Teardown of Apple's iPad 2 reveals slightly bigger battery, 512MB of RAM

iFixit gave Apple's just-released iPad 2 a repairability score of 4 out of 10 after completing its teardown on Friday. According to the report, the touchscreen tablet contains only standard Phillips screws, while the battery is "very securely" stuck down to the rear case.

The Wi-Fi version of the iPad 2 sports a new model number: A1395, compared to a model number of A1219 for the original Wi-Fi iPad and A1337 for the original iPad 3G. iFixit confirmed via software that the tablet has 512MB of RAM.

Unlike the original iPad, which iFixit described as having "gorgeous symmetry," the iPad 2 requires a heat gun in order to remove the front panel, as Apple has opted to glue the panel in place this time around instead of using clips.

The iPad 2's Li-Ion Polymer battery, which is made up of three cells, is rated at 3.8 volts, 25 watt-hours, slightly more than the original iPad's rating of 3.75 volts, 24.8 watt-hours. As with the original iPad, Apple claims "up to 10 hours" of battery life on the iPad 2.

According to the teardown, the logic board of the tablet contains the Apple 1GHz A5 Processor (APL0498), Toshiba NAND Flash, and additional chips from Apple and Texas Instruments.

"The A5 processor has manufacture dates of late January and mid-February 2011," the report noted. "Production was clearly ramping up through the last minute."

iFixit discovered that Apple has again tapped Broadcom for several of the iPad 2's touch controller chips, as well as a "Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM tuner combo chip" that powers the Wi-Fi board. Also, the tablet's new gyroscope is labeled AGD8 2103.

The report also discovered that the iPad 2 LCD component is 2.4 mm thick, while the glass panel is 62 mm thick. By comparison, the original iPad employed a 3.2 mm thick LCD and .85 mm thick glass panel.

Apple's launch of the iPad 2 at 5 p.m. Friday drew long lines (1, 2), despite reports that increased distribution outlets could shorten wait times. Within hours of opening up online orders for the tablet early Friday morning, Apple began quoting shipping estimates of "2-3 weeks."

Analysts have predicted Apple could sell as many as 1 million iPad 2 units this weekend, though average estimates are closer to 500,000.

For more details, see the detailed step-by-step teardown at iFixit.