iPad teardown photos: Thank you, FCC

Usually it takes a few days, or at least a few hours, for teardown enthusiasts to rip apart and analyze a new Apple product. This time, courtesy of a disclosure by federal regulators, they've been able to do it before the iPad goes on sale on Saturday morning. (See CNET's full review.)

The Federal Communications Commission publicly has posted 15 iPad documents that Apple submitted, including photos and wireless test results--even though Apple engineer Mike Kriege requested that the materials be kept confidential for 180 days.

The good folks over at iFixit, who previously rent asunder the iPod Shuffle, the Nexus One, and the iPhone 3GS, have already posted their analysis. The high points: the battery is not soldered, so it can be replaced; the display appears to be an expensive LG-Phillips model with LED backlighting; the iPad 3G is model A1337; and there's a lot of epoxy, hinting at high durability.

Back of iPad display.

This letter to the FCC from Apple engineer Mike Kriege, dated February 18, 2010, requests that the material be kept confidential for 180 days.

iPad main logic board.

iPad main logic board, flipped.

The Federal Communications Commissions' regulations set limits, called Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), for human exposure to radiofrequency energy. Cell phone or other wireless emissions below SAR levels -- 1.6 watts per kilogram -- are considered safe.

iPad internals with speakers removed.

The iPad's Wi-Fi antenna.

Another view of the iPad's bottom housing.

And another look at iPad's bottom housing.

The iPad's I/O cable.