iPad teardown

In addition to the FCC teardown from yesterday, iFixIt has posted teardown photos of the new iPad. Some highlights:

• This machine is absolutely gorgeous inside. There's clear symmetry that is there for aesthetics alone.
• The rear case is CNC machined from a solid block of aluminum, using the same process as the MacBook Pro.
• Apple has used more epoxy to secure chips to the board than we've seen before.  This indicates that it is designed to be even more rugged than their laptops.
• The battery isn't soldiered onto the motherboard.  That means replacing the battery *is* feasible for users who do not want to give up their precious for a week. (And then get back someone else's iPad!)
• This unit is different from the FCC photos. Toshiba DOES NOT have the flash memory in the production units! Instead, Samsung has secured a major win.

We will be putting up more analysis as we go. You're welcome to run up to three of our photos. We will be very thorough, and good analysis takes a little time. I've got eight computer and manufacturing engineers analyzing the iPad right now.

Oooooh.