iPad 10 Features a Landscape Camera, Which Is Space Taken up That Could Have Been Used to Charge the Apple Pencil Wirelessly
With no physical home button present, Apple’s iPad 10 relies on a side-mounted power button that also doubles as a fingerprint reader. While a design change is always welcome, according to iFixit’s findings, perhaps one of the biggest complaints from customers is the way they have to charge the Apple Pencil. The reason for this problem is that the slate now features a landscape-positioned front-facing camera. The space occupied by the sensor and other internals could have been used up by the wireless charging coil used to top up the Apple Pencil, but unfortunately, the company did not go down that route. Instead, to charge the first-generation Apple Pencil, customers have to purchase a separate accessory that costs $9.00 on Apple’s website, which should, no doubt, be a frustrating endeavor. iFixit also found that the USB-C port is soldered to the logic board, which will make repairs difficult for third-party personnel since aftermarket parts are not available for the iPad 10 at the moment. On the plus side, the two-cell 7,606mAh battery can be removed using pull-tabs present underneath the cell, whereas on previous iPad models, the battery was held together by glue, making removal extremely difficult and dangerous.
The only downside is that the logic board featuring the A14 Bionic SoC is glued to the chassis, so you will have to remove it first before you can get around to the battery, which does not sound like a repair-friendly process. Overall, iFixit’s teardown implies that if certain aspects of the iPad 10 were easily repairable, it would make more sense. Also, given that Apple continues to sell the iPad 9 at a lower cost, customers might find that deal more enticing. News Source: iFixit
