iFixit

A few Phillips screws are removed with our trusty 54-piece bit kit, and the lower case lifts right off.

With the lower case off, we get a good look at the motherboard and its many attached components. Having items like the joystick and SD card reader on separate boards makes their replacement less costly if they are to break in the future.

The Wi-Fi board can easily be removed from the motherboard with a plastic opening tool.

After disconnecting its singular antenna, it is free from the 3DS.

The back of the board has a sticker labeled Mitsumi DWM-W028, but at its heart lies an Atheros AR6014 IC for 802.11 b/g connectivity.

Moving on, the miniscule IR board can be pried off the board next.

Nobody is really certain what the infrared port on the 3DS will do just yet, but we're thinking it's for some 3DS to 3DS line-of-sight communication.

The IR controller IC is manufactured by NXP and has the markings:

• S750 0803 TSD031C

The bottom of the Circle Pad and SD card slot sit side-by-side and come out with little effort.

This is the first time a Nintendo handheld console has had directional buttons other than the D-pad, whereas the Sony PSP has featured an analog joystick since its debut in late 2004.

A 2 GB SD card comes standard with the 3DS, and can easily be upgraded to a larger capacity SD or SDHC card, an important option if you plan on snapping lots of 3D photos and purchasing games from the Nintendo eShop.

Removing the remaining pesky screws securing the motherboard to the lower case.

Motherboard almost out...this looks kinda familiar...

Chips we've found inside the 3DS motherboard (click here for high-res version):

• Nintendo 1048 0H ARM CPU
• Fujitsu MB82M8080-07L
• Toshiba THGBM2G3P1FBAI8 2 GB NAND Flash
• Texas Instruments PAIC3010B 0AA37DW
• UC CTR 041KM73 KG10
• Invensense ITG-3270 MEMS Gyroscope
• ST Micro 2048 33DH X1MAQ Accelerometer Model LIS331DH

The back of the motherboard is a little less exciting:

• TI 93045A4 OAAH86W

The lower LCD assembly lifts out without any trouble.

The 2.42" x 1.81" LCD with 320 x 240 pixel resolution is capable of displaying 16.77 million colors.

The digitizer on the bottom display is much thicker than those found on most cellphones, most likely due to the fact that the touch display is used with a stylus, rather than a fingertip.

Also, the lower microphone can be pulled out of the case at this point.