The Apple Watch has started landing on the doorsteps of the first shoppers to preorder the device and already the folks at iFixIt have torn the smartwatch down to see what makes it tick—literally. The website is known for tearing down the most popular electronic devices, including Apple’s iPhones and iPads, so it’s no surprise that the site is showing off the tiny components that are packed inside the Apple Watch.
First things first with the Apple Watch
One of the attractions of the Apple Watch as a fashion accessory is the fact that the band can be changed, so the first thing they wanted to do was see how easy that is to do. It’s quite easy, as just a simple press of a button releases the band.
Inside the slot for the band was a door to what looks like the diagnostic port.
Popping off the Apple Watch’s display
Using an iOpener, they were able to pop the display of the Apple Watch off and were pleasantly surprised that it popped up a bit easier than that of Apple’s other major products. It did not come without a challenge, however, as just like with the cable cover for the Touch ID sensor on the iPhone 5S, the cables for the display were tucked under a bracket.
Once the display was off, they were able to take a gander at the tiny Taptic Engine and Digital Crown. iFixIt placed the components of the Apple Watch next to those of a standard mechanical watch dating from 1890 to show how different they are.
Other Apple Watch components
They also discovered that it’s pretty easy to pop the battery out of the Apple Watch, which is probably a welcome relief for some who are worried about the smartwatch’s life. After all, most people don’t want to replace a watch every year, so being able to replace the battery easily seems like a necessity. But aside from being able to replace the screen and the battery, it would seem that fixing anything else on the watch would be a nightmare.
The folks at iFixIt also report that the Apple Watch contains the “tiniest Tri-wing screws” they’ve ever seen, which is saying a lot. As is typical with Apple products, clearly the company wasn’t really thinking about making it easy to fix the smartwatch. In fact, the screws were so tiny that they had to get really creative with their tools to keep taking the Apple Watch apart.
Here’s the full teardown video from the folks at iFixit:
