery, etc - is supposed to be custom engineered for that one device only, otherwise it gets a derogative "Frankenstein" moniker? That's pretty ridiculous. Taking the better, newer, tried-and-true components from other high-end Apple products and integrating them into the mini to refresh it is supposed to be a *good* thing.

    Now as for the repairability, yeah, that's ridiculous on Apple's part, but the negativity over using components like a CPU or camera that is also used in other devices is about as common-sense and expected as can be.

  • Components do not "belong" to a certain device. They are components and are intended to be fitted together in any way possible and desired.

    • Components do not "belong" to a certain device. They are components and are intended to be fitted together in any way possible and desired.

      Calling it "a Frankenstein" is dumb, but components often do "belong" to a certain device, and aren't used anywhere else in the same form. The sub-components will typically be reused even in that case, though. It's just smart to reuse well-developed components, whether it's in part, or the whole thing.

  • 1. Have you met msmash? Do you two ever talk?
    2. Do you read Slashdot?
    https://hardware.slashdot.org/... [slashdot.org]

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