Exclusive: Secrets of an iPad Tear Down
April 1, 2010
Popular DIY Apple device fixing site, iFixit broke the rules and tore down their pre-release iPad two days early.
Apple legal forced them to remove the tear down and replace it with an innocuous joke. However, we here at AppAdvice talked with Kyle, co-founder of iFixit to get the scoop on what really happened. We tried to get him to send us the images he had taken but he declined saying, "I'd heard that Apple's legal guys could be pretty intimidating - but the threats they made about our family jewels - those guys are just downright terrifying!"
Here's what Kyle shared with us with a slight quaver in his voice:
"The iPad got to us through a UPS shipping error. Of course, we weren't supposed to get it until Saturday but I think they are just overwhelmed with flowers and gift baskets for Easter weekend and were trying to clear out the warehouse."
"Anyway, it went like any other standard teardown: I started pulling each of the pieces out of he box while Luke photographed and wrote notes on everything."
"It was all going pretty much as expected until I used the spudger to pry the screen apart from the main body. That's when I looked up at Luke. His jaw had dropped but he managed to take the photos we needed."
"The LCD touchscreen was just a big magnifying glass and there was a an iPod touch glued to the back of it"
"Wires led from the Touch's button to the buttons on the iPad's case. A tiny PC speaker was located in the upper right corner of the iPad case and another in the lower left to give the illusion of stereo sound."
"Another surprise came in the form of a magnetic strip sitting right in the middle along the top. This had us puzzled until we had fired the iPad back up with a voltmeter attached to the strip. No electricity was passed through it until we started to download the iBook app. Then it stopped again until we actually purchased a book. Finally it hit us: You need to download iBook because it grabs your Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and every other book store info and stores it on that strip. It's basically just using the iPad as a giant membership rewards card!"
All of this may seem startling but does it matter if the consumer's experience is leaps and bounds above the iPhone or iPod Touch? Perhaps, but Kyle had one more bomb for us:
"After our initial shock, we took a closer look at the Touch they had shoe-horned in there." Kyle continued, exasperated "And the damn thing was only 2nd Gen!"
"Just don't let Apple know it was us that revelaed this to you, 'k?"
Don't worry, Kyle, we've got your back. :)
