Tag: ifixit

Samsung Galaxy S9 Is Tougher To Repair Than Apple iPhone X
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ were launched in Barcelona on the 25th of February. While it is tough to figure out key differences between the S8 and S9 from the outside, the story doesn’t change much once you tear it down.

The folks at iFixit have posted a detailed teardown of the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ and the results are not too different from what we expected. The 2018 flagship smartphones get a score 4/10, just like the S8, while the Apple iPhone X got a score of 6/10. The higher the number, the easier it is to repair the device.

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According to the teardown, the iris scanner found on the Galaxy S9 isn’t all too different from the one found on the S8. In fact, the front camera is comparable with its predecessor as well. This is an interesting revelation considering the company has hyped up its new “Intelligent Scan” feature. If almost the same hardware is used, then a future software update could introduce this feature on the likes of Galaxy S8 and Note8.

Apart from that revelation, this is quite standard for an all glass and metal smartphone. While the industry is fast moving towards an all-glass build for a lot of devices, this does mean that more smartphones will be fragile. Subsequently, iFixit notes that:

Display and rear glass increase the chance of breakage, and make repairs difficult to start. Replacing the screen requires removing the glass rear panel and disassembling the entire phone while battling tough adhesive.

While the iPhone X does score a higher repairability score, the results are nothing to ride home about. In fact, in its teardown of the iPhone X, iFixit said:

Glass on front and back doubles the likelihood of drop damage. If the back glass breaks, you’ll be removing every component and replacing the entire chassis.

This just reiterates that with a premium smartphone, comes great responsibility. While the Galaxy S9 and S9+ cost lesser than the iPhone X, repair costs will differ.
- 5.8 inch/6.2 inch Super AMOLED display
- 2960 x 1440 px resolution, 18.5:9 aspect ratio
- Exynos 9810 chipset
- 4GB/6GB RAM, 64GB/256GB storage
- Android 8 Oreo
March 13, 2018
iPhone 6s Might be Apple’s First Partially Waterproof Smartphone

Here’s some very cool news for iPhone 6s users – it is reportedly waterproof. How do we know? Well, some people at iFixit decided to dunk their iPhone 6s into the water in order to see what happens. They found that the iPhone 6s is actually somewhat water-resistant. However, you’re probably wondering why Apple didn’t announce this game changing feature. It’s because the iPhone 6s is not entirely waterproof. So, let’s find out how waterproof the iPhone 6s really is.

Image Source : iFixit

iFixit, a private company, broke down the iPhone 6s for us all, and found that the new device actually has some of the waterproof tech that Apple has already patented. Apple has redesigned the iPhone’s internal structure in order to bring this product closer to its goal of making a fully water-resistant smartphone.

Image Source : iFixit

The purpose of the glue band around the display screen is reportedly more than just to make the screen stick better to the metal. It’s actually also to keep liquids out. When iFixit took a close look at the logic board, they found that every cable connector was surrounded by a small silicon seal, that keeps the water away. This is also reportedly the first time, that Apple has used such a technology.

However, as mentioned before, the reason Apple hasn’t marked this iPhone as waterproof is because all its components haven’t been water-proofed. For example, its headphone jack and speakers will still let water flow in. But, we can most definitely anticipate Apple to create a fully water-proof iPhone soon enough. Let’s hope till then.

Source : [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE02″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://ifixit.org/blog/7408/iphone-waterproof/”] iFixit[/tw-button]

October 1, 2015
Teardown of 5K Retina Dispay iMac Reveals What’s Inside

Continuing with its fascination for Apple products, iFixit, who are known for surgically removing all the organs of devices and laying them side by side, has acquired and disassembled the new iMac with 5K Retina display.

Apple’s newest iMac continues to use many of the same design elements from previous iMacs, including an easily accessible RAM upgrade slot, the same SSD, and logic board on the back of the device. With the RAM slot, users will be able to install their own RAM modules with little trouble.

Along with an AMD Radeon M290X GPU and i5-4690 processor from Intel, the iMac contains SK Hynix 256 MB GDDR5 SGRAM. It uses the same SanDisk PCIe SSD as the late 2013 Retina MacBook Pro, with Marvell Controller, and it uses the same AirPort/Bluetooth card that was used in the 2013 27-inch iMac.

Though, the processor, GPU, and display controller (sporting a wider display data cable) have received significant upgrades. The teardown also revealed that the 5K display, which sports the screen resolution of 5120 x 2880, has been manufactured by LG Display. It is the same supply partner that has also manufactured previous generation iMac displays.

The 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display earned a repairability score of 5 out of 10, the same score earned by the 2013 27-inch iMac. iFixit pointed out that the RAM, hard drive, and CPU are user replaceable with some adhesive cutting, but removing the glass and LCD panel from the machine remains a difficult task.

October 18, 2014
HTC One Gets iFixit Teardown, Reveals Low Repairability, High Durability

The HTC One looks like bulletproof phone, with a hefty aluminium – glass body and no removable back.

However, there is a price to pay for its robust unibody design. Teardown specialists iFixit found that the new phone is practically impossible to open up and repair. It got a score of one, one out of ten that is.

With the release of the HTC One, the manufacturer has bet a whole lot on the hardware as a proving point in their history. With this release, the company known as HTC says that they’ve done the best they’re able at the moment – this is the HTC One, and it’s named that for a reason. According to iFixit, this device is just about the most difficult smartphone to tear apart they’ve come across.

The process took 19 steps and ended with the handset being give a score of one (out of ten) in terms or repairability. Of course, these days we don’t see many people repairing their smartphones, but instead buying new. In that respect, a score of one flips nicely to mean that the One is a solid device. In fact, the teardown noted that the “solid external construction improves durability.”

The issues at hand? iFixit said it’s nearly impossible to open the One without damaging the back cover. Again, go figure, it’s a unibody phone. The battery is also stuck under the motherboard and is not replaceable and there’s a lot of copper shielding that causes issues while trying to remove parts. The screen can’t be replaced without removing the back cover, though, so you’ll want to make sure you don’t drop your One all over the floor.

[iFixit]

March 29, 2013
iPhone 5 Teardown : Apple Impresses With Higher Repairability, Bigger Battery

It’s barely hours since the iPhone 5went on sale and iFixit has already completed its now-traditional teardown to reveal the handset’s juicy innards.

The site awarded the new iPhone a repairability score of 7 out of 10, reporting that the easily smashable glass screen is also easily replaceable (it takes just one step to get the iPhone 5’s screen off, compared to 38 repair steps on the iPhone 4S).

Aside from the space saving aspect of the new in-cell technology, Apple will cut down on phone replacements this way, potentially saving millions of dollars.

iFixit have also uncovered a new higher capacity battery, made with a new manufacturing process. The 1440mAh cell is rated for 3.8V, making for 5.45Wh of total uptime. As most reviews have already found the battery life is significantly better, even over LTE.

Also something to note, Apple has notably lessened its reliance on Samsung DDR2 RAM; many of the new models come with parts from Elpida, which is expected to send nearly half its output to Apple this year.

September 21, 2012
Google’s Nexus 7 Gets the iFixit Treatment – Teardown
Google’s Nexus 7 Tab joins the iFixit list of tear downs, with the tablet being torn apart by the experts. Several discoveries were made during the teardown, including the fact that the display is permanently attached to the gorilla glass front. The 7-inch, 1280×800 HD display is manufactured by Hydis and designated model HV070WX2.

for parts
- Kingston KE44B-26BN/8GB 8GB flash
- Realtek ALC5642
- ELAN eKTF36248WS
- ELAN eKTH10368WS
- Texas Instruments 22C96ST SN75LVDS83B (www.ti.com/product/sn75lvds83b)
- TI20 MI60
- Hynix HTC2G83CFR DDR3 RAM
Motherboard Parts:
- NVIDIA T30L Tegra 3 processor
- Hynix HTC2G83CFR DDR3 RAM
- Max 77612A inverting switching regulator
- AzureWave AW-NH665 wireless module
- Broadcom BCM4751 integrated monolithic GPS receiver
- NXP 65N04
- Invensense MPU-6050 gyro and accelerometer
We Are soon going Hands on with the Nexus 7 , Stay Tuned

[iFixit]
July 4, 2012
Bam and its torn down! The iPhone 4s Gets the iFixit !
The folks over at iFixit cant refrain from their antic and this time around they ripped the Jesus phone before it reached out to people. They have a humorously documented rip down of the new “Siri” laden smartphone. A looksie i promise will bring a smile to your face follow the link below!

The findings are not too shocking with the same 512MB of Ram Courtesy Samsung/Elpida (both DDR2), and the following chips:
- Qualcomm RTR8605 Multi-band/mode RF Transceiver.
- Skyworks 77464-20 Load-Insensitive Power Amplifier (LIPA®) module developed for WCDMA applications)
- Avago ACPM-7181 Power Amplifier
- TriQuint TQM9M9030 Multi-Mode Quad-Band Power Amplifier Module.
- TriQuint TQM66052 (possibly a PA-Duplexer Module)
- Qualcomm MDM6610 chipset (an upgrade from the iPhone 4’s MDM6600)
- Apple 338S0973, newer version of the Cirrus Logic audio codec found in the original iPhone 4
- “PM8028,” which is a Qualcomm power management IC.
iFixit
October 14, 2011
iPad 2 Taken Apart in record time (Video)
The Folks over at iFixit have taken apart the iPad 2 in their trademark style. With high res pictures and all. Check out the video detailing the fact that the repairability of the iPad 2 is ranked at 4/10 making it quite a difficult device to repair.

Other important details that emerged:
- The display is fused instead of clamped
- Both cameras are low res under 1 Megapixel
- The front camera is infact a VGA
- Speakers although have a larger vent remain small and tiny
- The Battery is just .2 w/hr larger than the previous model
[iFixit]
March 12, 2011