Apple Pencil Teardown Reveals Antenna, Battery and Tiny Folded Logic Board

[Gasu E.]

But then why do people want the iPad Pro? That's a LOT of extra money to pay just for a bigger screen.

iPad Pro is the cheapest current-generation iPad in terms of both $/pixel and $/inch. I disagree that it is a lot more JUST for a bigger screen. If you happen to need a bigger screen, it's a fair price, even without the pencil. Of course, the pencil greatly increases the desirability of a bigger screen, which is why they were introduced together. But Apple could easily introduce next iterations of the other size iPads that are pencil-compatible.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Probably 15 years ago.

Regarding the Repairability score. WTF, iFixit? You're becoming boorish.

Well they are just stating facts. WTF do you want them to say?

 

[dBeats]

Another iFixit quality teardown ruined by Editors notes about how they didn't use a AAAA battery like the Microsoft surface Stylus, or that it doesn't have an eraser. Can the editor just shut up and do the teardowns and go get a life? I also got a nice splash page (being in NY State) saying i should email my congressman about some stupid right to repair bill. WE DON'T CARE. I'm sorry you never got a job at Apple or Google or even Twelve South for that matter. Apparently your design skills aren't that good, you're just a good teardown guy. People gotta know their limits man, move on.

 

[Popeye206]

I think iFixit repairability scores have served their time. It's time to stop this. You can't continue to make things smaller, more compact and more advanced, and still lay it out so the average Joe can replace every part with a screwdriver and some elbow grease.

See, I disagree... you should have a service door on the pencil and an easy way to upgrade ram or add a USB port to the side. This junk about everything has to be slick, clean and feel good in your hands has to stop. I mean, what the heck was wrong with the way we did things in the 80's and 90's?

Really... I agree... there get's to be a point where you have to see that we're heading into time where things are so compact and small, something has to give.

 

[for this]

Another iFixit quality teardown ruined by Editors notes about how they didn't use a AAAA battery like the Microsoft surface Stylus, or that it doesn't have an eraser. Can the editor just shut up and do the teardowns and go get a life? I also got a nice splash page (being in NY State) saying i should email my congressman about some stupid right to repair bill. WE DON'T CARE. I'm sorry you never got a job at Apple or Google or even Twelve South for that matter. Apparently your design skills aren't that good, you're just a good teardown guy. People gotta know their limits man, move on.

Why so upset? You can just ignore them and go get a life.
I like all their guides.

 

[usarioclave]

I like these teardowns , as it's impossible these days to open up a Apple product unlike the old days

I open up my Apple products all the time. The hard part in the old days was getting the right tool, like a foot long T8. Now you can just order the tools online.

 

[dsraj]

iFixit should stop using their repairability scores. Or recalibrate the scale for 2015 using modern electronics as a baseline.

 

[Karma*Police]

A battery, antenna, and a logic board?! NO WAY! No one would have ever expected such things in a device like that!



I wonder if they will allow the iPad and iPad mini to use the Pencil. That takes away a BIG selling point of the Pro and would greatly hurt sales of the device.

I could see Apple keeping the Pencil exclusive to the Pro.

I'd actually be shocked if they kept Pencil exclusive to iPad pro. It would open up iPad Air and iPad mini to a lot of new markets. My guess is that Pencil will be supported by those iPads when the tech inside iPad Pro matures and becomes cheaper to implement.

 

[Hastings101]

iFixit should stop using their repairability scores. Or recalibrate the scale for 2015 using modern electronics as a baseline.

Someone people care about repairability, and it's not like the score hurts anything (except apparently the ego of MacRumors users)

 

[Thunderhawks]

I am ready for the iSupply estimate that the thing only costs 75 cents to make.

 

[scott911]

Pencil gets the lowest reliability score, but I think the trade-off is well worth it achieve the form. I suspect the battery will last years and years as it's power draw is likely minuscule with no display or wifi to support.

On the flip side, I think the lack of access / repair-ability / upgrade-ability of the Imac and mac mini is a very poor decision. It's been holding me back from buying into the apple desktop side for a could years now...

 

[captain cadet]

I think the Apple Pencil is an amazing piece of technology! Its drawing response (shown in the videos) is ridiculously fast! It's again Apple's better version of something common. Looking forward trying one out in the local Apple Store soon. I'm not being ironic here.

umm good luck finding them in an apple store as a working model - my nearest apple store have had all theres stolen... http://www.businessinsider.in/Peopl...il-from-Apple-Stores/articleshow/49849769.cms

 

[scott911]

I have mine mining bitcoins in its spare time.

In seriousness though, intel's 386 chip supposedly has more computing power than the mainframes used during the Apollo missions.

I think a 8086 and 8088 type chips (predecessor to the x68 line and 386 you reference) was actually the class of power used to run the orbiters (as in space shuttle) from the first several years. Later, the fleet was upgraded and a newer generation of computers were implemented at tremendous space saving on board.

 

[alphaod]

It's not repairable... I mean what do people expect? They're going to go and buy a replacement battery for thing?

 

[trifid]

I enjoy the iFixit teardowns for one reason -- I am a techie and love to see the innards of things. The reality is that 99% of all consumers of any technology do not have the skills or time to fix things and will either pay someone else to do so or will simply replace it. I am always amazed by this fact. I love to tinker and will fix anything in my house or even with electronics. But all my friends call a plumber, electrician, or other handyman to get things done. Same here, it is more important to make things work well and last as much as possible, not to make them repairable by a consumer, because they won't. Many on this site are the tinkerers, but please remember that in this case we are the 1%ers not the commoners.

It's more than 1%, most of us (humans) are fixers unless you are rich, that's why places like home depot exist and are extremely popular. And look at youtube, there are repair guides for every single thing. Hole in your wall, do you call someone or buy material/paint and do you it yourself?

I understand as technology gets smaller and more compact it may no longer be possible to be serviced by mere mortals, but for a lot of things we are not at that point yet.

2015 iMac is a perfect example of Apple's greed and 0% need to solder SSD, just complete planned obsolescence. iFixit reporting scores is appropriate and exposes the fiasco.

 

[Brian Y]

iFixit has become a joke.

On their "teardown" page, they have 9 featured devices. 7 of them get < 3/10. A nexus 5X gets 7/10, basically because the battery isn't glued down, and the only device that gets 10/10 is the Fairphone 2, which, in tiny print at the bottom of the teardown says:

Full disclosure: we are receiving funding to co-author the Fairphone’s repair manual as part of the European Commission's initiatives to improve collaboration between the repair industry and manufacturers

So basically they were paid for it, and it was in part written by Fairphone themselves. They're basically just a shop flogging expensive tools these days.

Oh, to add: when they tore-down the fair phone 1 (which only got 7/10 because they weren't being paid then), they said:

Several smaller components are soldered to the motherboard, increasing repair difficulty (front-facing camera, vibrator motor, LED flash, and headphone jack).

With the 10/10 gold-star Fairphone 2, they said:

The USB port and microphone are soldered to the board—not necessarily a bad thing, as a USB port requires some extra rigidity, and has significantly more pins than a speaker.

So in one device, having smaller components soldered is good, in another it's bad.

 

[trifid]

I don't get all the propaganda against iFixit, looks like we got a lot of fanboys and/or Apple stock holders that are butthurt at any criticisms against Apple.

 

[pat500000]

I seriously don't know why many of you guys hate iFIXit. I mean they tell us the detail of inside of apple products, which is great. They keep me up to date on technology that apple is using.

 

[trifid]

iFixit has become a joke.

On their "teardown" page, they have 9 featured devices. 7 of them get < 3/10. A nexus 5X gets 7/10, basically because the battery isn't glued down, and the only device that gets 10/10 is the Fairphone 2, which, in tiny print at the bottom of the teardown says:



So basically they were paid for it, and it was in part written by Fairphone themselves. They're basically just a shop flogging expensive tools these days.

Oh, to add: when they tore-down the fair phone 1 (which only got 7/10 because they weren't being paid then), they said:



With the 10/10 gold-star Fairphone 2, they said:



So in one device, having smaller components soldered is good, in another it's bad.

This makes no sense. They say the most common failing components in Fairphone requires no tools to fix, and the few screws it has are philips screws. So they wouldn't be selling any tools to anyone using Fairphone. And btw, who in the world uses Fairphone? There is 0 conflict of interest or commercial interest from iFixit, I have no idea what you are complaining about.

 

[tech3475]

How ma you people do you know who would expect to be able to repair an Apple Pencil themselves. Repairability scores are fine for certain things but not accessories like this.

But thats the point of these scores, to say how difficult or not it is.

I personally would like knowing that this cant be repaired by myself if i was to get one.

 

[Brian Y]

I don't get all the propaganda against iFixit, looks like we got a lot of fanboys and/or Apple stock holders that are butthurt at any criticisms against Apple.

Because name calling is easier than debating.

 

[trifid]

Because name calling is easier than debating.

I made several posts debating the facts.

 

[Brian Y]

This makes no sense. They say the most common failing components in Fairphone requires no tools to fix, and the few screws it has are philips screws. So they wouldn't be selling any tools to anyone using Fairphone. And btw, who in the world uses Fairphone? There is 0 conflict of interest or commercial interest from iFixit, I have no idea what you are complaining about.

How is there no conflict of interest? They were paid to teardown a device, and just happened to give it 10/10?

Is there no conflict of interest if a manufacturer pays Amazon to post positive reviews? Of course there is a conflict of interest. iFixit are supposed to be impartial.

 

[trifid]

How is there no conflict of interest? They were paid to teardown a device, and just happened to give it 10/10?

Is there no conflict of interest if a manufacturer pays Amazon to post positive reviews? Of course there is a conflict of interest. iFixit are supposed to be impartial.

Please explain how iFixit is supposed to get rich from selling tools for people buying Fairphones considering that they say no tools are required to fix most common things, and Fairphone uses philips screws, so you can get screwdrivers anywhere, no need to buy iFixit tools. There is no conflict of interest because there is full disclosure, and no commercial link.

 

[Brian Y]

Please explain how iFixit is supposed to get rich from selling tools for people buying Fairphones considering that they say no tools are required to fix most common things, and Fairphone uses philips screws, so you can get screwdrivers anywhere, no need to buy iFixit tools. There is no conflict of interest because there is full disclosure, and no commercial link.

But they do sell them, and there are links throughout the article to buy them. You seem to be ignoring certain facts here. They also sell parts, which after a while I imagine will show up on their site for sale (look at the Fiarphone 1, they sell basically every part of the phone). How about this:

How about if MacRumors was paid by Apple to post a positive review of the iPad Pro? That's not going to make MacRumors rich either, but would that be acceptable?