Inside the Movie Compatible iPod

Oct 24, 2005 16:26

After momentarily enjoying video files with the new iPod, our project team started to tear down the player. We inserted a pre-paid telephone card between the front plastic cover and the back metal cover of the body to make a clearance, into which we stuck a screwdriver to gradually open the chassis.

The first thing that showed up when we stripped down the iPod was a metal frame enhancing the case body. Judging from the shape and color, the frame seems made of Mg alloy casting. The frame is designed to fit an LCD panel and a printed wiring board (PWB). Apple Computer, Inc. appears to have used this frame to fortify the product's durability, which lowered by boosting the LCD screen size and reducing the unit thickness.

Mounted on the PWB is Portal Player, Inc.'s audio LSI, the same as the one used in the current iPod. It is the "5021C" seen in the "iPod nano." Near the 5021C, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd's synchronous DRAM chip and Broadcom Corp.'s "BCM2722," an LSI for multimedia data processing, are also embedded. Broadcom's chip is intended to process video contents.

The secondary battery is bonded to the metal cover with an adhesive. When we removed it from the cover, the Li-ion secondary battery turned out to be Sanyo GS Soft Energy Co., Ltd.'s product.

Nikkei Electronics Tear-down Team

24 Hours | 7 Days