The iPad dock disassembled by iLounge
Wondering what the guts of the new iPad 2 dock look like? iLounge dove into the nitty gritty, and it turns out that there were a few surprises, actually. While the docks may look like pieces of plastic (and indeed, at just around $30, they could be about that), iLounge figures that Apple puts the same amount of thought into its accessories as it does into what they're supporting. In each stand is a solid piece of metal that makes it weighty, not only holding it down on the bottom, but actually curved up to support the iPad as it stands. And iLounge says it was "harder to get these Docks apart than any of the first three or four iPods," which means Apple built these things sturdy and to last.
In terms of actual computer hardware, as you might guess, there's not a lot -- just a few chips for functionality, like authentication and, of course, iPad synching. In fact, the iPad 2 dock, says iLounge, has more empty space than the first dock, even though the actual design is a little more compact than before. That likely means that Apple has been thinking about the dock not just as a computer add-on, but as an actual stand for the iPad -- a bigger dock base makes it sturdier while holding the iPad up.
Very interesting stuff. Bonus: With that big metal block inside of it, the iPad 2 dock might come in handy if you ever need to face down a home intruder!
