iFixit Blog

Samsung asked iFixit to remove this teardown. Now everyone wants to read it. Classic Streisand. https://ifixit.org/blog/16189/about-our-galaxy-fold-teardown/

It is an impressive engineering feat, and certainly better than the Android ones that just pass analog through the USB-C jack, but it's worth noting that this DAC performs worse than what it replaced [1]. Dynamics have less range, there's more THD, and output impedance is lower, so it's harder to drive heavier headphones. I noticed a difference in clarity using Audio-Technica ATH-M50s and Beyerdynamic DT 990 250Ω. Specifically, the Beyerdynamics could be driven "good enough" for me with the iPhone SE jack, but I wasn't happy with how they sounded on the Lightning dongle. [1] https://ifixit.org/blog/8448/apple-audio-adapter-teardown/

> I really don't understand Apple's obsessions with thinness. Do they really think that a few millimetres off the depth of a laptop is worth sacrificing reliability like this? My favorite is when they wanted thinness so badly, they sacrificed the "bulky" hermetically sealed crystals in favor of super thin non-sealed oscillators of some type. As a result, iPhones would stop working in the presence of helium atoms (such as at hospitals where liquid helium sometimes escapes)[1], but not Android phones (which used the "bulky" hermetically sealed crystal oscillators) [1] https://ifixit.org/blog/11986/iphones-are-allergic-to-helium/

That applies to computers and all of the other un-repairable ewaste generating electronics. All purchases of smartphones, laptops, in fact pretty much all of bestbuy would fall in that category. Can we get a ban on those too? https://ifixit.org/ewaste

I think the best use case for a dongle would be the first MacBook Pro I bought. They had phased out the VGA port for a DVI port, but included a DVI to VGA adapter in the box. The great thing about that is it simple a physical wiring adapter with no other logic inside. It worked well and no one complained since carrying the adapter in the bag with the laptop is not a big deal. In the case of the iPhone 7 the laptop bag is my pocket which has much more limited space and a hard connector getting situated in the wrong spot could end up being uncomfortable until readjusted. Additionally it is not just a wiring adapter. The Lighting to 3.5mm adapter actually contains a DAC and ADC inside of it which unfortunately causes the audio quality to suffer slightly compared to a higher quality dedicated DAC/ADC solution inside the phone. http://ifixit.org/blog/8448/apple-audio-adapter-teardown/

We repair these as part of our business, and to be clear, both the keyboards and the screens are failing on these at an alarming rate. iFixit detailed the issues with the screens, which (in Apple's unending quest for "thinness") use a thinner flex cable to connect the display to the rest of the laptop. This thinner cable is prone to breakage, and we are already seeing 2016-2017 MacBook Pros in our shop regularly for this issue. Since Apple built the flex cable into the display, the only solution (even from third parties like us) is a new display. At $600-$700 each, this is unacceptable. And, like the keyboards, this is a part that's pretty much guaranteed to fail (unless you basically never open your laptop.) Apple hasn't announced a fix yet, even with a petition with over 11,000 signatures, and more screens failing by the day. From the time the keyboard issues happened, I made a strong recommendation to avoid buying these. If you can do your work on a PC, do so. (Personally, I now use a Dell XPS 15 as a "desktop replacement", and kept my old 2013 MacBook Pro around too.) If you need a Mac, consider a desktop version (with a SSD!), or stick with the 2015 or older MacBooks. Even if you think the keyboard issues are fixed, consider too that this is the 4th generation of these keyboards--and Apple promised that the 2nd and 3rd generation would fix these as well. This plus the screen issues means switching to PC if you need speed should be a serious consideration. iFixit…

Following your link, I see that Apple contracts with "Sims Recycling Solutions" to recycle their computers. Here's what Sims has to say about the new Apple Systems: ""Sealed units [like the iPad] make it difficult to remove the batteries," Steve Skurnac, president of SIMS Recycling Solutions, said in a statement. "From a recycler's point of view, the hazardous components [like batteries] need to be easily separated or removed."" If Apple is contracting with third parties to recycle systems, and those third parties don't know how to recycle the glass with an adhesive on it - then there is an issue. [Edit - In their interview, iFixit called out in particular the difficulty separating the battery from the Retina MacBook Pro case - the same concern of the President of Apple's recycling company. http://ifixit.org/2884/apple-ditches-green-standard-cuts-off-federal-a… I just think Gruber (a podcast that I listen to, so it's clear where my biases lay) should have given a bit more credibility to Kyle Wiens. The iFixit guys know a lot about the material elements of hardware, and he did take the time to contact people in the recycling industry before making his comments.

Some devices use MEMS oscillators instead of crystals, which has the bizarre side effect of making them allergic to helium: https://ifixit.org/blog/11986/iphones-are-allergic-to-helium/

They fixed that in the new revision without ever acknowledging it was ever a problem. https://ifixit.org/blog/13979/apples-2018-macbook-pros-attempt-to-solv… Ya know because to responsibility == liability == lower revenues.

There is currently a widely reported issue with display backlight failures in MacBook Pros, apparently caused by a failure-prone flex cable which can’t be replaced: https://ifixit.org/blog/12903/

Yes. iFixit made a big deal about removing them. https://ifixit.org/blog/10016/warranty-void-if-removed-stickers/

Not everybody agrees about the sound quality, compared to the jacks on iDevices: - [German] https://www.heise.de/ct/artikel/iPhone-7-nachgemessen-Audio-Adapter-li… - [Summarising the above] https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/256241/45492 - Another test: http://soundexpert.org/articles/-/blogs/audio-quality-of-lightning-to-… - https://ifixit.org/blog/8448/apple-audio-adapter-teardown/

Link: https://ifixit.org/blog/14883/what-finally-killed-airpower/

Check out "Fig 2" on this page (coil diagram): https://ifixit.org/blog/14883/what-finally-killed-airpower/ Or "Fig 5" on this page: https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/02/19/airpods-wireless-charging-c… P.S. Glad to finally find a technical comment, after scrolling through 200 marketing/business comments. :)

My theory: they couldn't make it past the FCC. Managing overlapping harmonic frequencies is incredibly challenging, and gets harder the more coils that you are integrating. From patent filings, it looks like Apple’s ambitious plan was to use considerably more coils than other charging pads on the market. https://ifixit.org/blog/14883/what-finally-killed-airpower/

Reliability? They can't make a laptop keyboard that survives an encounter with a crumb and if you open your laptop too many times the video cable gets severed: https://ifixit.org/blog/12903/

I'm on a 6+, and the performance is a significant step up (more so than going from a degraded battery to a new battery sometime after the iOS 11 thing). It wedges me somewhat between a rock and a hard place; I'm getting the grey bar of death (https://ifixit.org/blog/8309/iphone-6-plus-gray-flicker-touch-death/), so really want to replace the phone... but the performance is back to where I wouldn't otherwise bother. Bugger.

> When did MacBooks became famous for "bad solder joints"? There has been more[1] than one[2] case where GPUs in MBPs stopped working because of bad solder joints. And ifixit has a guide about how to fix your mac by putting it in the oven[3] to reflow the solder joints. 1: https://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/product_info.php?products_id=813 2: https://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro-videoissues/ 3: https://ifixit.org/blog/6882/why-i-drilled-holes-in-my-macbook-pro-and…

I think you can infer that they're trying to address some of the issues with the keyboard, specifically the dust-breaks-everything bit. There was an ifixit article[0] posted a day or two ago touching on some of those points. The tl;dr there is that the quiet aspect is a result of what looks like a fix for the high failure rate of the keys. They can't admit that it's an issue, likely for legal reasons. [0]: https://ifixit.org/blog/10279/apple-macbook-keyboard-cover-up/

The ~2016-designed [0] third-generation butterfly keyboard (MacBook Pro 2018) features a silicone membrane [1] designed to «prevent and/or alleviate contaminant ingress» [0] thereby softening or preventing dust-caused key failure. [0] http://pdfaiw.uspto.gov/.aiw?docid=20180068808 [1] https://ifixit.org/blog/10279/apple-macbook-keyboard-cover-up/

Two models I'd like to add to this as examples that this is actually possible with all form factors: First the The HP Elite X2, a Surface Pro-class tablet. Quite analogous to the EliteBook - sadly the RAM is soldered (IIRC one of their first actually still had a SODIMM slot): https://ifixit.org/blog/8135/hats-off-to-hps-repairable-tablet/ https://ifixit.org/blog/9309/hp-elite-x2-1012-g2/ And second, the Fujitsu Lifebook U93x. smaller and lighter than most Business-Ultrabooks - almost MacBook 12 size/weight, but still KabyLake U, >10h battery and everything socketed+lots of ports (including USB-A, HDMI, even full size Ethernet!): https://www.notebookcheck.net/Fujitsu-LifeBook-U937-Core-i5-Full-HD-La…

What do other manufacturers do? I remember with AntennaGate, other phone makers had similar problems. Companies don’t typically tell you the bad news. We should push companies for the right to repair: https://ifixit.org/right

See https://ifixit.org/blog/8448/apple-audio-adapter-teardown/

See efforts to pass Right-to-Repair laws in several U.S. states: https://repair.org & https://ifixit.org/right From http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a25246/right… "... farmers have worked on their own equipment "for decades, generations even." Brasch also pointed to the emerging DIY sources of information in the world as a way that farmers and others who want to make repairs can learn about their equipment: "You can go to a YouTube for something as simple as baking a cake to repairing or operating an item. I think that's the way the market is moving. We'd like this market to move with the rest of the world." This is one of the IP/copyright issues being negotiated in the new version of NAFTA (US, Canada, Mexico), as many farmers are affected.

Some tests are referenced in this article: https://ifixit.org/blog/8448/apple-audio-adapter-teardown/

The problem is that companies (especially Apple) are explicitly trying to make their devices harder to repair -- which is the reason for the whole Right-to-Repair movement[1]. If you want to see how much dodgy stuff repair shops have to go through to figure out how to fix Apple products, check out the channels of Louis Rossman[2] and Jessa Jones[3]. [1]: http://ifixit.org/right [2]: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl2mFZoRqjw_ELax4Yisf6w [3]: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPjp41qeXe1o_lp1US9TpWA

Nope. Wired presents this as if its a blanket exception for everything, its not. http://ifixit.org/blog/7475/repair-coalition-wins-exemptions/ is a bit more clear on the types of things that will be allowed under this. As for the specifics of jailbreaking: "The Register also confirmed that the exemption for gamers should not extend to jailbreaking of console software because such jailbreaking is strongly associated with video game piracy." https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/10/28/2015-27212/exempt…

Update on the first article: http://ifixit.org/blog/8343/touch-disease-isnt-going-away/

Who will trust a company like samsung with updating IoT devices? I think it will ed up like their fridges: https://ifixit.org/blog/7657/this-dumb-smart-fridge-shows-why-the-inte…

If you're interested in a hoverboard battery pack and motor drive, take a look at the hoverboard teardown that I did with iFixit: https://ifixit.org/blog/7821/swagway-teardown-hoverboards/