June 21st, 2009

iPhone 3GS dissected

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 9:29 pm

Categories: Take Apart, Teardown, iPhone, iPhone 3GS

Tags: Apple iPhone, Battery, Apple iPhone 3G, iFixIt, 3G, Cellular Phones, Wireless And Mobility, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Jason D. O'Grady

iFixIt’s Kyle Wiens flew to London to get the iPhone 3GS several hours before the US release. He was one of the first people at the Regent Street Apple Store to get the device. After which he proceeded to take it apart.

Wiens enlisted the help of MacWorld UK and some locals for one of his best teardowns yet. They’ve also posted six videos of the dismantling of the iPhone 3GS.

Pictures of interest:

• Removing the logic board
• The logic board, up close and personal
• The aftermath

Points of interest:

• Thankfully, opening the iPhone 3G S is as simple as the 3G. After removing two Phillips screws, the two halves of the phone are separated easily using a suction cup.
• The iPhone is differentiated externally only by a new model number, A1303. The lettering on the back is now shiny, like the Apple logo.
• The internal physical design is virtually identical to the iPhone 3G. A random passerby on the street would not know the difference. Heck, even we were struggling to differentiate the two.
• The new graphics core should drastically improve performance, meaning Apple’s serious about the handheld gaming market.
• There’s still a “Do not remove” sticker above the logic board. Naturally, we removed it.
• Nearly all components have been relocated to the front side of the main PCB, including the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Flash memory chips.
• The battery is 4.51 Watt-hours, or 1219 mAh. That’s about 6% larger than the iPhone 3G’s battery. Hopefully the hardware runs more efficiently, since increased battery life will not come from the battery itself.
• There is an additional antenna connection near the dock connector. We’re not sure what for just yet. However, we do love exploring these teasers… Stay tuned!
• For those who are wondering about the fingerprint-resistant coating on their iPhone 3G S screen: The oleophobic, or oil-proof, technology evolved from waterproofing. Oil-proof technology is harder to achieve as oil has a much lower surface tension than water, so it spreads out easier and thus is harder to get rid off. MIT’s solution was to create a coating material which creates a layer of micro fibers, but with a much larger contact angle between the oil droplets and the fibers.

Some comments on usability of the 3G S:

• Camera quality is much improved from the 3G. Close-up shots were possible down to about 5 cm, and the brightness adjusted well when picking a focus area.
• The oleophobic screen does seem to clean slightly easier than the 3G’s normal screen.
• Google Earth (duration of the spinning load wheel) (over Wi-Fi): 3G S: 4.9 sec; 3G: 22.2 sec. A bit faster than Apple’s claim of 2X speed improvement — although we know that one simple test of one application means little in the real world.

March 13th, 2009

iPod shuffle 3G dissected

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 6:56 am

Categories: Take Apart, iPod shuffle

Tags: Gram, Apple iPod, Shuffle, Battery, Apple iPod Shuffle, iFixIt.com, Engineering, 3G, Cellular Phones, Consumer Electronics

iFixIt.com has disassembled the iPod Shuffle 3rd generation and notes that while it’s not the most exciting device that Apple’s introduced recently, the photos unveil its inner beauty.

Interesting points:

• Normal headphones can be used without any adapters, except that the user cannot do anything except play music (no pause or volume control).
• The battery is extremely tiny — about the size of a dime — and consequently has a paltry capacity of 73 mAh. That’s less than half the size of the batteries used in previous shuffles.
• The weight of the entire shuffle is less than 11 grams, but the headphones add another 9 grams.
• The rear cover and clip weigh as much as the rest of the shuffle.
• With the casing removed, the electronics and battery weigh only 4 grams, less than the weight of a single sheet of paper.
• There is only one screw in the shuffle.
• The shuffle is not too challenging to open, but the rear cover can deform easily if the user is not careful while opening it.

February 17th, 2009

iFixIt dissects the unibody MacBook Pro 17-inch (Updated)

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 11:58 am

Categories: MacBook Pro, Take Apart

Tags: Apple MacBook, Battery, Apple MacBook Pro, iFixIt, Engineering, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Jason D. O'Grady

After a month delay, the good dudes over at iFixIt.com got their hands on the new MacBook Pro 17-inch and promptly disassembled it.

Some things they learned:

• Even after paying Apple $2799, this computer STILL doesn’t come with a Mini DisplayPort adapter.
• There are three tri-wing screws holding the battery to the Unibody case. Apple did this to intimidate people out of swapping the battery, but a small flathead screwdriver works fine to remove the screws.
• You can replace the battery by removing 13 screws and a replaceable sticker.
• The battery is HUGE. It weighs 20.1 ounces (1.25 pounds). That’s 20% of the computer’s weight!
• The Bluetooth board is much easier to access and repair than it is in the MacBook Pro 15″ Unibody, where it is tucked away inside the display assembly.
• As expected, the 17″ design and internal layout is very similar to the MacBook Pro 15″. Most of the extra space is occupied by the battery. The Unibody case does make the computer feel much more solid than its predecessor, which had a lot more torsional flex. This is a very solid computer.

Interesting photos: overview, logic board top, display comparison

February 10th, 2009

Video: MacBook to tablet conversion in two minutes

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 8:36 am

Categories: MacBook, Mod, Tablet, Take Apart

Tags: Apple MacBook, Video, TechRestore, Tablets, Notebooks, Corporate Communications, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Marketing, Jason D. O'Grady

TechRestore has posted a new, stop-motion take-apart HD video of their overnight ModService on their blog. Watch the conversion of a standard MacBook into the only tablet Mac in under two minutes. Turn down your volume though, the SFX are a little excessive.

October 27th, 2008

MBP tear down video

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 9:19 pm

Categories: MacBook Pro, Take Apart

Tags: Video, TechRestore.com, Expose Control, Corporate Communications, Notebooks, Marketing, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Jason D. O'Grady

TechRestore.com has posted a stop motion tear-down video of new MacBook Pro.

These new MacBooks Pro are amazing! The whole trackpad is a button, which doesn’t seem all that much better than tap clicking, until you go to drag stuff, which is sooo much better this way! The four-finger Expose controls are wicked too.

For bonus points, they included footage of putting it back together too.

October 17th, 2008

NewerTech 11 piece portable toolkit

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 6:53 am

Categories: Take Apart, iPod

Tags: Apple iPod, Nylon, Tool, Productivity, Consumer Electronics, Digital Music, Digital Media, Personal Technology, Jason D. O'Grady

Anyone who’s had the pleasure of taking apart an early-2008 MacBook Pro, or an iBook can appreciate the need for a good set of tools. If you frequently take apart Apple notebooks or iPods then a good set of tools is essential. I have a drawer full of Torx and Philips screwdrivers, spudgers that I dig through to find just the right tool for the job.

Finally someone has put together all of the major tools that you need for most Apple repairs and upgrades in one nice kit. The NewerTech 11 Piece Portable Toolkit (US$17.99) is perfect for servicing and upgrading most computers and consumer electronics devices (including iPods). It includes everything needed to service, add memory and upgrade desktop and laptop computers, as well as small consumer electronics devices like iPods.  The toolkit features a variety of straight blade and Philips head screwdrivers, Torx drivers, a scissor clamp, tweezers, and two nylon “spudgers” pry tools organized in a padded nylon carrying case for ready access.

The kit contains:

• Straight Blade 1.8mm
• Straight Blade 3.0mm
• Phillips #00
• Phillips #2
• Torx T6
• Torx T8
• Torx T10
• Scissor Clamp
• Tweezers
• (2) Nylon Pry Tools (aka “Spudgers”)
• Nylon Carrying Case

The NewerTech kit is essential and cheaper than buying everything separately. If you need disassembly instructions check out the iFixIt Guides.

October 16th, 2008

iFixIt tears down both new MacBooks

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 8:08 am

Categories: MacBook, MacBook Pro, Take Apart

Tags: Apple MacBook, Apple MacBook Pro, iFixIt.com, AirPort Card, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Jason D. O'Grady

iFixIt.com has completed disassemblies of the MacBook Pro and MacBook. They found:

• Apple’s new hardware design is significantly more elegant due to their use of the new ‘Brick’ manufacturing process.
• The design of both machines is significantly inspired by the MacBook Air. As a result, the MacBook and MacBook Pro designs have significantly converged and are much more similar than they used to be.

MacBook Pro:

• Upgrading the RAM and hard drive is very easy, but you do need a Torx screwdriver to replace the hard drive.
• Contrary to some fears, the keyboard in the MacBook Pro is user-serviceable. It’s a fair amount of work to remove (you have to remove 56 screws).
• The AirPort and Bluetooth boards are in the display assembly. The AirPort card is user-serviceable, while the Bluetooth board is not.
• They identified the dual Nvidia chips

MacBook:

• The new MacBook is really a 13″ MacBook Pro. It uses the same design, and same manufacturing quality. Bridging the gap between consumer and professional model.
• The SuperDrive is the same in the MacBook and MacBook Pro.
• They showed the parts to some industrial engineers familiar with manufacturing processes. Overall, they were extremely impressed by the build quality of the machine and the cutting edge mass-produced unibody.

October 15th, 2008

MacBook (Late-2008) unboxed and disassembled

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 9:38 am

Categories: MacBook, Take Apart

Tags: Apple MacBook, Notebooks, Corporate Governance, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Business Operations, Corporate Law, Jason D. O'Grady

That madman of disassembly, a.k.a. Kodwarisan, has already unboxed and completely disassembled the new MacBook (Late-2008) that was announced yesterday.

He has posted 20 excellent pictures of everything including the easily removed hard drive (above), logic board, centrifugal fan, right down to close up shots of Nvidia and Intel chips (below) which dominate the tiny logic board.

Update: CNet’s Crave TV has posted a video review of the new MBP.

July 10th, 2008

iPhone 3G dissected in NZ

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 8:02 am

Categories: 3G, Take Apart, iPhone

Tags: Apple iPhone, 3G, Cellular Phones, Wireless, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Jason D. O'Grady

As I’ve been covering all week Luke Soules from iFixIt.com is in New Zealand and got to purchase one of the first iPhone 3Gs available at 12:01am NZT and he promptly took it apart.

Some notes:

• The iPhone 3G cost them NZ$979 without a contract (but locked to Vodafone)
• Perhaps the least-touted new feature of the iPhone 3G is the flush headphone jack, allowing non-Apple headphones to be used without an adapter.
• A little birdy has told me that TechOnline will be decapping the chips we can’t identify tomorrow, after the US release. They soak the chip in an acid bath to eat away the ceramic coating, then use x-rays and other fancy equipment to examine it.
• the battery isn’t soldered
• Samsung memory markers on the processor again. Looks like they win on the processor front again (not that we were expecting anything different).

Grok all the delicious shots here.

April 30th, 2008

Excess thermal paste causing high temps in MacBook Air (updated)

Posted by Jason D. O'Grady @ 11:54 am

Categories: Japan, MacBook Air, Take Apart, Thermal Paste

Tags: Apple MacBook, Paste, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Jason D. O'Grady

Remember the thermal paste problem with earlier MacBook Pros that was reported back in May 2006? Well, it’s back.

Read more about the grease problems in my earlier reports:

• Thermal grease theory - 01 May 2006
• Thermal grease and the MacBook - 21 May 2006

Chief Japanese Mac disassembler Kodawarisan took apart his MacBook Air (of course) and discovered a metric-ass-load of thermal paste (also called “thermal grease”) on the top of the CPU and GPU. Witness:

Kodawarisan says (Japanese version, Babelfish English translation) that it’s about twice the amount that’s needed (sound familiar?) and that skimming off about half dropped his temps down.

It all started when he noticed that his MacBook Air’s fan was turning on frequently, especially when he was taxing the CPU and/or GPU. After opening the MacBook Air case he suspected that the excessive quantity thermal paste to be the cause.

Temperature Monitor was reporting the temperature of his Core 2 Duo chip to be running between 50 and 70℃ (122 and 158 degrees Fahrenheit).Which is quite toasty.

What temperature does your MacBook Air run at?

Update: MacFixIt is covering the issue after noticing reports of high MacBook Air operating temperatures on Apple’s discussion boards. The recommend bringing it to Apple for service and making sure that you’ve installed MacBook Air SMC Update 1.0.

In completely unrelated news: Jordan Bunnell had success installing a Verizon Wireless USB727 EVDO Modem inside a MacBook Air. So what if he had to remove the Airport and Bluetooth cards to make room. (Tip: CrunchGear via MacNN)