Steps 1–21: iPod nano 5th Generation Teardown
Tools
iPod Opening Tools
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Spudger
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Metal Tweezers
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Step 17
The camera, in all its VGA resolution glory. The camera itself is less than 3 mm thick.
Space may have been a factor in not including a better camera. Excluding its mount, the camera in the iPhone 3G is about 6 mm thick. The 5th Gen nano is 6.2 mm thick at its thickest point.
Unlike the nano, the touch, at 8.5 mm thick, could conceivably support an iPhone-sized camera, although it would certainly be an engineering challenge.
Step 18
In our iPod, Toshiba is the source for the 8 GB of flash memory. On the chip:
TH58NVG6D2ELA49
ID8038
TAIWAN
09299AE
It looks like this was made in Taiwan in week 29 of 2009 (mid-July).
Also visible to the right of the Toshiba chip is the rubber mounting fixture for the camera, assumedly to dampen vibrations.
Step 19
The front of the logic board.
The main ARM processor dwarfs everything else on the board. Similar to previous iPods, we expect this is an Apple-branded Samsung processor.
Here's the markings from the processor:
339S0081 ARM
K4X51323PG-UGC6
EDE168AG 0928
APL0378A00
N1X2XW 0931
Step 20
The shiny chip is visible from this angle:
338S0559
ATWV0926
SGP
Step 21
~ The End ~
Credits:
Pictures and hardware analysis: iFixit
Flying to Pennsylvania to take apart the new iPod nano for you: iFixit's summer intern.
Want a programming job with us? We're hiring.
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Watch out for that delicate connector directly left of the apple branded arm chip. Looks like, in the picture, it was broken in half during disassembly.
EDIT: Easier to see in Step 20
iFixit Staff
Yup, a word from the (recently) wise: remove the click wheel before you slide the internals out.
Some of the "Tools" you use to disassemble an item with parts so small are really quite archaic. You should put in for some newer tools for finer work. IPO.
This is wonderful - thank you! Is there any sign of the size of the sensor on the camera? I can't find any specs on the basic Apple site.
I was about to make the same comment, noticed that right away. It is a bit scary when even the experts have trouble opening these things intact 0.0 I guess Apple's so hellbent on making these things thinner they sacrifice serviceability. I wonder what their yields and raw production costs are like? Their computers are much easier to work on, even if the iMac does require a big suction cup to pull the glass panel off..
Do we have a chance to find out which chip is for the FM radio ? Is there a bluetooth ( for Nike? ) or Wi-Fi ( to upload video ) ?
Hey, but what about axelerometer? Apple was remove it from iPod nano 5G? Or we still can shake nano for next song?
3.5mm connector missing in final image?
There has to be a way for the pedometer to work, right? It is still there.
Nope, the board is upside down, so it is on the left of the dock connector.
It's still in there, that's how the shake to shuffle feature works. Also, is can detect which way the ipod it turned and put video in that direction (left or right from its usual upright position), and it can decide whether to record video in portrait or landscape mode.
So what is the chip handling the communications for this machine?