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Apple's extra-slim MacBook is near impossible to fix yourself
It's already evident that most Apple computers aren't designed with do-it-yourself repairs in mind, but the new MacBook takes that inaccessibility to a new level. The crew at iFixit has torn down the ultra-slim machine, and it's clear that Apple took away a lot of repair options in its quest to squeeze everything into such a compact metal shell. The giant battery is glued firmly to the case, while the processor, memory and storage are all soldered to the tiny motherboard. Even the lone USB port is buried under other components, so it won't be easy to replace if it breaks. The findings aren't completely shocking -- Apple is treating the MacBook more as a high-powered iPad than a conventional computer, and designed the system accordingly. Still, you'll want to look elsewhere if you insist on fixing or upgrading PCs at home.
Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge is a royal pain to repair
You're probably aware that you can't easily pry open the Galaxy S6, but what's it like if you do try? It's something of a nightmare, if you ask iFixit. The repair-it-yourself shop has torn down a Galaxy S6 Edge, and it's pretty clear that Samsung didn't design its latest smartphone with fixes in mind. While most of the parts crammed into that thin frame are modular, the glass on both the front and the back makes it hard to get inside without cracking something. And you can probably forget about replacing the battery at home -- it's glued to the back of the display, beneath many of the other components. The S6's design may be sleeker than ever, but you're losing a lot of the accessibility of years past.
iFixit explains how Apple's new MacBook haptic trackpad works
Apple's new range of MacBooks have something particularly new inside them: the Force Touch trackpad. No longer hinged like previous Apple laptops, the new touchpad houses a "Haptic Engine", outputting tactile feedback that will let you "feel" what's happening on-screen. iFixit's taken a closer look at how Apple did it, and while the trackpad is no longer hinged, there are now four spring mounts underneath. That haptic engine? A load of wires coiled around a magnetic core, which makes that all important vibrational feedback.
Dell's XPS 13 is easy to fix despite its size
Give Dell's XPS 13 a cursory glance and you might think that it would be a nightmare to fix. You'd surely have to get a specialist to look at something so densely packed, wouldn't you? Not so fast. The repair-it-yourself advocates at iFixit have torn down the new XPS, and it turns out that this compact Ultrabook is surprisingly easy to maintain if you're willing to put in a little elbow grease. About the only showstopper (as on many super-thin laptops) is the soldered-on RAM -- virtually every other part is easy to replace, and Dell helps you out by posting service manuals and labeling connectors. Even the signature near-borderless display isn't as hard to take apart as you'd imagine. Whether or not you like the XPS 13 when it's fully assembled, this teardown shows that ultraportables can still be DIY-friendly.
See what makes the iPad Air 2 so skinny
It's safe to say that you don't buy most Apple devices these days with the expectation that you can open them up, and it looks like the iPad Air 2 is no exception. Do-it-yourself repair shop iFixit has torn down the new tablet and found that it's even tougher (or at least, more expensive) to fix than its predecessor in a few respects. That bonded display may be great for cutting back on reflections, but it increases the risk of breaking the panel when you're prying things open -- and it'll cost more to replace if you do break it, since you can't separate the glass from the LCD. Problems from last year persist, too, such as the use of glue to hold seemingly everything together instead of clips or screws. Another change from its predecessor is the battery -- the 27.62 Wh unit is smaller than the original Air's 32.9 Wh capacity, although a more efficient design should keep battery life close between the two. Is any of this a deal breaker if you're set on getting an extra-slim iPad? Probably not, but it's something to consider if you normally prefer to fix gadgets at home instead of taking them back to the store.
Apple really doesn't want you to upgrade the Mac Mini
After the new-but-not-very-fresh iPad mini 3, the most disappointing part of Apple's recent show-and-tell was the $499 Mac mini -- the RAM is now soldered in, making it impossible to upgrade. iFixit has just revealed that the model has other user-unfriendly features as well. While access to the RAM used to be dead simple, it's now guarded by a metal cover held in place by Torx TR6 Security screws, which require an exotic tool. Adding a second hard drive is also, er, harder, since unlike past models, there's just a single SATA port (though you may be able to install a PCIe SSD). Finally, as mentioned, both the RAM and Intel Core-i5 CPU are soldered in permanently. That's not very cricket on Apple's part, considering that past Mac minis were a breeze to access and update. Still, thanks to a lack of glue and easy disassembly with the right tools, the iMac eked a passing repairability grade of 6 out of 10.
iFixit takes a peek inside Apple's new '5K' iMac
Sure, we were only just introduced to Apple's 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display, but the folks at iFixit are already tearing one apart. Inside they found a screen made by LG Display, and a setup similar to previous iMacs, including easily-accessed RAM slots for memory upgrades. Overall, the layout is almost exactly like last year's 27-inch iMac, plus that new display controller Apple bragged about and a slightly wider display data cable, enhanced to feed all those pixels. Repairing things might be tricky given its design, but you should check out the teardown for more details and a look at the carnage.
iFixit cracks open an iPhone 6 Plus to get at the massive battery inside
Need something to make today's wait for your new iPhone easier? Watching the crew at iFixit go at a brand new iPhone 6 Plus with their screwdrivers, spudgers and iSclacks probably won't help, but at least it will pass the time. They're in the middle of pulling Apple's XL-sized phone apart, and while there's not a lot new to report (it's a phone, and it has 1GB of RAM) the pics are always entertaining. The 6 Plus' 5.5-inch display also leaves room for a larger battery, and now we know that it's a 2915 mAh unit. That's about twice the size of the one in the iPhone 5s, slightly bigger than the battery in the Galaxy S 5, but smaller than the swappable 3,220mAh unit slotted inside the 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 4.
Moto 360 teardown reveals ancient chips, clever tech and a small battery
Motorola has been willing to offer a quick peek at the Moto 360's inner workings, but let's face it: that doesn't really go deep enough to sate your curiosity, does it? You don't have to worry, though, as iFixit has torn apart the circular smartwatch to examine every last detail. In the end, the hardware is an odd mix of the latest technology with surprisingly old components. While that round LCD and inductive charger are pretty forward-thinking, the teardown also confirms the presence of TI's OMAP3630 processor -- a chip that hasn't been cutting edge since that Droid 2 you rocked back in 2010.
Project Tango tablet teardown reveals its custom 3D mapping gear
If you've been wondering just what parts let Google's Project Tango tablet work its 3D mapping magic, iFixit is more than happy to show you. The DIY repair outlet has torn down the experimental Android slate to reveal a truly unique sensor array. While it resembles a Kinect at first, Google notes that it had Mantis Vision build a custom infrared projector (which bathes the world in a light grid) that works in tandem with the 4-megapixel IR camera; there's no way you'd replace either with off-the-shelf parts. The big, dual-cell 2,480mAh battery was also made to order, since the ATAP team wanted to let developers draw as much power as necessary for their 3D-savvy apps. The Tango tablet is undoubtedly a very clever design, then, but you'll have to handle it with kid gloves if you ever try it -- you probably won't get another one if it breaks.
Peek into Oculus Rift dev kit 2, see a Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Want to get a preview of the Oculus Rift as it exists in Dev Kit 2 state, but don't have $350 to spare (never mind waiting for the retail version)? Try heading to your nearest electronics retailer and hold a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 right up to your face. Oh sure, it won't give you the 360 degrees of stereoscopic 3D that the full headset offers, but according to a teardown by iFixit, the Rift DK2 nonetheless uses the Note 3 screen to display a resolution of 1080 x 960 in each eye. This isn't the same type of screen or same screen technology, by the way. The screen appears to be literally the same; camera holes, button hole, Samsung logo and all. Oculus even left the touchscreen controller attached. The screen is being overclocked from its usual refresh rate of 60 Hz to 75 Hz, so even though it's the same tech, it's being pushed and used in a way different from the smartphone it comes from. But hey, we'll take what we can get until Oculus and ZeniMax sort out their legal feud. [Image: Oculus]
Repairing the Fire Phone's cameras is more difficult than you think
The intrepid disassemblers over at iFixit have torn Amazon's Fire phone asunder in order to determine how repairable it is, but what did they find? At first blush, things seemed promising, with standard Torx screws holding the chassis together, but after that things started to get sticky. The battery, for instance, is attached with an adhesive tab, but the five front-facing cameras are all held in place with liberal dollops of glue. So much so, in fact, that do-it-yourself repairs are nearly impossible unless you're patient enough to melt each component out of its adhesive prison. Getting spare parts isn't ideal either, since the components share so many resources that you can't just replace one piece -- you've got to buy the lot. That's why the phone scored a measly 3 out of 10 for repairability, which is yet another reason not to buy one.
The Wii U tears itself apart so you don't have to
YouTuber Vsauce3 is at it again, and this time he's tearing down Nintendo's latest console via the always neat-looking stop-motion animation. The Wii U's hardware specs are pretty well known by this point, but what this video does is gives some context to the silicon. The console's 2GB of RAM is much less impressive compared to both the PlayStation 4's and the Xbox One's 8GB, but that's 23 times the amount of memory that was packed into the original Wii. Similarly, the Wii U's 32GB hard drive sounds pretty paltry on paper, but it's apparently big enough to hold every NES, Super NES and N64 game. Pretty cool, right? The video below has a few more bits of trivia contained therein, and watching it will make the wait for the next Legend of Zelda exactly two minutes shorter.
The Surface Pro 3 is nigh-on impossible to repair, just like its ancestors
If you had dreams of upgrading your shiny new Surface Pro 3, you'd better shelve them. The crew at iFixit has torn down Microsoft's latest slate, and it proves just as daunting to repair as both of its predecessors. About the only replaceable part is the solid-state drive, and there's a good chance that you'll destroy your tablet trying to reach that component -- even iFixit cracked the glass while removing the display. Just about everything (including the screen) is held in place with adhesives, and unconventional connectors only add to the challenge. You may not mind the unrepairable design given that the Pro 3 is much thinner and lighter than earlier Surfaces, but this definitely isn't the tablet for tinkerers.
iFixit: OnePlus One equals five for repairability
Like the proverbial internet pony of lore, you may want the OnePlus One smartphone's highly desirable specs and cheap $300 price, but you can't have it -- yet. Somehow the iFixit screwdriver brigade got one though, and recently disemboweled it for your pleasure (see the video below). Sure enough, all the bits are there: 3GB of Samsung-based RAM, 5.5-inch 1080p screen, Snapdragon 801 CPU and a goodly 3,100mAH battery, all inside an 8.9mm thick body. That's pretty slim for a phablet, and therein lies the problem: squeezing all that in required a hard-to-budge (and pricey to replace) fused screen, hidden connectors and adhesives. All that adds up to a repairability score of five out of ten -- far from the worst we've seen, but if you ever manage to nab one, you may want to insure it.
LG's G3 is surprisingly repairable for a smartphone
LG's new G3 has some impressive internals, but just how impressive can't be seen until you take the thing apart. That's just what the folks at UBreakIFix did: they got their collective hands on a newly released Korean G3 and couldn't seem to help themselves. Turns out, the G3 is incredibly easy to take apart (and more importantly, repair) as long as you've got a steady hand and just a little gumption. By their count, all that holds LG's finest flagship together are 14 screws that are revealed once you pry a bit of plastic casing off. The rest of the components are fastened to a single large board instead of multiple like in the G2, which UBreakIFix's Justin Wetherill says makes the prospect of fixing a busted G3 less of a headache. They're still doing a deeper dive on what makes this smartphone tick, but for now, here's a peek into its tightly packed innards.
Watch as an Oculus Rift takes itself apart
If you've been following the virtual reality scene in the past year, you probably already know that the Oculus Rift raised almost $2.5 million on Kickstarter. You probably also know that its 100-degree field of view is three times that of a traditional desktop monitor. However, you likely haven't seen one of the headsets taken apart screw by screw in stop-motion. YouTuber Vsauce3 has meticulously chronicled the VR unit's piece-by-piece disassembly, using the technique made famous by the likes of Ray Harryhausen and, more recently, the team behind ParaNorman. The teardown video has the above factoids (and a few more) literally folded and layered into the gizmo's circuit board and casing, too. Trust us, even if you know everything about the Rift, the clip is still pretty neat to watch.
Project Tango teardown reveals the wonders of the phone's 3D sensing tech
Want to get a better understanding of Google's 3D-sensing Project Tango smartphone beyond the usual promo videos? iFixit is more than happy to show you now that it has torn down the device for itself. The close-up identifies many of the depth mapping components in the experimental handset, including the infrared and fisheye cameras (both made by OmniVision), motion tracking (from InvenSense) and dual vision processors (from Movidius).
Samsung's Galaxy S5 is trickier to repair than its ancestor
An easily expandable phone isn't always an easily repairable phone. If you need proof, take a look at iFixit's newly completed teardown of the Galaxy S5. While Samsung's latest flagship gets some kudos for its removable battery and microSD slot, it's considerably tougher to take apart than its GS4 predecessor. You now have to remove the display if you want to replace any of the internals, and the removal process is especially tricky; part replacements are only easy once you're past this daunting hurdle. There aren't any surprises under the hood, although it's worth noting that Samsung is using a Maxim heart rate sensor chip and a Synaptics fingerprint reader. From all indications, the GS5 is still easier to fix than some phones we know -- it's just not the walk in the park that we saw last year.
Samsung Gear 2's battery is pretty easy to replace
After having their way with Amazon's Fire TV last week, the tool-wielding maniacs educators at iFixit are back, this time inspecting the insides of Samsung's Gear 2 smartwatch. While iFixit neglected to give the original Gear the teardown treatment, its sequel garners immediate favor by moving the camera module from the strap to the watch's main body, making band replacements trivial. A screwdriver and "a bit of light prying" were all that was needed to crack the thing open, and following the initial breach, most components were found to be easy to remove (and therefore replace), particularly the battery. The only sticking point, really, was a fused display assembly that would require replacing in its entirety if damaged or defective. Overall, though, the Gear 2 scored an impressive 8 out of 10 on iFixit's repairability scale, though we doubt your local jewelry store horologist would agree.
