Teardown Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

A look inside the new iMac

by Steven Sande (Nov 30th, 2012)

The first 21.5-inch redesigned iMacs have been on sale in Asia over the past day, have been unveiled in Europe and are just now making their way to Apple Stores across America. AppleInsider has a short unboxing film of the new iMac from one of their readers (see below), but the real excitement ...

iFixit looks inside the iPad mini

by Kelly Hodgkins (Nov 1st, 2012)

On the eve of the big iPad mini retail launch, iFixit managed to secure one of these petite-sized tablets and proceeded to tear the unit down. Early analysis of the mini shows that, internally, it is more than just a small version of the iPad. According to iFixit, the iPad mini is the first ...

iFixit tears down the 13" Retina MacBook Pro (with kittens!)

by Steven Sande (Oct 25th, 2012)

What's better than an iFixit tear-down of a new Mac? A teardown complete with a "21-Day-Old Kitten Late 2012"! The iFixit team did their usual thorough job of gently disassembling and inspecting each part of a brand new 13" Retina MacBook Pro, but it's extra-special this time because there are ...

New Mac mini tear down and benchmarks from Mac Mini Vault

by Mike Schramm (Oct 25th, 2012)

The Mac Mini Vault has already grabbed a new Mac mini and taken it apart. You can read through the site's teardown and analysis right now. The short version is that much of the mini's design is the same. As you can see above, with the new version on the left and the 2011 version on the right. ...

iFixit tears down the iPhone 5

by Kelly Hodgkins (Sep 21st, 2012)

As soon as the iPhone 5 went on sale, iFixit had a version of the phone in its hands and was working with the folks from Chipworks to disassemble the device and identify all the internal goodies. It shouldn't come as a surprise that Apple delivered another exceptional handset that is ...

Nexus 7 more repairable than iPad

by Mike Schramm (Jul 4th, 2012)

iFixit has taken Google's Nexus 7 tablet apart and found that it has at least one advantage over the iPad. The extra space inside makes it easier to repair than Apple's device. iFixit found the Nexus's interior squished than Apple's tablet, and the various components were apparently installed ...

More MacBook Maintenance Malarky: examining the arguments that none of it matters

by Richard Gaywood (Jun 19th, 2012)

Last week I wrote a rather, shall we say, "robustly worded" post discussing the lack of upgradability in the new MacBook Pro with Retina display (MBPwRD). This contentious post turned into one of my highest-traffic articles for TUAW ever, and certainly my highest-commented one (possibly ...

The contentious case against the MacBook Pro with Retina display

by Richard Gaywood (Jun 13th, 2012)

Here's a list of all the proprietary stuff Apple has shoehorned into the "best Mac it has ever made", the MacBook Pro with Retina display (henceforth referred to as "MBPwRD"), taken from the iFixit teardown: Irritating pentalobe screws, which don't stop anyone determined to disassemble ...

iFixit tears down a MacBook Pro with Retina display

by Kelly Hodgkins (Jun 13th, 2012)

It's the teardown that we've all been waiting for since Monday's WWDC keynote. iFixit got its hands on a new retina MacBook Pro and disassembled the lovely device for all of us to see. As expected, the teardown reveals a device that's extremely well-designed, but also difficult to repair. ...

Apple II torn down, restored to glory

by Kelly Hodgkins (Jun 5th, 2012)

Todd Harrison got his hands on an old Apple II and meticulously restored the computer to working condition. He details the process in a lengthy blog post that covers everything from cleaning the external case to inspecting the layout of the logic board. It's more than just a simple tear-down, ...

The cost and construction of Apple's iPhone charger

by Steven Sande (May 21st, 2012)

Have you ever wondered exactly why Apple's tiny USB Power Adapter for the iPhone has such a large price tag? The diminutive cube costs US$29.00, while similar USB wall chargers are available from retailers like Monoprice for as little as $6. Ken Shirriff wondered the same thing, so he went all ...

New Apple TV teardown reveals 8 GB Flash storage, 512 MB RAM

by Kelly Hodgkins (Mar 19th, 2012)

XBMC forum member aicjofs tore down his Apple TV while waiting for a jailbreak and discovered the unit has 512 MB of RAM and 8 GB of on-board storage. It also has a dual-core A5 processor identified as APL2498, which suggests it is a variant of the standard A5 found in the iPad 2. There's also ...

iFixit tears down the third generation iPad (Updated)

by Kelly Hodgkins (Mar 15th, 2012)

iFixit got its hands on a third generation iPad as soon as it went on sale in Australia today. As they boasted on Twitter, "the first legit-purchased, legit-owned iPad 3 is now also the first legit-opened iPad... in the world." The iPad 2 and the iPad 3 have different displays and the ...

iFixit tears down Apple's Thunderbolt display

by Mike Schramm (Sep 28th, 2011)

iFixit has gone all destructo on Apple's new Thunderbolt display, and the gory details are now available over on their site. They ripped the beautiful monitor apart so you didn't have to, and inside they found the same display seen in the iMac Intel 27" from a couple of years ago, as well as a ...

2011 Mac mini gets the iFixit teardown treatment

by Steven Sande (Jul 22nd, 2011)

I love the iFixit site. They jump in where wimps like myself fear to tread, and give us the courage (and instructions) to pop open our Macs and see what's inside the Apple-logoed aluminum box. Yesterday we gave you the iFixit details of the new MacBook Air models, and now the site has lovingly ...