I’ve spent what seems like months obsessing over every little bit of Galaxy Nexus minutiae that’s crossed the wire, and what better to celebrate its (hopefully) impending launch than to watch one get torn apart? That’s right folks — iFixit is at it yet again, and this time it’s the GSM Galaxy Nexus that’s going under the knife. → Read More
When Cyber Monday rolls around, everyone’s eyes dart to the big boys like Amazon and Newegg for cheap goods, but niche retailers have their own deals too. Case in point: the DIY repair nuts at iFixit have whipped together a nifty bundle for aspiring iPhone modders who would like to see the fruits of Apple’s design savvy instead of an opaque black panel. → Read More
The Droid RAZR was only just released today, but silly things like release dates don’t mean anything to the folks at iFixit. In a strange departure from their usual process, they’ve taken a giant knife to Motorola’s latest and greatest to show us all exactly what’s lurking under the hood. → Read More
iFixIt, known for their Apple upgrade guides and supplies, is branching out into cloud services for hardware, appliance, and chemical manufacturers. The new project, called Dozuki, is currently in beta and it aims to streamline the process of technical documentation by creating a Wiki-like environment for documentation and how-tos.
The company has been testing their software with Make Magazine for the past year and they point to Autodesk’s acquisition of Instructables as an example of how ripe this environment is for disruption. “I think AutoDesk’s purchase of Instructables shows that big money is chasing this space,” said Kyle Wiens, iFixIt’s CEO. → Read More
The traditional “splaying of the device” has been performed successfully on the new MacBook Air by the teardown experts and hand models at iFixit. The most user-relevant finding appears to be that the SSD module is user-replaceable — i.e. Apple hasn’t seen fit to physically bond it to the motherboard. Yet.
Apart from that and some minor layout changes to accommodate the larger processor die and Thunderbolt controller (and of course the LED lighting for the keyboard), there isn’t much to write home about. The new Air is a lot like the old Air — just faster. The big design tricks took place a long time ago, when they were first making the design choices that made this form factor possible. Check out the whole teardown here. → Read More
Ever wonder what sort of space age technology the FBI tracks people with? Well, as iFixit found during a special teardown, space age sort of properly describes the equipment if the term space age refers to 1990-ish equipment. I won’t spoil all the fun (like the 20 year battery life) partly because I wanna get this story posted quickly and go give my car a thorough pat down for any such device. → Read More
The best part of the iFixit teardowns — besides the gadget pr0n — are the notes found on the last step. iFixit grades the given product in terms of its repairability and then comments on the highlights. The new iMac scored 7 out of 10 where 10 is the easiest to repair. iFixit notes that while it’s relatively easy to disassemble the iMac, “Making the LCD and glass spotless when reassembling the machine is nearly impossible.” But at least you can replace the RAM, hard drive and optical drive with “relative ease.” → Read More
The cool cats over at iFixit are best known for their gadget teardowns and how-to guides, but they also sell accessories and tools. Their latest is a clear backplate for the iPhone 4. Now, this is a DIY sort of thing and will require the buyer to install the $29.99 piece. But don’t fret! iFixit has excellent guides and instructions so installition should be trivial. Note: this backplate only fits the GSM iPhone. Sorry, Verizon. You can’t have all the fun. → Read More
There are some electronics that are totally worth fixing yourself. Most modern electronics aren’t, though. But you still do it anyway for shits and giggles. Then there are DSLRs — or in this case, the new Nikon D5100. You’d have to be John Biggs-crazy to tear this thing apart. → Read More
It’s the newest tradition in gadget journalism: get the latest device and break it to pieces on camera neatly and systematically, then arrange all the pieces in a little display, noting the most interesting bits. The PlayBook has just gotten the iFixit treatment. → Read More
Sigh. Here we go. iFixit just did its thing on the iPad 2 Smart Cover. Yep, they tore down the cover and found that a whooping 31 magnets are used between the cover itself and the iPad 2 to hold the cover in place — ten in the iPad and 21 in the cover. So there you have it. Lots and lots of magnets. God’s little magically wonders. iFixit → Read More
When there’s a new gadget, iFixit simply must tear it apart in the name of gadget pr0n. This includes the latest MacBook Pro. The firm found that the battery is the same as the current generation even though the advertised life is slightly lower. (or rather more realistic) It’s also secured separately from other components, allowing it to stay in place rather than removing it when working on other sections of the notebook. The new models also feature a slightly different wireless card design with four antennas rather than three and aluminum mounting brackets. In the end, iFixit deemed the latest model a 7 out of 10 in regards to ease of repair with 10 being the easiest. This is thanks to the relatively compartmentalized internal design. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Apple knows a thing or two about notebook design. → Read More
Spoiler: The inside of a Windows Phone 7 device looks like the inside of an Android or iOS device — just so you know. Didn’t want you proceeding expecting to see something like little Redmond gremlins hobbling around the circuit boards and modems. Yeah, if you’ve seen one teardown, you’ve seen them all. So unless you get a tech chubby from circuit board pr0n, proceed with your daily madness because even the Surround’s big feature is a tiny speaker, iFixit determined that the “[sliding] mechanism provides added complexity for the sole purpose of arguable audio performance gains.” → Read More
That is, if they like gifts that are free. Because the newly-on-iPad app from the folks at iFixit definitely is free, and isn’t even ad-supported. It’s leveraging their growing database of repair instructions for cameras, game consoles, mobile phones, and pretty much everything out there. → Read More
What’s inside a Samsung Galaxy Tab? Not snips, snails, or puppy dog tails. Instead you fine a large battery, an ARM A8 Hummingbird processor, and all the build quality of an Apple product. After pulling off the screen, iFixIt got to the guts fairly quickly and they had a bit to say about the reparability and processing power. → Read More
Our buddies at iFixIt have torn down the Logitech Revue Google TV box and found what amounts to be a mini computer powered by an Intel Atom CE4150 1.2 GHz processor. Oddly enough, for a device with no storage space, it contains 5GB of NAND flash. → Read More
In classic iFixit fashion, the latest Apple laptop has been torn to pieces a mere day after its release event. How exciting! Now we get to find out how Apple managed to cram so much of 2007′s technology into that gorgeous case.
Unsurprisingly, Apple has made the new MacBook Air nigh-impossible to service on your own. Not only is the interior secured by five-sided Torx T5 screws, but most of the parts are so customized (not to say obscure) that you’d be unable to find them in even the most extensive part store. → Read More
Tearing down the iPod Shuffle may look easy – it is, after all, made of a few pieces of aluminium press-fitted and glued together – but the poor lads at iFixIt had a dickens of a time. Their complaint?
Although this step makes it look super-simple to open the Shuffle, it’s not. It took us a good half hour of prying and heat-gunning to open the little guy.
Pro tip: Aluminum gets hot when it’s heated!
With today’s announcement of the new iPod Touch, you know there are certain people just itching to take a look at the inside, to tear it apart and see what changes have been made since the last time Apple updated the popular PMP player. Bad news boys; the FCC beat you to the punch. → Read More
iFixit is legendary for taking things apart. They are famous for going to great lengths to get the latest in technology, and then tear it apart. The iPhone 4 is no exception, as their person took a 16 hour plane ride as well as packed a tent prepared to sit and wait for the phone. Ironically, FedEx delivered the phones two days earlier then expected, and they didn’t have to send anyone to Japan. → Read More
