Gadgetory

with a new processor touch ID home button and even a thinner profile the iPad air 2 is a solid upgrade to last year's model and as I'll show you it's actually easier to open and has a few surprises inside the case I'm buildin Weiler and this is cracking open the iPad air 2 is the same width and height as last year's air but it's ever so slightly thinner it also weighs a few grams less but the difference really isn't noticeable the air 2's Retina display has the same resolution as last year's model but it comes with the new anti reflective coating and for the first time the front panel and display are actually laminated together which will definitely come into play when we crack this thing open now along with the screen upgrades the air 2 has Apple's new a 8 X processor and m8 motion coprocessor it has better FaceTime and iSight cameras 802 11 AC Wi-Fi and finally a touch ID enabled home button now given all this new hardware I can't wait to see what's on the inside so let's get cracking as with last year's iPad air I use the heat gun to loosen the adhesive that holds the front panel to the aluminum case then starting from the lower left corner I used a series of thin tools to gently pry the panel off be very careful around the lower right corner there are several ribbon cables here that connect the front panel to the motherboard you'll also need to take care not to insert your tools too far into the case when working along the left and right edges doing so could damage the display luckily however thanks to the air to's new laminated display you no longer need to remove the front glass panel and the display screen as separate parts once you disconnect its cables you can remove the whole assembly as with last year's air the battery is on the left the motherboard on the right the cameras and antennas along the top and speakers and the Lightning connector at the bottom now this is a Wi-Fi only model so it lacks some of the components present in the side version now looking at the front panel we can see the fuse display panel the repositioned ribbon cables and the touch ID enabled home button now unfortunately the battery and most other components including the motherboard and their connector cables are glued to the metal case now forcing them loose could damage them and I want to put this back together in working order not destroy it so I'm going to end our cracking open here that doesn't mean however that I can't share a few interesting facts about this iPad now for starters Apple reduce the size of the battery from a thirty two point nine watt hour unit in last year's model to a twenty seven point six watt hour unit in the air to the fact that this tablet still has the same 10 hour battery life illustrates how much more efficient the new hardware is now second the air 2 has two gigs of RAM compared to the original ipad air's one gig now this along with the new a 8 X processor gives the air to a true performance boost and lastly and perhaps most interestingly there's an NFC chip hiding under the motherboards metal shields the same one used on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus now the air 2 does support Apple pay but not tap to pay at the register so the existence of this chip seems a little odd perhaps Apple will enable tap to pay at a future date with all its upgrades and a super-thin case the air 2 is a solid upgrade to the iPad line and Apple even made it a bit easier to repair now for more information on the iPad air 2 including real world tests and pricing check out Scott Stein's full CNET review to see more tear down photos and read my full Hardware analysis go to TechRepublic calm /tracking open