Apple iPad Caught Naked: 11.7″ LCD, Dual PCB?

Courtesy of iFixit, we managed to take a look at never-before-seen images of the upcoming iPad tablet, which is set to debut on Saturday, April 3rd, 2010. The images were made public by the FCC, who went on to publish the internal images from Apple’s tablet, even though Mike Kriege, EMC and Wireless Engineer at Apple Inc. sent a Request for Confidentially lasting until August 17, 2010.

Do bear in mind that all of these images come from a prototype unit, thus there is a possibility that the interior has changed a bit to meet the mass production requirements.

First thing when you open an iPad – Two large batteries and a cable that connects two PCBs; one with Apple A4 SOC and Toshiba’s Flash memory, and one holding Communications components.

After removal of the batteries, PCBs and the like, you can see the LG.Philips LP117X82 Panel. According to the spec, this is a 11.7″ LED-backlit IPS panel

In case of this matter, it is either the case of a grave error on the side of FCC, or the Federal Communications Commission decided not to grant Apple its request. In any case, the external and internal images are now laid bare for all the world to see. Do bear in mind that this is a prototype unit, thus some hardware components may have changed in the process.

Second PCB actually serves as a cable between PCB and the docking connector. This PCB also features BroadCom’s WiFi+Bluetooth chip – Apple really likes to squeeze every last millimeter… kudos to engineering ingenuinity

But from the looks of it, Apple’s #A1219 device i.e. iPad is consisted out of following components:

• Apple A4 SoC processor built by Samsung
• 2x 8GB Toshiba NAND Flash memory chips [34nm?]
• 11.7″[???] LG.Philips LP117X82 IPS Panel, LED Backlit
• BroadCom Touch-Screen I/O Controller BCM5973
• BroadCom Wireless+Bluetooth Controller BCM4329

Main PCB holds Apple A4 SoC, two Toshiba NAND Flash chips, BroadCom touchscreen interface controller and few others we can’t read due to low resolution

Backside reveals the manufacturer [AT&S] and the actual mode [94V-B] or 820-2740-06 in Apple’s naming convention

All in all, sales of this much anticipated device begin tomorrow, and you can expect our in-depth review as soon as we evaluate all aspects of the device.

Original Author: Theo Valich

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