Yesterday, the cool cats at iFixit posted their complete teardown report of Apple’s new Magic Trackpad input device. The unit, which retails for US$69, is just 0.5mm thick and iFixit had to slice its way through adhesive to disassemble the hardware. Inside, the device includes a spacer, which prevents the lower panel from squeezing against the logic board and damaging it.
Removing the two ribbon cables that connect the capacitive touch pad to the logic board was said to be difficult, as the cables are very thin and are stuck to the underside of the touchpad.
Removing the outer touchpad from the device’s aluminum chassis required the use of a heat gun to warm up the adhesive that holds the hardware together.
“This is not for the faint of heart,” they wrote. “A copious amount of heat, guitar picks and plastic opening tools were required to make this thing bulge.”
iFixit also noted that the Magic Trackpad has a unique way of triggering the mouse button in which pressing down on the hardware actually clicks the two rubber feet on the front of the device. Pressing down pushes up on a hinged plate and set screw, squeezing an electronic mouse button switch and creating a familiar “click.”
Completely removing the logic board requires desoldering of the four wires that lead to the battery connector and status LED, as well as the removing of two Phillips screws. The logic board includes a Broadcom BCM2042 chip for its wireless Bluetooth connectivity (the same chip found in Apple’s multi-touch Magic Mouse).
In addition, the hardware’s multi-touch functionality is provided by a BCM5974 chip, the same found in the iPhone, iPod touch and MacBook Air. Finally, the SST 25WF020 has 2Mbit of serial flash memory.
If you’ve snagged a Magic Trackpad and have any feedback to offer about the experience, let us know what you make of it.