New iFixit Teardown of the iPad Air Shows Extremely Difficult Repair

[dgstorm]

This probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but the new iPad Air will be extremely hard to repair. For the most part, this is usually the case for most of Apple's products because their design aesthetics are so tightly integrated with the functionality of the device. Regardless, the folks at iFixit already got their hands on the new iPad Air and confirmed what we surmised. They tore it apart and tested it for repairability. After their procedure they determined that the over-all repairability score of the iPad Air achieved a very poor 2/10. Here's a brief summary of their assessment which includes both positive and negative qualities.

The iPad Air Repairability Score: 2 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair):

• The LCD is easy to remove once the front panel is taken off the iPad.
• The battery is not soldered to the logic board. We'll give it that.
• Just like in previous iPads, the front panel is glued to the rest of the device, greatly increasing the chances of cracking the glass during a repair.
• Gobs, gobs, and goblins of adhesive hold everything in place. This is the most difficult battery removal procedure we've seen in an iPad.
• The LCD has foam sticky tape adhering it to the front panel, increasing chances of it being shattered during disassembly.
• You can't access the front panel's connector until you remove the LCD.

This means you should be extra careful lest you be put in the unenviable position of needing any repair work done on your shiny new iPad Air. For more pics and the full tear-down description, check out the source link below.

Source: iFixit

 

[willerz2]

Hope the Mini Retina isn't as difficult, or has the same difficulty as the original Mini. I'd always felt solace from being able to repair my devices with fair ease.

 

[willerz2]

Hope the Mini Retina isn't as difficult, or has the same difficulty as the original Mini. I'd always felt solace from being able to repair my devices with fair ease.

Correction: Hoping it's not any more difficult* than the original