iFixit

…and the culprit is found. Insulating tape holds the display to the rear case and protects the Lightning connector cable.

With the tape peeled up, we remove the display assembly and can turn our attention to the interior.

Bad news: due to the placement of connectors, you'll need to remove the LCD prior to removing the digitizer. Great news: the LCD and front glass are two separate components. This contrasts the fused glass-LCD assemblies in both the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7. Thanks for the repairability, Apple!

Peeling the tape and EMI shield off the display reveals the ICs controlling the 1024x768 unit:

• Samsung W1235 S6TNMR1X01 Display Driver
• Silicon Mitus SM4031 DA1232 SMCP043, Display PMIC
• 416R 8227
• HDU 2YC 34

Though the markings on the back of the LCD don't turn up much information, the Samsung display driver IC reveals that Apple once again went with Samsung in its display manufacturing.

Apple has reportedly been working to move away from Samsung as a primary supplier, so it's somewhat surprising to see a Samsung LCD inside. With that said, Apple often relies on multiple suppliers for a single component, meaning there's quite likely other LCD manufacturers lurking inside other iPad Minis.

Fortunately, the iPad Mini inherited the connector-fastened battery from its larger sibling, not the soldered-in battery found in the iPod Touch.

A plastic card makes a nice tool to pry the battery up from the rear panel, but it's still a very difficult task to break through all of the adhesive securing it to the rear case without puncturing the cells.

A close-up of the battery connector exposes the numbers 821-1564-04 C 3312.

We get a good look at the battery, and find ourselves scratching our heads a bit.

• This is a 3.72 V, 16.5 Whr, 4440 mAh battery.
• Or maybe it's a 3.78 V, 16.9 Whr, 4400 mAh battery?
• Or maybe it's a 3.72 V, 4400 mAh battery?
• Or maybe, according to Apple's tech specs, it's only 16.3 Whr.

Whatever the capacity, it's decidedly mini when compared to the massive 43 Whr battery in the iPad 3. Even the venerable iPad 2 sports a 25 Whr package, 50% more than the iPad Mini.

Next off is the digitizer.

Hiding on the connector are a couple of Broadcom touch controller ICs marked BCM5976C0KUB6G.

• This chip looks familiar…oh yeah, we saw them in the MacBook Air.

An antenna sits on top of each speaker, presumably Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Apple wasn't joking about "mini"; these are some of the smallest screws we have ever seen!

For comparison, the screw on the right is from the bottom of an iPhone 5, where the screw on the left is from the Mini.

The folks at Amazon doubted, but we can confirm the Mini does indeed sport stereo speakers. In this one regard, the Mini outdoes the still-mono Retina iPad.

The reduction of connector size (30-pin to Lightning) has left just enough space to squeeze a second speaker into the device, allowing for sound quality that is anything but mini.

Two hidden screws secure the Lightning connector to the rear case.

They've been around less than two months, but Lightning ports are spreading like wildfire across nearly the entire iOS lineup. However, the iPad 2, iPhone 4/4S, and iPod Shuffle are still Lightning-less…for now.

As badly as we want to completely remove the Lightning port ribbon cable, we will have to wait, as it appears to be soldered to the logic board.