We took apart the new 5th Generation iPod nano! We have finished our hardware analysis and high-resolution photos of the internals.
This iPod employs copious amounts of glue and adhesive to hold everything together. That makes it easy for Apple to put together, but hard to take apart. We had to remove the camera bezel before we could start the disassembly.This iPod employs copious amounts of glue and adhesive to hold everything together. That makes it easy for Apple to put together, but hard to take apart. We had to remove the camera bezel before we could start the disassembly.
Things we noticed:
- As expected, the main ARM processor dwarfs everything else on the board.
- Toshiba is the source for the 8 GB of flash memory. Our memory chips were made in Taiwan in July of this year.
- There is no space for a larger camera in the 6.2 mm thick iPod without reducing the size of other components.
- The speaker is very similar to the speaker in the iPod touch. The audio simply comes out the bottom of the iPod.
- The new 240×376 display boasts 17.5% more screen real estate than the previous model.
- The tolerances on this iPod are incredibly tight. There’s no wasted space inside.
Size comparison:
- iPhone 3G: 12.3 mm thick
- iPhone camera: 6 mm + rubber mount
- iPod nano: 6.2 mm thick
- iPod nano camera: 2.75 mm
- iPod touch: 8.5 mm thick
Including the mount, the iPhone camera is thicker than the ENTIRE new iPod nano!
Unlike the nano, the iPod touch could conceivably support an iPhone-sized camera, although it would certainly be an engineering challenge.
We wish Apple would a little effort into making iPods repairable, instead of forcing people to throw them away when they break. Recent iPods have become increasingly difficult to successfully repair. (One positive note is that unlike the iPhone, we haven’t seen many issues with broken glass on the nanos.)
Our iPod nano teardown is here:
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPod-Nano-5th-Generation/1157/1
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