O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: teardown

  • YouTube DIYer posts video, detailed guide as to how to make the M1 Mac mini 78 percent smaller

    YouTube DIYer posts video, detailed guide as to how to make the M1 Mac mini 78 percent smaller

    Apple’s smallest desktop Mac just got 78 percent smaller thanks to the efforts of a YouTube DIY guru.

    The M1 Mac mini, which debuted in November 2020, has retained the same unibody design that Apple has used since 2010. Subsequent teardowns revealed that the ‌M1‌ ‌Mac mini‌ contains a very large amount of empty space given that the unibody design was conceived for Intel-based processors and hardware from the previous 12 years. The M1 architecture, in turn, has allowed Apple to save considerable amounts of space within the casing while proving thermally efficient.

    Now, Quinn Nelson, the YouTuber behind the popular channel Snazzy Labs, has shrunk the ‌M1‌ ‌Mac mini‌ as much as possible by relocating its internals and engineering a new casing.

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    The first major recovery of space comes with the 150 watt power supply, which Nelson replaced with a much smaller 65 watt Microsoft Surface power supply with a retrofitted ‌MagSafe‌ 2 connector, which connects to a DC voltage regulator leading to the ‌Mac mini‌’s logic board. Nelson managed to create a smaller new enclosure for the M1 Mac mini using resin 3D printing, adopting the distinctive “cheese grater” design of the 2019 Mac Pro for enhanced thermals. Nelson relocated parts such as the antennae and power button to the new enclosure and removed the ‌Mac mini‌’s fan. Overall, the modified device is 28 percent of its original volume internally.

    Although the retrofitted Mac mini’s logic board was now in a much smaller enclosure with no fan, Nelson benchmarked virtually no change in performance from the original casing. He has also published a free detailed build guide available for any skilled users who wish to undertake the project for themselves.

    It’s thought that the Mac mini will receive a significant overhaul this year, including the incorporation of the M1 Pro and M1 Max chairs from the 2021 MacBook Pro notebooks. It’s also rumored that the updated Mac mini will retain a similar form factor to the current ‌Mac mini‌, but with an overall reduction in size.

    The new design is purported to feature a “plexiglass-like” top, sitting above an aluminum frame, much like the first-generation Apple TV. The rear of the device is said to feature the same ports that are currently available with the high-end Intel-based ‌Mac mini‌, including four Thunderbolt ports, two USB-A ports, one Ethernet port, and one HDMI port, but will add a magnetic power connector from the 24-inch iMac.

    If you’re curious about Nelson’s overhaul, follow the YouTube video above, and if you try anything similar on your end, please let us know how your project goes in the comments.

    Via MacRumors and Snazzy Labs

  • iFixit notes that replacing your iPhone 13 display with a third party unit could disable Face ID feature

    iFixit notes that replacing your iPhone 13 display with a third party unit could disable Face ID feature

    You may love your brand new iPhone 13, but the cool cats at iFixit have learned through a recent teardown that replacing the smartphone’s screen through a third party repair service could disable the Face ID feature.

    Via the recent teardown, iFixit noted that Apple has added a small microcontroller to the iPhone 13 screen. Unless Apple pairs your iPhone and this microcontroller, FaceID will not function. Worse yet, the pairing process requires tools only Apple and members of its Independent Repair Provider Program have access to. This, in turn, could lead to an error message that says “Unable to activate Face ID on this ‌iPhone‌.”

    Being a part of Apple’s Independent Repair Provider Program also brings its own difficulties, and many reports that indicated that shops must deal with restrictive contracts and requirements in exchange for access to Apple-specific tools. Shops must also provide repair logs to Apple’s cloud servers, which synchronize the serial numbers of the phone and screen.

    iFixit did discover a workaround that can bypass the problem. However, this requires carefully removing the microcontroller from the original screen and then soldering it onto the replacement. It’s a very difficult and work-intensive process.

    This tends to boil down to the age-old controversy between Apple and the right to repair, and it seems as if the lion’s share of iPhone 13 repairs could require AppleCare, or at least a local repair shop that’s in Apple’s favor.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via The Mac Observer and iFixit

  • ChargerLAB posts teardown of Apple’s 140W USB-C charger

    ChargerLAB posts teardown of Apple’s 140W USB-C charger

    There’s been a fair amount of hype as to Apple’s new 140W USB-C G-N charger for the 2021 MacBook Pro notebooks. As such, the cool cats at ChargerLAB performed a full teardown to analyze its components:

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    Via The Mac Observer, AppleInsider, and ChargerLAB

  • iFixit posts in-depth teardown of iPhone 13, offers details on Face ID changes

    iFixit posts in-depth teardown of iPhone 13, offers details on Face ID changes

    Following its live streaming of a full teardown of the iPhone 13 on Friday, the cool cats at iFixit have offered additional details of their in-depth teardown of the iPhone 13 Pro handset.

    One of the notable internal changes this year is a new Face ID array that combines the flood illuminator and dot protector into a single module. This, along with moving the earpiece speaker to the top bezel, is what allowed Apple to reduce the size of the notch in the iPhone 13. 

    The company explained that the dot projector in the front-facing camera has “moved from the edge to the center of the module this year.” The flood illuminator has previously been housed in the display, but has been integrated into the new model. iFixit also confirmed that any display replacement could disable the Face ID function from working.

    Per iFixit:

    Face ID works even when we disconnected the front sensor assembly. However, any display replacement knocks out Face ID.We tried transferring the sensors from the old display and porting over the Face ID hardware, but no dice. It looks like the display is serial-locked to the phone.

    The teardown also offered the opinion that Apple is using a new touch-integrated OLED panel in the iPhone 13 Pro:

    Thanks to some expert knowledge from our new friends at Instrumental, we think the iPhones 13 are using “touch-integrated OLED panels,” which, like their name suggests, combine the touch and OLED layers of a display — reducing cost, materials, thickness, and the number of cables you can accidentally tear. Neat!

    Apple has also apparently moved the earpiece speaker to the top bezel, meaning that there’s now one screw to be found under the logic board.

    iFixit gave the iPhone 13 a repairability score of 5 out of 10, and noted the following points:

    • Once again, double glass means double drop damage, and despite the improvements to durability over the years, there’s still no easy way to replace the rear glass.
    • Software component pairing needlessly complicates many repairs, undermines credibility of third party repair, and reduces critical functionality of the device when repaired without Apple’s proprietary calibration tools.

    If you’ve gotten your hands on the new iPhone 13, please let us know what you make of it in the comments.

    Via 9to5Mac and iFixit

  • YouTube channel ChargerLAB posts teardown of MagSafe Battery Pack

    YouTube channel ChargerLAB posts teardown of MagSafe Battery Pack

    If you were curios as to the components of Apple’s new MagSafe Battery Pack for the iPhone 12 models, here it is.

    YouTube channel ChargerLAB posted a teardown video on Thursday revealing the internal components of the device. Once opened, there’s a dual-cell battery design that allows for additional heat dissipation as needed.

    Per the channel:

    “Hello everyone, welcome back to ChargerLAB. We all know that Apple has released the MagSafe battery pack for iPhone 12 series. We bought it immediately after it began to sell. So, today, we gonna bring the teardown of this latest apple’s power bank to you.”

    Take a gander:

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    If you’ve snagged the MagSafe Battery Pack, please let us know what you make of it in the comments.

    Via The Mac Observer and ChargerLAB