iFixit has posted its teardown of Apple’s latest low-cost iPad model. Dubbing it the “iPad 6” in its teardown, iFixit’s analysis of the sixth-generation iPad reveals a device that’s mostly just a lightly upgraded model of last year’s fifth-gneration iPad, with the Apple A10 Fusion CPU and a new “Pro-grade” Broadcom BCM15900B0 touchscreen controller providing Apple Pencil support — the same chip found in last year’s iPad Pro models. iFixit noted that the LCD was surprisingly easy to remove one it’s separated from the cover glass and digitizer, and the air-gapped and separately replaceable cover glass and LCD make many drop damage repairs far less expensive than they might otherwise be — an advantage for an iPad targeted at classroom use. However, iFIxit noted that this was about the only repairability advantage to the new iPad, which otherwise presented many barriers to easy repairs, such as a solid barrier of very strong adhesive holding the iPad together and nearly everything else in place, along with foam sticky tape that increases the risk of damage during disassembly. While these are likely not to be serious issues for professional repair shops, it will definitely be an impediment to do-it-yourself repairs, resulting in a “repairability score” by iFixit of 2 out of 10.
