Schools Won't Like How Difficult the New iPad Is To Repair (ifixit.com)

Last week, Apple introduced a refreshed 9.7-inch iPad with Apple Pencil support. iFixit has published its teardown of the device this morning, and as The Verge points out, schools won't like how difficult it is to repair. From the report: The takeaway from all this is that the new iPad isn't going to be any easier to repair than prior generations, which were already borderline unrepairable. If an iPad breaks, there's almost no chance that a district will be able to repair it in-house; whereas on cheaper Chromebooks, there's a possibility an IT team could open them up to make some basic fixes. It's a weak point that it's hard to see Apple ever addressing. And since schools aren't exactly forgiving environments for a lent-out device, how well the iPad holds up to drops and dings, and how expensive it is to fix, are bound to be factors in a school's decision on which devices to adopt. Mac Rumors highlights the key findings from iFixit's teardown: The new iPad's lack of waterproofing, non-replaceable charging port, zero upgradeability, and use of glue throughout the internals added up to a "repair nightmare." iFixit then pointed towards the HP Elite x2 1012 G1 tablet, which got a perfect repairability score of 10 out of 10, summarizing that "Apple's 'education' iPad is still a case of won't -- not can't." One of the iPad's advantages in terms of repairability comes in the form of its digitizer panel easily separating from the display. iFixit pointed out that in the event that either component should break, repair will be easier for schools and educators. The sixth-gen iPad has the same battery as the previous model, with 32.9 Wh capacity. iFixit noted that while this allows Apple to reuse existing manufacturing lines to reduce waste, the battery is still locked behind a "repair-impeding adhesive" that greatly reduced the iPad's repairability score. Apple has provided easy battery removal before, in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but iFixit hasn't seen anything like it since. Ultimately, iFixit gave the 2018 iPad a repairability score of 2 out of 10, favoring the fairly easy repair options of its air-gapped, non-fused display and digitizer glass, but taking marks off for its heavy use of adhesive and sticky tape.

Comments

Re:Can iFixit die already?

[bjwest]

That HP tablet is a full blown Windows 10 device that can run any program Windows 10 can, albeit a bit slower. The iPad runs a mobile OS that is nowhere near as capable as OSX and can't even begin to load full blown desktop progrmas.

Re: Yes..

[Anonymous Coward]

Schools don't repair.
They purchase a support contract from Apple, when one breaks they issue a new one and ship the busted one back. Apple then does a factory refurb, and cycles it back in.
It's almost certainly easier and cheaper than trying to build a rugged device, which kids would break anyhow.

Re:Can iFixit die already?

[jonesy16]

Thank you for this. I sit on a Board of Education for a 5,000+ student district and talk to many other districts. NOBODY is repairing their own tablets. most can't even be bothered to reload toner.

There's a service contract for everything and there isn't enough money in the budget to hire someone to work on this. Most districts I know struggle to keep their networks up and have technicians running at breakneck speed just to fix wireless connections and printer drivers. Repairability may be something a single home user with a tech background cares about, but it's not something that large institutions do.

Re:Pay Teachers First

[aardvarkjoe]

Now if you want to say that education is underfunded overall, then you probably have a stronger case.

Except that's not true. The U.S. spends more on education (in terms of money per pupil) than almost any other country. Teacher salaries, on the other hand, lag behind.

I don't have any good numbers for how much of our overall education spending is being spent on stuff like fancy tablets, but it certainly can't be helping. If you could, for instance, attract a better caliber of teacher by paying them $10K more, I suspect that would have a bigger influence than spending that money on buying everyone iPads.

So,

[BitztreamNotARealNam]

How's life in the hypocrite lane?