Not terribly surprising, but still something of a bummer.
Not for the Apple faint of heart, but iFixit has worked they’re dissecting tools over Apple’s newest iPad, and the results are somewhat poor. The new iPad Air scores a 2 out of 10 for repairing. It’s part of the trade off for having a powerful and sleek slate, cramming all of the guts into a package that slim is a serious feat of engineering. One which also requires the use of some pretty hardcore glue on the battery.
We should be able to count on a similar score and disassembly process with the new iPad Mini as well.
This continues Apple’s trend of gluing devices shut and locking the consumer out of hardware. It’s standard operating procedure for most tablets, though it’s a touch troubling on laptops and desktops, as their proper computers are becoming more difficult (if sometimes impossible) to upgrade.
Check out iFixit’s tear down, they do a great job of including a little wit while they eviscerate your favorite tech. They also posted this cute little video to show off the iPad’s new guts.