iFixit Tears Down the New Apple TV 4K [VIDEO]

The experts over at iFixit have just given the shiny new Apple TV 4K their signature teardown treatment, giving Apple’s first 4K HDR streaming device a very good repairability store of 8 out of 10 (the higher the score, the easier to repair). The device also features a completely redesigned cooling system of the A10X processor, complete with “serious thermal venting”.

The disassembly of the new Apple TV 4K reveals a Broadcom Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet chip, 3GB of SK Hynix RAM, a custom memory controller, a Murata wi-fi and Bluetooth module, Toshiba flash memory, and a Megachips FisplayPort 1.4 to HDMI 2.0 converter.

According to the teardown experts, the fan in the device is the first of its kind in any Apple TV. The new thermal solution in the Apple TV 4K combines the fairly large fan with the heat sink and EMI shield combination from the fourth generation device. Other positives include no glue, modular components, a modular power supply, and standard Torx screws holding the device together.

Final Thoughts:

• Plastic clips hold the case together for easy opening.
• Modular components make for easy disassembly and repair.
• The power supply is modular and features a removable AC-in jack.Standard Torx screws hold everything together.
• All major components are soldered to the logic board, meaning fixing any port problems will require board-level soldering or a full board replacement.

Check out the quick Apple TV 4K teardown video embedded below.