11-Inch iPad Pro iFixit Teardown Is A Must-Read For Glue Lovers
Recently, Apple's devices have taken a small-yet-significant turn for the better regarding DIY repair. In both the new MacBook Air and the 2018 Mac mini, we've seen Apple make some quality-of-life changes that make DIY and third-party repairs more accessible. It seems that repair-friendly approach isn't something that's universal across Apple's entire lineup of new devices, as iFixit's teardown of the 11-inch 2018 iPad Pro isn't really a pretty one.
The trouble starts almost immediately, as iFixit notes that the thin bezels on the iPad Pro make removing the display even more risky than it usually is. If you can pry the display free of the glue holding it in place, you're off to a good start, but that could prove to be quite the challenge. The good news is that you probably aren't going to slice or otherwise damage the ribbon cables attached to the display as you try to remove it, and if teardowns like this have taught us anything, it's that these little things certainly count for something.
Once we're into the device itself, things don't start looking much better. The logic board is held in place by even more glue, though once its free, iFixit is able to identify many of the chips that are housed on it. Have a look at some of them below:
• Apple APL1083 A12X Bionic SoC
• Toshiba TSB3247M61710TWNA1 flash storage (64 GB total)
• 2x Micron 8MBT9 D9WHG RAM (4 GB total)
• NXP 100VB27 NFC controller
• Apple / USI 339S00551 Wi-Fi / Bluetooth module
• 2x Broadcom BCM15900B0KWFBG touch screen controller
• Texas Instruments CD3215C00 power controller
In a somewhat depressing twist, it at first seems like removing the iPad Pro's battery is going to be an easy process, as it's held down by stretch release adhesive tabs. Removing those tabs reveals that it's also held in place by another helping of glue, so it's still going to be a struggle for the average end user to swap out the battery, which clocks in at 7812mAh.
So, if you like glue, the new 11-inch iPad Pro definitely won't let you down. For everyone else, though, repairing the iPad Pro on your own is likely going to be an exercise in frustration. In the end, iFixit gives the 11-inch iPad Pro a repairability score of just 3 out of 10, noting that while it earns points for its modular USB-C port, it loses points for all the glue that's holding everything in place. Be sure to read through iFixit's full teardown to get an idea of just how difficult it'll be to remove some specific components.