Apple iPad 2 3G Teardown

Apple began shipping the iPad 2 at 5 p.m. at its stores and other affiliated retailers nationwide on March 11. Apple's original announcement was vague, as Apple always seems to be, about what's under the hood of their newest device, and yet, the lines stretched and turned for block, with consumers desperate to be the first to have the iPad 2. Our crack teardown team at UBM TechInsights waited in line for 12 hours in Syracuse, NY! But the early results are in, and there were a few surprises. For example, the 3G radio represents yet another big win for Qualcomm. The 3G chip is the same one used in Motorola's Xoom tablet, and in the Verizon version of Apple's iPhone. That's pretty big props (not to mention volume). Another surprise: the iPad 2 touch screen controller is the older Broadcom BCM5974 -- Apple has been using a TI controller as of late, and customizing it with Apple markings. Enjoy some of the early results of our teardown, including the full comparison chart at the end -- it breaks down the parts and costs for the original iPad, the iPad 2 and Motorola's Xoom. The UBM TechInsights team will start dissecting the dual core A5 chip tomorrow to determine its origin; it will do the same with the audio codec (which the team suspects is from Sirrus Logic) and the power management unit (probably the Dialog D1815A). Special thanks to UBM TechInsights, especially Allan Yogasingam.

Start The Discussion  |  Fritz Nelson  |  March 12, 2011 00:51 AM