The iPad team took a page from the iPhone SE playbook and released what appears to be a throwback—an arguably under-specced tablet that takes aim at the education and enterprise markets.
Highlights: ● Looks like an original iPad Air in there. ● New Model number: A1822 ● The LCD and digitizer are unfused, and can be replaced separately. ● Home button is still a button ● 32.9 Wh battery ● Apple A9 APL0898 SoC + Samsung K3RG1G10BM-BGCH 2 GB LPDDR4 RAM
Repairability Score: 2 out of 10 ● The LCD is easy to remove once the front panel is separated from the iPad. ● The battery is not soldered to the logic board. We'll give it that. ● Just like in previous iPads, the front panel is glued to the rest of the device, greatly increasing the chances of cracking the glass during a repair. ● Gobs of adhesive hold everything in place. As with its Air 1 predecessor, this ranks among the most difficult battery removal procedures we've seen in an iPad. ● The LCD has foam sticky tape adhering it to the front panel, increasing chances of it being shattered during disassembly. ● You can't access the front panel's connector until you remove the LCD.
Check out a few photos below or hit the link for the full teardown.