KEY FINDINGS
• Final notes before we dive in: No headphone jack, USB-C port (non-Thunderbolt) in place of Lightning, and a long dark oval to charge the new Pencil.
• We loved cutting through all the glue to open our first iPad, and it has never gotten old (sarcasmalert—Ed). These extra-thin bezels make it even more harrowing. Heat, carve, hold your breath, and hope nothing breaks. On the plus side, the display’s ribbon cables are a safe distance from the bezels—but they’re also spread out in a way that makes display removal really awkward.
• Those cables aren’t safe yet, as we’re forced to lay the display at a weird angle and hopefully not damage anything while we disconnect them. We put our Phillips driver to work releasing both cable connectors. One thing that immediately stands out is the iPad’s four woofers and four tweeters, for a total of eight speakers.
• Anxious for our first glimpse of that A12X chip, we peel away the logic board cover. Yuck—as always, the board is secured with adhesive, made even fussier by the speakers. But we’re soon victorious. The logic board triumphantly emerges from the canyon betwixt the battery cells.
• We’re not fans of last year’s iPads, which skipped out on the stretch-release battery tabs. This year, pull tabs are back in style. Unfortunately, a huge patch of supergoop runs all the way down the left side. Sigh. Time to break out the pry tools. This iPad’s powered by a 7,812mAh battery running at 3.77V, for 29.45Wh—a lot smaller than the latest Microsoft Surface Pro’s 45Wh battery.
• Next to come out is the Pencil charging board, with its copper charging coils attached, but tiny capacitors and other board bits go flying in protest as we remove the shields. Last to come out is the USB-C port—which, unlike previous iPads, is fully modular. As a high-wear part, the ability to replace it independently is a nice repair win.
• Repairability score: 3 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair). The lack of a physical home button eliminates a failure point. The battery is secured with easier-to-remove tabs and non-removable adhesive. The LCD and front panel glass are fused together—simplifying opening, but increasing the cost of repair. Gobs of adhesive hold most everything in place, making all repairs more difficult.