Apple's New IPad 4G Is Tough To Crack Open, Even Tougher To Fix

Every time a prohibited device hits the market, teardown masters iFixit are roughly always the initial to break the new fondle apart. While those of us who live in the United States wait for in line on the night before of the new iPad's launch, iFixit hopped on a craft to Australia - where the inscription is already existing - and right away got to work .

In conditions of pristine hardware data, the teardown yields couple of surprises; many of the specs of the tools may be found on Apple's iPad page. The teardown itself, however, is a not similar story altogether. The new iPad is only as tough to open as its predecessor, if not moreso. While that may not meant sufficient to the layman, it could spell difficulty for corporate IT departments anticipating to correct their employees' damaged gadgets instead of sending them off for replacement.

The many flagrant issue: battery replacement. Discounting the initial era iPhone, that was a suffering to open up without destroying the steel backing, iPhone battery deputy is comparatively easy with a couple of minuscule screwdrivers and guitar picks. Batteries is to smartphones may be purchased on iFixit from $15 to $30. It's a rapid and comparatively cheap way to keep an iOS device out of the Genius Bar and in your pocket.

But receiving detached the new iPad to reinstate the battery isn't as easy. In even the many dextrous of hands, enormous open the device can lead to cracked potion and a bricked slate. Apple's own battery-replacement service expenses a cold $100, twice the $50 cost of a new battery is to original iPad .

It's moreover notable that the new iPad's hermetically sealed building will make it tough to recycle. "Sealed units make it tough to eliminate the batteries. From a recycler's indicate of view, the dangerous components (like batteries) must be simply distant or removed," Steve Skurnac, President of SIMS Recycling Solutions told iFixit.

Apple does, however, have a recycling module that offers financial incentives to customers for comparison products. So when the time comes to reinstate that aged iPad, send it off to Cupertino.

All photos: Courtesy iFixit