New iPod Nano not so easy to fix, finds iFixit
A teardown of the 7th-generation iPod Nano by iFixit finds the battery and other components soldered to the logic board, making them difficult to replace.
Apple's latest iPod Nano will pose challenges to anyone who needs to repair one.
Roaming around the innards of the new Nano, iFixit discovered that the battery, Lightning connector, button cable, and headphone jack are all soldered to the logic board. The battery is also attached to the back of the display assembly using a strong adhesive. All of that means a fair amount of work for anyone who needs to replace one of those components.
On the plus side, the DIY repair site found the case easy to pop open by loosening two standard Phillips screws and using a handy plastic opening tool. The LCD and the digitizer glass aren't fused together, so either one can be removed without affecting the other.
Overall, the new iPad Nano received a repairability rating of 5 out of 10, with 10 being the easiest to repair. Of course, Apple specifically designs its products so that people can't even replace the battery, let alone tinker around inside. So the low rating from iFixit isn't surprising.
What else did iFixit uncover on its inside tour of the Nano?
The battery is rated at 0.8 watt hours, more than twice the rating of the previous Nano, which translates into longer life on a single charge for the new device. Spotted on the logic board were an Apple branded chip, a Broadcom Bluetooth + FM Radio chip, NAND flash memory from Toshiba, and a touch-screen controller from Texas Instruments.
A teardown of the new iPod Touch by iFixit also found repair challenges. But the iPod Touch received an even lower repairability rating of only 3 out of 10.
Apple bumped up the size of its 7th-generation iPod Nano, changing it from a small, square device to a taller, thinner product offering a 2.5-inch touch screen.
