iFixit AirPort Extreme Teardown Reveals Space for 3.5″ Hard Drive [PICS]

We’ve seen the unboxing video of the new AirPort Extreme but now iFixit has run their hands through the new wireless router with a complete teardown.

PagERlRNxVM4Xlfr

Since the new AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule are based on the same external design, iFixit’s teardown reveals space inside to fit perfectly a 3.5-inch SATA hard drive. Don’t get too excited yet–there aren’t any connectors to plug in a hard drive, but only empty spaces on the logic board. iFixit says it will investigate further once it gets a hold of the Time Capsule.

Airport extreme ifixit

The logic board of the AirPort Extreme contains:

  • Broadcom BCM53019 router SOC with gigabit switch
  • Broadcom BCM4360KLMG, the same IC we found in yesterday’s MacBook Air Teardown
  • Hynix H5TC4G63AFR 4 Gb (512 MB) synchronous DDR3 SDRAM
  • Micron 25Q256A 32 MB serial flash
  • Skyworks 5003L1 5GHz WLAN power amplifier
  • Skyworks 2623L 2.4GHz WLAN power amplifier
  • TDK TLA-7T201HF (which appears to be a pulse transformer)
iFixit gave the AirPort Extreme a repairability score of 8 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair), which is a fairly high score for an Apple product.
P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.