Following teardowns of the Apple Pencil and the iPad Pro itself, iFixit today completed a disassembly of Apple's new first party Smart Keyboard accessory. The teardown of the keyboard doesn't provide much in the way of surprising internal revelations, but does give those interested a closer look at the accessory's conductive fabric, dome switches underneath the keys, and underlying circuit board powering the device.
iFixit first noted the "high tech fabric" lining the outside of the Smart Keyboard, guessing that the fabric could be nylon due to its tactile similarities to a windbreaker. Once peeled back, the stripped away fabric reveals a row of dome switches beneath, along with a stiffening weight placed in the spacebar for a more reliable return each time a user hits the rectangular key.
Once the Smart Keyboard is cracked open, iFixit discovered the circuit board at the center of the device, but with no added flourishes like LEDs, batteries, or cooling fans due to the accessory's slim size. Once the keyboard frame was pulled away, the site noticed "intestinal squiggles" lining the plastic casing that direct toward small vents on the topside of the keyboard, most likely used to release air pressure each time a key is pressed, according to iFixit.
Lastly the teardown revealed the "brains of the operation" in the form of an ARM-based microcontroller from STMicroelectronics, along with a final layer of three fabric strips at the base of the keyboard. Made of Apple's "conductive fabric" that connects the accessory's smart connector (where the iPad Pro is placed) with the actual keyboard, the fabric allows for a "two-way flow of power and data" that should be able to withstand a lifetime of unfolding the Smart Keyboard.
Overall, iFixit gave the iPad Pro's Smart Keyboard a repairability score of 0 out of 10, meaning once it was torn down the accessory is impossible to repair. The site noted that while the Apple-made accessory is quite durable, it must be damaged to gain entry and none of its internal components can be removed and replaced without causing fatal harm to the device.
Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
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Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
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The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action.
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
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After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory.
A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June.
The original AirTag was announced...
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iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr.
The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhon...
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The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
Tuesday January 21, 2025 6:40 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to release at least one new iPad Pro model this year, according to a supplier-focused report today from Korean website The Elec. It is likely that the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models would be updated simultaneously.
After receiving an OLED display last year, the report said the iPad Pro will receive only "minor" changes this year. Overall, the next iPad Pro is expected to...
Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon.
Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
These 'tear-downs' and rating for repairabilty are so ten years ago. Honestly, who cares?
Me. Fascinating to see how it's built. As for the scores I think FixIt give EVERYTHING a score. No need to get overexcited about it. There's probably an actual apple being peeled in the FixIt archives, and getting a 1/10 score because you can superglue it together afterwards but eatability suffers.
Assigning a "repairability score" to small devices like a keyboard, mouse, pencil, earpods etc is just stupid. Yes, I want to repair my $30 earphones. I think iFixit gets upset because they know they can't sell parts for it and make money. If something is cheap like a keyboard or mouse, I'll get it replaced under warranty or buy a new one if it's out of warranty. I'm not wasting my time fixing something that's not meant to be serviced.
I remember cleaning my white Apple Pro keyboard after looking at a teardown like this. I appreciate them even if you have the money to waste. What’s ironic is you are probably one of those people that laud the EPEAT/Energy Star ratings and how Apple use lots of renewable energy, then in the same breath spout the crapola above about throwing things out like you just did.
These 'tear-downs' and rating for repairabilty are so ten years ago. Honestly, who cares?
It's quite simple. iFixit sells replacement components (new and sued) and the tools in which to repair innumerable consumer electronics. To help market their product they make and give away the instructions for each repair on their site.
While you may be one that wouldn't want to replace an aging battery, a bad fan, a cracked screen, whatever, many people do, hence the market they serve. If have no such inkling to understand how electronics work or to do a repair then I have to wonder why you're reading the article in the first place.
Now, at this point I'm guessing your thinking, "But the Smart Keyboard got a 0 out of 10 so it can't be repaired," and you'd be correct, which means iFixit won't be selling any Smart Keyboard components, iFixit readers that may consider fixing one will see that it's not possible, and those that see some questionable website selling "genuine" Smart Keyboard components will know something is up because of iFixit's efforts to dissect CE for our benefit.
