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Media (Apple) Media Toys Technology

iPod Mini Autopsy 421

Posted by CmdrTaco from the eat-that-warranty-man dept.
tritone writes "Some fearless soul has disassembled his iPod mini and provided pictures and commentary about the process. This really does seem to be an autopsy since he managed to kill it in the process. That's $249 well spent in the pursuit of knowledge. See the full report at www.ipodlounge.com."
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iPod Mini Autopsy More

iPod Mini Autopsy

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  • Well... (Score:5, Funny)

    by baldass_newbie ( 136609 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:36PM (#8400582) Homepage Journal
    Is the battery at least covered under warranty?

  • Eep! (Score:4, Funny)

    by PatrickThomson ( 712694 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:36PM (#8400584)
    No comments at all and already slashdotted... What's the webserver running on, an iPod?

  • Server is already slow - here's the text (Score:5, Informative)

    by ghettoboy22 ( 723339 ) * <scott.a.johnson@gmail.com> on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:37PM (#8400591) Homepage
    Photo server is still up at http://gallery.ipodlounge.com/ipod/thumbnails.php? album=6 [ipodlounge.com] Taking apart the iPod mini

    February 23, 2004 By Greg Koenig

    Apple has crammed a lot of stuff into the anodized aluminum enclosure of the new iPod mini, and taking it apart is no easy task. I'm an industrial designer with lots of experience pulling back the curtain and meeting the wizard in PDAs, Mp3 players, stereos, watches and all sorts of other gear. I am usually pretty good at it, having not broken something in years (lots of bug hunts for tiny parts on the floor though). Except my brand-new iPod mini, where I screwed up big time... twice!

    The Procedure:

    Tools needed: (1) Wiha 1.5mm flat head screwdriver (1) Wiha Philips #000 screwdriver (1) Needle nose pliers or medical (Kelly type) hemostats (1) Hair dryer

    To help illustrate my disassembly adventure, view the iPod mini autopsy photos and follow along.

    To begin with, make sure the 'Hold' button is locked into the ON position (showing orange) to prevent the internal components to be turning on while you are taking it apart.

    The plastic top and bottom plates are glued into place with a tacky adhesive that will soften considerably when heated so use the hair dryer on a low setting to heat up the top plate. Work the area until it's very warm to the touch. Now turn the mini around so you're looking at the Apple logo and squeeze the two rounded edges together at the top, causing the enclosure to bow a little bit in the middle. Insert the flat bladed screwdriver between the plastic and the metal (in line directly above the Apple logo) and gently pry the plate straight up. Work around the edges, leaving the area around the 'Hold' button till last. When you finally do get to the 'Hold' button area, pry carefully and pull the plate STRAIGHT up. Behind the 'Hold' button are two plastic standoffs (sort of like tabs) that extend down into the case and push the real switch on and off. If you pry the thing out at an angle, you will break one of these standoffs. That was mistake #1 for me. The actual 'Hold' switch soldiered onto the main board broke, so the 'Hold' switch no longer works.

    Now perform the same procedure on the plastic bottom plate. When it is removed, you will see a shiny sheet-metal plate held in place under spring tension by 4 tabs inserted into reliefs machined into the enclosure. At the end of each of these tabs, you will see a round hole. Use the Philips #000 in these holes and carefully pry each tab out of its slot. The sheet-metal plate will come right out.

    Next, you need to disconnect a ribbon cable that connects the scroll/click wheel assembly to the main baord. This ribbon cable is on the bottom of the mini on the left hand side. It is orange. You can't miss it. Use the 1.5mm blade screwdriver to pry it apart. If there isn't enough slack in the ribbon cable, don't worry, as long as you get the connector loose, you have done your job here.

    Turn the mini over, looking back into the top, you will see two tiny philips head screws on either side of another metal plate. Remove these with the #000 screwdriver carefully and put them in a safe place (don't drop these on the floor, you will never see them again).

    Now comes the fun part - gently push on the 30 pin connector at the bottom of the mini and all of the main components (on an assembly I call the component sled) will slide right out the top. It is a bit tight, but if you meet major resistance, back off and INSURE you have the ribbon cable disconnected. This is where I messed up and killed my iPod mini, I forgot to check and I pushed with all my might, ripping the ribbon cable off of the male connector. Oops.

    The component sled contains nearly all of the iPod's internals; the main circuit board, battery, LCD display and hard drive. While the LCD is held onto the ma inboard with 4 plastic tabs, the battery and HD ar

  • More like murder (Score:5, Funny)

    by cerskine ( 202611 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:37PM (#8400602)
    In an autopsy, the doctor doesn't kill anything. So it was more like a murder, then. Think before you type.

  • Get Riker to do the narration... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:37PM (#8400605)
    ...and you've got the next boffo fox special!

  • Duh (Score:5, Funny)

    by savagedome ( 742194 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:37PM (#8400608)
    This really does seem to be an autopsy since he managed to kill it in the process

    /.ers know that real men use 'kill -9' to do this.

  • Fool! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by joelgrimes ( 130046 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:38PM (#8400625)
    He who breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom. (J.R.R. Tolkien)

  • I'm sure... (Score:5, Funny)

    by thelasttemptation ( 703311 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:39PM (#8400632) Journal
    I'm sure in a month or two he could have gotten a dead one on ebay, thus saving himself $250. Why, oh why kill a good one?

  • Slashdotted already - Google Cache (Score:3, Informative)

    by Trespass ( 225077 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:39PM (#8400636) Homepage
    http://216.239.37.104/search?q=cache:jM4q0XOel_oJ: gallery.ipodlounge.com/ipod/
    thumbnails.php%3Falb um%3D6+ipod+mini+autopsy&hl=en &ie=UTF-8

    Copy and paste, remove the space, you know the drill.

  • autopsy ? (Score:5, Funny)

    by funny-jack ( 741994 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:39PM (#8400638) Homepage
    This really does seem to be an autopsy since he managed to kill it in the process.

    Somehow I doubt that the D.A. would see it that way.

  • Auto Applications (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Enze6997 ( 741393 ) * on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:39PM (#8400644)
    If there was an easy way to create some kind of direct hot swappable drive slot for this hard disk that you could switch between a PC and a car you could really do some crazy in car audio mods for cheap. Have the i-pod display and controll buttons mounted somewhere in the car and then just wire in the audio to the Aux audio input for the stereo. It would be a not only easy mod but a cool looking one if done right.

  • All you really need to read is the conclusion (Score:5, Funny)

    by _PimpDaddy7_ ( 415866 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:41PM (#8400670)
    Conclusion:

    Don't take apart your new iPod mini.

    Well that takes care of that, doesn't it? :)

  • Coming soon: iPod Mini's Dirty Secret... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:41PM (#8400683)
    ...they break when ham-handed fools take them apart, and Apple won't give said fools a free replacement!

    Paging the Neistat brothers...

  • Well.. (Score:4, Funny)

    by dtio ( 134278 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:42PM (#8400689)
    ..this definitely hacking for fun and [for apple's] profit ;)

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) * on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:43PM (#8400696)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • money well spent (Score:5, Funny)

    by markov_chain ( 202465 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:43PM (#8400700)
    That's $249 well spent in the pursuit of knowledge.

    $249 is not a lot, but I would love to see his bandwidth bill this month ;)

  • 4 GB CF extraction.. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by steppin_razor_LA ( 236684 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:46PM (#8400720) Journal
    I read this site yesterday after seeing a link in the Slickdeals discussion forums.

    It sounds like extracting the 4GB CF isn't much of a problem.

    People have been able to put it in a CF reader and get it working fine on their computers.

    A number of people have reported problems getting the CF to work with their cameras or other CF devices working in the iPod. I suspect that this has something to do with how apple formatted the disk and will eventually be solved.

    For those of you laughing at iPod mini buyers -- they could probably sell the 4GB CF cards for a profit.

  • Another photo gallery (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:46PM (#8400722)
    Can't get to the article, but found this one showing a nicely dissected mini ipod...

    iPod mini Dissection [ipodding.com]

  • Ummm.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Stingr ( 701739 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:46PM (#8400725)
    "This really does seem to be an autopsy since he managed to kill it in the process."

    I'm no expert but aren't autopsies supposed to be performed after death??? I believe the word you are looking for is malpractice.

  • Picky, picky, picky (Score:5, Insightful)

    by michael_cain ( 66650 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:49PM (#8400760) Journal
    This really does seem to be an autopsy since he managed to kill it in the process.

    Wouldn't that technically make it a vivisection? Since it was alive when he started?

  • Site slashdotted (Score:3, Interesting)

    by broothal ( 186066 ) <christian@fabel.dk> on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:50PM (#8400764) Homepage Journal
    This happens every day. A story is posted on slashdot that links to some site.
    Site is brought to its knees.

    Now - how about a slashdot-cache like google cache? It's not fair to punish the guys that post interesting stuff on their website like this story.
    All links in the story would then link to the slashdot-cache and leave the original site alive.

    And - aside from saving the sites some trouble, it would enable those of us who came in late to see how he dismantled that ipod.

  • Necropsy (Score:5, Informative)

    by jkujawa ( 56195 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:50PM (#8400765) Homepage
    It's a necropsy unless the procedure is being done by another iPod mini.
    Autopsy refers to dissection of a human by a human, or by extension, some instance of class 'foo' by another instance of class 'foo'.

    Actually, in this case, it would be a vivisection, as the iPod started out functional, and died due to the procedure.

  • You may not find the screws again... (Score:4, Funny)

    by autophile ( 640621 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:52PM (#8400799)
    Turn the mini over, looking back into the top, you will see two tiny philips head screws on either side of another metal plate. Remove these with the #000 screwdriver carefully and put them in a safe place (don't drop these on the floor, you will never see them again).

    ...but you will hear them.

    Whirrrrrrrr--clickclickclick*clunk!*--whirrrrrrrrr

    --Rob

  • Slashdoted to hell, solution? (Score:5, Funny)

    by zeux ( 129034 ) * on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:55PM (#8400838)
    Ok listen everybody. Let's try to go on the website one by one.

    Stop clicking the link, I'm going first ;)

  • autopsy? I think not (Score:5, Funny)

    by pmbuko ( 162438 ) <pmbuko AT gmail DOT com> on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:56PM (#8400847) Homepage
    CmdrTaco needs to update his vocabulary. If the subject is alive before the procedure, but dead afterward -- that's murder! Or at least a malpractice lawsuit.

  • Replace that microdrive? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:58PM (#8400884)
    Would it be possible to rip out the 4GB microdrive, put it to good use in a camera, and replace it with a 512meg solid-state CF card? Would give you a non-skipping iPod mini that can interface with iTunes, and plenty of space to go work out with it. Plus the cheap microdrive.

  • spend $249 and get ... $480, plus (Score:5, Informative)

    by Mablung ( 723714 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @03:59PM (#8400890)
    Here's a discussion [studio2f.com] that talks about yanking the ($479.95) Hitachi microdrive inside. More discussion on my original source: boingboing [boingboing.net]

    No sig for you!

  • yet another dissected ipod mini (Score:5, Informative)

    by mohrt ( 72095 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @04:05PM (#8400970) Homepage
    Here is another one [ipoding.com].

  • Somewhat related question (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ktulu1115 ( 567549 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @04:24PM (#8401169)
    Please don't mod this offtopic, as it is a relevant question...

    For those iPod owners out there: What has been your experience with the device as far as strength/stability goes? As in... Does a drop off a table crash the heads? I am looking into purchasing one possibly, but my main use will be for snowboarding and if it's not gonna be able to take some abuse (obviously it will be in my jacket but still subject to vibration and the occassional wipeouts), I would rather go with a solid-state one. Any feedback would be most useful.

    • Re:Somewhat related question (Score:4, Informative)

      by cyberworm ( 710231 ) <cyberworm.gmail@com> on Thursday February 26, 2004 @04:41PM (#8401395) Homepage
      I've got a 40gig iPod, and haven't had a problem with it. I'm pretty rough on my hardware (This iPod has been dropped 4 times since christmas) as well as the father of a two year old son (who found it laying out and decided to press the buttons ruthlessly and shake it a few times). Still works and none the worse for it.
      As far as skipping goes, if it's in my pocket when I go up or down stairs quickly, it hasn't skipped yet.
      In fact, the only problem I have had, happened when using the Belkin Battery Pack. When the batteries in the pack started dying, the music slowed down, similar to a record slowing down.

      I recently got an iSkin for my pod, which I think was a great investment for helping to protect it.

      aloha

    • Re:Somewhat related question (Score:4, Informative)

      by lytlebill ( 659903 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @04:55PM (#8401545)
      Having used iPod the very first time I went snowboarding, I can say it lived fairly well despite my frequent crashes. That trip, I loaned it to my more experienced friend, and he loved it, all the while shredding more and crashing less. I have a 10GB second gen iPod, and including that visit to the slopes, it has suffered minor drops very well. By minor I mean 2-3 feet, while it is either off or running. So far, I haven't lost it onto concrete or metal from distance (knock on wood), but I purchased it with an extended warranty from CompUSA, so I imagine I have a slightly more reassured attitude about the whole thing.

    • Re:Somewhat related question (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Wooo ( 613477 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @04:57PM (#8401566)
      I do a lot of rollerblading with my iPod here in the streets of New York City and I've had my fair share of wipeouts. The trick is to get a case similar to this [hausofpods.com] one which provides non-slip rubberized sides and a nylon face and backing. I've dropped my iPod while standing up, fallen on it, crashed into various obstacles etc. and my iPod is still working perfectly to this day.

      Just make sure to get a case which will offer some shock protection, the standard case which ships with the iPod wasn't really meant for any contact sports.

  • as the old joke goes (Score:5, Funny)

    by geighaus ( 670864 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @04:34PM (#8401310)
    Autopsy showed that that patient's death was caused by the autopsy.

  • Breaking it is by definition unwise (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Ed Avis ( 5917 ) <ed@membled.com> on Thursday February 26, 2004 @05:15PM (#8401746) Homepage
    He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom. -- Gandalf
  • PETE (People for the Ethical Treatment of Electronics) maintains that the goals of science can be equally well served without doing harm to our bleeping, whirring, cousins. As a show of protest, they have initiated a series of ddos attacks against sites linked to by popular "electronic butchery forum" slashdot. [slashdot.org]

    PETE spokesman Nigel Rehnquist defending the ddos attack, saying "the ethically important question is not - can electronics understand what is being done to them? The ethically important question is - can electronics feel pain? I've trained my tamagotchi to wail in agony when I press this button, which makes YOU a sadist!"

    PETE has achieved notoriety in recent years for it's colorful lobbying and advertising efforts. One series of advertisements, which NBC declined to air, showed graphic depictions of graphing calculator-shaped puppets transmiting IR signals to one another and moaning in the throes of ecstacy. PETE called the advertisement a public service announcement to remind Americans how important and easy it was (only a bit of tape is required) to "fix" their graphic calculators. Prominent executives at another network approached about the ads, speaking on condition they not be identified, called the series of advertisements "disturbing, incomprehensible and weird." "One of them kept rocking his cellphone and singing to it," added one executive, "they scare me."

  • Next step! (Score:5, Funny)

    by dynayellow ( 106690 ) on Thursday February 26, 2004 @07:50PM (#8403101)
    Now you must demand that Apple give you a new one and create an iMovie of you defacing their advertisements.

    Also, register appledidnotpreventmefromdestroyingmyminiipod.com

    MSNBC, here you come!

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