iFixit

The battery can be pried out of the case with an iPod Nano opening tool, but unfortunately, it is soldered to the logic board.

The 3.7 V lithium-ion battery has a listed capacity of .39 Watt-hours that provides up to 24 hours of continuous music playback.

Converting to the usual amp-hours, we see that the Nano's battery has a capacity of 105 mAh, compared to the Shuffle's 51 mAh.

This iPod Nano's battery only has two wires, one red and one black. All the other iPod Nanos we've taken apart have included three battery wires. That third battery wire typically ties into a thermistor, a resistor whose value changes with temperature (a poor man's thermometer). Presumably the iPod Nano's battery is small enough and the charge rate is slow enough that overheating is not a concern.

The headphone jack and button contacts are connected via a long, thin ribbon cable which runs along the inside edge of the Nano.

Four very small screws secure the button contacts to the top edge.

After removing yet another screw, the headphone jack pops out of place with the help of an iPod Nano opening tool.

The headphone jack, volume buttons, and sleep/wake button are all found on the same ribbon cable that snakes around the inner perimeter of the Nano.

Like its 5th generation predecessor, the new Nano utilizes the headphones as the FM radio antenna. Any headphones will work as an antenna.

Having a hardware based volume control on the exterior of the case is a new, albeit convenient, addition for the Nano.

Chips of interest:

• Toshiba TH58NVG6E2FLA4C 8GB NAND
• Apple 33850859 C0E111022
• Power management Dialog D1830B (Apple 338S0783-B1 10298HLS)
• FM receiver 0650 D0UY 027
• Apple 339S0104 YGC7 1031 K4X51323P1 YRF 020A3 ARM N2HXHZMP 4 1031
• 35758907 1025 A 04 629749

Three more screws hold the new clip to the iPod Nano.

That's a total of eleven screws. Quite a hefty amount for such a small device.

iPod Nano 6th Generation Repairability: 5 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair)

Good: The ribbon cable connectors make it easy to disconnect the display and headphone jack from the logic board.

Good: Once the display is removed, the rest of the disassembly is relatively straightforward.

Bad: Removing the display is very difficult without using a heat gun.

Bad: The battery is soldered to the logic board, making replacement more cumbersome than necessary.