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iFixit’s Fifth Generation iPod Touch Tear Down

Posted in iPod, News on 11/10/2012 by Henry Taylor-Gill

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More and more people are getting their hands on the fifth generation iPod touch unveiled at the iPhone 5 event, and in its usual style, iFixit has torn down Apple’s latest iPod to see what’s inside.

As is normal with recent Apple products, iFixit has given a low repairability score of 3/10 (even though the iPhone 5 proved the exception with 7/10), meaning that opening it up for repairs is pretty much out of the question if you’re an amateur.

The full list of what iFixit discovered on the logic board:

  • Apple A5 dual-core processor, with 4 Gb (512 MB) of Mobile DDR2 RAM, denoted by theH9TKNNN4KDBRCR silkscreen label on the A5
  • Toshiba THGBX2G8D4JLA01 256 Gb (32 GB) NAND flash
  •  Apple 3381064 dialog power management IC (similar to the Apple 338S1131)
  •  Murata 339S0171 Wi-Fi module
  •  Broadcom BCM5976 touchscreen controller
  • Apple 338S1116 is unknown at this time (although it bears a striking resemblance to theApple 338S1117 found in the iPhone 5)
  • STMicroelectronics low-power, three-axis gyroscope (AGD3/2229/E5GEK)
  • Texas Instruments 27AZ5R1 touchscreen SoC
  • STMicroelectronics 2226 DSH CKBEV
  • NXP Semiconductors 1608A1

And some of the main points from the teardown:

  • While very difficult, opening the case and replacing components is not impossible.
  • The battery is flanked by notches that make prying it out of the rear case fairly easy.
  • Many components are soldered together, requiring either a very difficult or very expensive repair if any one part breaks.
  • The Touch has no external screws. Instead, a combo of clips and adhesive makes it difficult to open the case.
  • Cables connected to the logic board run over the top and connect on the bottom, making it difficult to remove the board or disconnect the cables.

It’s definitely an interesting teardown and a great way to find out what exactly is inside your iPod touch. You can read through the full process in detail here.



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Henry Taylor-Gill

Henry is a student who is a huge Apple fan, and has used their products since day one. He can remember how happy he was when he received the first iPod back in 2001 as a birthday present. He has an international background, having spent most of his life in France but he now lives in the UK. He is also a native French speaker and can also speak Spanish at a decent level. In addition to tech, Henry is an avid sports fan and has his own sports blog.