Sixth-Generation iPad Teardown Details 'Repair Nightmare' for Education-Focused Tablet

[puma1552]

Is ifixit even relevant anymore?

Yes, everything Apple makes, has made for quite a few years, and ever will make will earn atrocious repairability scores, because the products aren't made to be repaired anymore.

Why is this news? It's like ifixit is just trying to stay in business.

 

[darkarn]

OMG!!! Why MR and iFixit still has to report on new devices?!?!?! Why not just assume and not waste web server space?!?!?

...sorry, just trying out this erm, snarky style of commenting I learnt from here

 

[barthrh]

Did they say zero upgradeability? No PCI slots? No socketed CPU? No ability to upgrade storage? Not even external RAID support. Fail.

 

[pika2000]

I am wondering, if the screen of those chromebooks broke, would schools be able to actually “repair” them? I mean serious question. I don’t think schools stock spare parts. If they need to send those to the manufactures, then how is it different in practice than the iPads?

And oh, great job comparing a $1500 HP surface clone with a $300 iPad.

 

[Guy Clark]

This will inevitably lead to yet more eWaste especially being in the educational sector where they will be subjected to high usage.

The dumping of eWaste in developing countries is a very real issue one that many feel uncomfortable speaking about
http://uk.businessinsider.com/photo...s-when-those-shiny-new-toys-go-out-of-style-1

 

[iMi]

It's a state-of-the-arts tablet that educators can buy for $299. That's a ridiculously low price point.

Have you seen the cost of text books lately? That's three books right there. I had a text book in grad school that costs $120 new and came with work books that could only be used once.

This obsession with "repairability" needs to go. iPad represents a fantastic value to educators and students alike. Digital books, homework, collaboration tools. I don't think you could beat the price, even with the cost of software you'll have to buy. It's a great deal.

On a personal level, I still have one of the early iPads somewhere around the house. It still works great. They all last a long time. If you cannot accept the tiny risk that your device may fail prematurely and you will need to buy a new one or pay for an exchange with Apple, then maybe consider a lower cost alternative. Kindle is dirt cheap, for example. Disposable cheap. Go with one of those and stop whining about repairability already.

There is also AppleCare and credit card warranties that extend protection, if you want to further reduce the risk.

 

[Blaze4G]

If the screen breaks it can be repaired, and the battery will last 5 years. What else needs to be repaired? Repairabilty is almost a liability these days.

Charging port?

Battery last 5 years? You realize these iPads will be used for 5-6 hours per day throughout the school year? This seems like alot more tine than what a regular consumer would spend on an iPad daily. Hence, increasing battery wear. 6 hours per day is roughly 1 charging cycle, 180 school days in the year and using Apples 500 cycles that batteries should last for would result in a battery replacement in under 3 years. Battery replacement is 1/3 the cost of the edu iPad.

 

[willmtaylor]

Why is this a surprise to iFixit? /s

I don’t believe they said it was (a surprise).
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News flash to ifixit, this is just an update to the consumer iPad with a slight discount to schools. Somehow schools are using iPads now without stories of durability issues. ifixit is just on another one of its let’s get some clicks anti-Apple rants.

Why do you say they’re unaware of the intended purpose of this device, and how are they anti-Apple?

 

[Glmnet1]

The Elite x2 1012 G1 is much bigger, heavier and expensive too. Why are they even comparing the iPad to it?

 

[Hastings101]

It's been a while since I worked for a school district, but we really didn't have the headcount to have somebody doing repairs that took a long time to complete. At the discounted price and the cost vs time problem, I would see 1) buying the AppleCare to have the iPads sent in for repairs and 2) ordering extra as backups.

While I think "repairability" is pretty important for coming closer to a more sustainable future where we aren't trashing everything on a yearly basis, what you said is also true where I've worked. Districts are lucky if they even have more than a couple of IT workers around here. So the time and expenses to fix the iPads locally is just not feasible, and there might not even be anyone available to do repairs to begin with.

 

[hotdwag]

I am wondering, if the screen of those chromebooks broke, would schools be able to actually “repair” them? I mean serious question. I don’t think schools stock spare parts. If they need to send those to the manufactures, then how is it different in practice than the iPads?

And oh, great job comparing a $1500 HP surface clone with a $300 iPad.

Yes spare parts are stocked and available / things can be fixed. Some companies like ASUS specifically make modular units for this reason such as: https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/ASUS-Chromebook-C202SA/

I've fixed plenty of smashed screened iPads which is a hassle as well with third party components... Honestly we use a lot of Apple products such as Airs, iMacs and Macbooks. Those are more expensive though honestly last longer and have a lot more use in a secondary setting. In all honesty I have 2008 Macbooks still in service repaired & upgraded while our 2012 iPad 2s are essentially trash for all but basic tasks due to 32-bit architecture etc. It's annoying that Apple is pushing iPads with third party keyboard cases instead of a redesigned durable Macbook for the education environment... though that's their priority as a company I suppose, but this "event" / release was a shoulder shrug and won't bolster interest from schools that wasn't already there. It would've been great to see a more modular redesign at least, though clearly they didn't want to go that route.

 

[RyanXM]

Any hope of Apple producing anything that is remotely "repairable", be it an iPad, iPhone, or any Mac is much like Star Wars, in a Galaxy...far, far, away.

 

[Blaze4G]

I am wondering, if the screen of those chromebooks broke, would schools be able to actually “repair” them? I mean serious question. I don’t think schools stock spare parts. If they need to send those to the manufactures, then how is it different in practice than the iPads?

And oh, great job comparing a $1500 HP surface clone with a $300 iPad.

It depends on the school district and how the contracts are setup. The school district I work in we use Lenovo windows laptops. With the purchase it includes 3 years warranty and the district has a contract for accidental damages for 5 years. So it doesn't cost the school for repairs of the laptops. Unless people want to be technical and say we'll the district pays for it and that money could have been spent elsewhere.

The laptops we purchase are $209 for non touch and $230 for touch screen.

 

[Scooz]

IFixit should finally accept gluetaping as a way of manufacturing stiff and light enclosures and better talk about methods, tools an material to service these. Specialized service tools don‘t have to be in the hands of each user but might be very much affordable for a repair shop at a school (which might prefer a friendly service contract over this option anyway) like I don‘t own a lifting ramp for my car, but can rent one if I need to.

Comparing the iPad to a double to triple priced keyboardless laptop design based on standard components is laughable and makes iFixit look ignorant at best.

 

[DanielDD]

What for reporting the truth on how repairable these things are?

That's why they have a standard grading scale (from 0 to 10). "Repair nightmare" is not an objective measure. Just clickbait title.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Why would anyone expect it to be different than the previous version? It’s essentially the same with upgraded guts.

 

[question fear]

It's a state-of-the-arts tablet that educators can buy for $299. That's a ridiculously low price point.

Have you seen the cost of text books lately? That's three books right there. I had a text book in grad school that costs $120 new and came with work books that could only be used once.

Except the economics are very different if you're dealing with middle school/high schoolers. The school buys the iPads for the kids, but then the school ALSO needs to buy the textbook license for each kid. If they just buy the textbooks, they buy one set of textbooks and have them passed down from kid to kid year to year. Unless schools are getting a significant discount on the cost of the textbook, the iPad isn't necessarily a cheaper deal.

 

[oldmacs]

This obsession with "repairability" needs to go. iPad represents a fantastic value to educators and students alike. Digital books, homework, collaboration tools. I don't think you could beat the price, even with the cost of software you'll have to buy. It's a great deal.

It needs to come back. Our earth is suffering from the lack of repairability, not just from Apple though.

And in terms of a great deal, Chromebooks still present an even greater deal.
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Why is this news? It's like ifixit is just trying to stay in business.

Its news because Macrumors decided to publish it... iFixit is just doing its usual.

 

[Rogifan]

An agenda? They do this with literally every tech product for the purpose of helping people to fix stuff.....

I guess Apple has an Agenda as well... make their products less repairable and upgradable = more sales (and more environmental damage)

Most people don’t want to fix stuff. Most people don’t want to open the insides of products to upgrade them. They use the product until it doesn’t work any more and then they buy a new one.

 

[spazzcat]

Is ifixit even relevant anymore?

Yes, everything Apple makes, has made for quite a few years, and ever will make will earn atrocious repairability scores, because the products aren't made to be repaired anymore.

Why is this news? It's like ifixit is just trying to stay in business.

They make money by selling tools to fix things...

 

[merkinmuffley]

This isn't going to matter, this device is not going to make a dent in the educational market. iPads are basically too mimited in the functionality for the price, and this one is no exception.

 

[Xenomorph]

When my daughter got a Chromebook at her school, I went out and bought the same model for myself - Acer C740.

I read that (compared to the C720) the C740 model was more aimed at the "educational" market, and so had things like more durable hinges, thicker plastic, etc. It was designed to survive falls and abuse.

Besides all that, I fount the thing dead-simple to work on. The top pops apart, held together by plastic clips. I was easily able to replace the basic TN display with a vivid IPS display. The bottom is held together by a few screws. You can easily remove it and service the insides. The internals are user replaceable, such as the SSD (M.2), the fan, logic board, and battery. In fact, I yanked its original SSD and slapped in a 256 GB one.

They are so user-serviceable that they actually have the students themselves provide repairs. They take broken systems to a room where the kids salvage parts from them to repair and rebuild other damaged systems brought in.

The cost? Well, I paid $249 for mine. I'm sure the school got some sort of bulk discount ($199?). For that price they received:

* durable *and* easy-to-repair hardware, with a "clamshell" design that protects its display.
* a built-in pointing device and full keyboard.
* a full "Desktop" experience browser, with support for plugins and Flash.
* something that can easily sit on a desk and be used, without someone needing to constantly hold it.
* a locked-down, secure, automatic-updating OS with a seamless and quick "A/B" update system (iOS doesn't even have that).

In contrast, for a higher price, Apple is offering something that:

* must be held at all times to be used
* is much, much easier to be broken/damaged
* is much, much harder to work on or repair (students can't do it, teachers can't do it, it must be sent off)
* includes no keyboard or pointing device. each requires a separate purchase on top of the already-higher base price.
* has a relatively lengthy update process and cannot be used during

I don't think the newest "iPad for Education!" thing they are attempting will be enough to fight off Chromebook.

 

[Guy Clark]

Is ifixit even relevant anymore?

Yes, everything Apple makes, has made for quite a few years, and ever will make will earn atrocious repairability scores, because the products aren't made to be repaired anymore.

Why is this news? It's like ifixit is just trying to stay in business.

Not trying to stay in business iFixit promote user repairability. I have repaired and upgraded countless Mac products with some guidance sourced from excellent iFixit tutorials. Yes users could at one time easily repair and service their own Macs but that was before Tim Cook and when Apple became driven by money and greed.

Remember if the user can repair it then the opportunity is there to help reduce illegally dumped eWaste.

 

[I7guy]

Charging port?

Battery last 5 years? You realize these iPads will be used for 5-6 hours per day throughout the school year? This seems like alot more tine than what a regular consumer would spend on an iPad daily. Hence, increasing battery wear. 6 hours per day is roughly 1 charging cycle, 180 school days in the year and using Apples 500 cycles that batteries should last for would result in a battery replacement in under 3 years. Battery replacement is 1/3 the cost of the edu iPad.

I’m sure the batteries in those iPads will last 5 years. Charging port you have a point, but the jury is out on real life durability.

 

[Rogifan]

Is ifixit even relevant anymore?

Yes, everything Apple makes, has made for quite a few years, and ever will make will earn atrocious repairability scores, because the products aren't made to be repaired anymore.

Why is this news? It's like ifixit is just trying to stay in business.

These reviews don’t even get the hits they used to because everyone knows current mobile products aren’t designed for repairability and upgradability mostly because the public doesn’t care.