iPad Mini makes two common repairs 'unnecessarily difficult,' says iFixit
iFixit's teardown found updated internals and lots of glue.
- She received the Renau Writing Scholarship in 2016 from the University of Louisville's communication department.
iFixit dug into the fifth-generation iPad Mini.
Apple has released the fifth-generation iPad Mini. So, of course, the repair experts at iFixit needed to tear it apart.
The new 7.9 inch tablet, launched two weeks ago, sticks to its roots as a revamp of the iPad Mini 4, according to iFixit's teardown published Tuesday. One notable change is the battery connector design, which could prevent people trying to fix a device from accidentally killing the backlight during a repair, according to iFixit. The iFixit team calls this tweak "nifty!"
iFixit also noted that both the screen and battery are difficult to remove. The removal of the display, in particular, if not done carefully, could compromise the Touch ID technology.
"Battery and screen replacements are the two most common repairs, and the iPad Mini makes both unnecessarily difficult," iFixit said. "The battery lacks pull-to-remove adhesive tabs, and the display requires a tricky removal of the home button if you want to keep Touch ID after your repair."
iFixit noted that iPhones are still ahead of iPads in terms of assembly. While the devices share similar parts, the iPad Mini messily glues in the pieces. Overall, iFixit gave the iPad Mini a pretty low score -- two out of 10 -- on its repairability scale.
The new iPad Mini starts at $399. Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
