Following the teardown of the iPad mini 5, the iFixit team has gone ahead and posted its teardown of the 10.5-inch iPad Air (2019). The teardown confirms the new iPad Air comes with 3GB RAM and despite not sharing the same name, it is internally very similar to the 10.5-inch iPad Pro.

Unlike previous iPad Air models, the iPad Air 3 features a central logic board similar to the iPad Pro. It also features a dual-cell battery design as seen on the 10.5-inch iPad Pro and unlike previous Airs. The battery capacity also sees a slight bump to 30.2 Wh compared to 27.6 Wh found on the iPad Air 2.

If you ever plan on opening your iPad Air 3, you should disconnect the battery as soon as possible to protect your device as well as yourself. The battery’s connector is located below the logic board. There are no pull tabs for the battery which means replacing them is going to be a tough job. That’s the same story as the iPad mini 5 and previous iPads.

Most of the chips inside the iPad Air 3 are similar to the ones found on the 10.5-inch iPad Pro. In place of the additional speakers though, Apple has put a large metal bracket with two posts for further supporting the display and holding the additional LTE antennas.

Just like the iPad mini 5, the iPad Air 3 receives a dismal repairability score of 2 out of 10. While one can use a single Phillips screwdriver to open all the screws inside the device, the excessive use of adhesive and lack of pull tabs mean common repairs like display and battery replacement are extremely tough. Similarly, while most components inside are modular in nature, the Lightning connector itself is soldered to the logic board which means replacing it is going to be an expensive affair.

[Via iFixit]

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