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See the original image at crave.cnet.co.uk —

Cracking open the fourth-gen iPod nano [PICS]

crave.cnet.co.uk — It's time to break open the latest iPod and explore what's on the inside.

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  • umbrellainabin, on 10/13/2008, -9/+4/crack
    • Technopundit, on 10/14/2008, -0/+4You can tear down a Sandisk Sansa and reassemble it like your older brother's Harley Davidson. Take two "bad" ones and make one good one. They're made for real men.
      Install Rockbox, then add 32 gig of memory. Impress the chicks.
  • louse101, on 10/13/2008, -2/+48I love how small the flash chip is when you think back to the micro drives in the old iPod Minis. Those things offered a third of the capacity, several times the size, minus the speed and many times the failure rate.
    • AutoTom, on 10/13/2008, -0/+7yup, those flash chips sure are crazy
    • pak314, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1They actually can stack many NAND die in one package.
    • klowngoblin, on 10/14/2008, -0/+0except doing it that way (MLC) makes it slower than *****

      SLC is always the way to go
    • mrsteveman1, on 10/14/2008, -0/+4I used to have a 384mb IBM microdrive in a CF package, it had a little hole for ventilation that said DO NOT COVER, never mind the fact that simply putting the thing in a device, covered the hole.

      Good times listening to 384mb of music on my pocket pc in high school, i was so awesome.
    • eschompthis, on 10/14/2008, -3/+1i saw this on walmart shelves 4 days ago I thought these things were out already
    • Elranzer, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1Except now you can put any sized CompactFlash card into an iPod mini and have a perfectly good 32GB+ Flash-based iPod that is Rockbox capable.

      If you can live without the color screen, that is.
  • xxxMDKxxx, on 10/13/2008, -30/+6Wow! Too bad no one gives a sh*t about the new Nano.
    • AutoTom, on 10/13/2008, -5/+14prepare to be buried, *****
    • OneLess, on 10/14/2008, -1/+9You're 24 years old. It's okay to swear at this point in your life. We won't mind.
      • MacParrot, on 10/14/2008, -0/+5He can't swear since it upsets his mother and when you still live in your parent's basement you just have to be careful.
  • AutoTom, on 10/13/2008, -1/+12Wow, there's really not much in there.. i hope apple is upgrading the audio amp in there.. audiophiles out there will hear me.
    • onlyclave, on 10/14/2008, -8/+8Audiophiles don't use ipods.
      • MasterGrief, on 10/14/2008, -0/+3I'm not trying to be confrontational --I don't actually use mp3 players and thus have no allegiance-- so what are audiophiles using?
      • colonelpanic, on 10/14/2008, -3/+3Audiphiles use iPods with RockBox.
      • mikemarino, on 10/14/2008, -0/+5That and external sound cards, tube headphone amps, foobar, flac, and some re-cabled balanced k701's or HD650's.
      • klowngoblin, on 10/14/2008, -4/+2the wolfson audio codec the ipod uses isnt that great.

        any REAL audiophile will tell you that, but since there are so many isheep around, i guess the dumb ones will just go along with the crowd and say ipods are the best
      • ironhide, on 10/14/2008, -2/+6Audiophiles are gullible idiots.
        http://digg.com/music/Audiophile_Idiocy
      • buddyw, on 10/14/2008, -1/+2ironhide: I think you mean audiophiles that are stupid enough to buy that crap are idiots. Are you implying that all audio equipment produces the same quality sounds? That's as stupid as saying the most expensive device has the best sound.

        All of this doesn't discount the fact that Apple uses a weak amplifier that can't drive big head headphones well (earbuds don't really matter).
    • gmprunner, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1Pun intended?
  • MrViklund, on 10/14/2008, -15/+1Idiot! You should not be allowed handle iPods!!! Boycott Crave!
    • handheldchimp, on 10/14/2008, -1/+11You shouldn't be allowed to comment on Digg.
  • thurows, on 10/14/2008, -12/+7Buried, list.
    • NevaDieENT, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1That cool and all but did that serve any purpose?
      • Technopundit, on 10/14/2008, -2/+1Showed me what a gyp those things are.
  • patnsmith, on 10/14/2008, -2/+23Crack them open with that 42008 year old rock.
  • >mark, on 10/14/2008, -10/+1A 3rd generation ipod nano!!
    http://skattertech.com/media/2007/10/apple-ipod-na ...
    • handheldchimp, on 10/14/2008, -0/+4Wow, thanks for being totally off topic!
  • ligyron, on 10/14/2008, -9/+2The new iPod is pretty. I sold my old one and bought this one for that very reason
    • freezerburn666, on 10/14/2008, -1/+13and that's probably how all apple users make decisions.
    • klowngoblin, on 10/14/2008, -2/+0i just dont understand why apple fans bend over to readily, ipods are NOT good mp3 players at all for the money.
    • Elranzer, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1I have and am enjoying the new iPod 4G, except for the one thing. The clickwheel is VERY clicky this time, as in, it sounds like it's always popping in and out of place when you click it.
  • ThatGeek, on 10/14/2008, -3/+3finally a good use for a slideshow!
  • cheeseron, on 10/14/2008, -1/+35It's ridiculous that apple makes them so hard to repair
    • jnordb, on 10/14/2008, -7/+7um there is not a lot of reasons to repair one....other than the battery, it would probably cost more to repair than replace.
    • patch6, on 10/14/2008, -2/+5The case is trivial to open with the right tool.

      Something like http://www.multi-win.net/UploadFile/2007/200708041 ... costs pennies to make, and usually comes with ipod battery replacement packs.

      Looks like the article poster mangled it open with a flathead.
    • penguinofspades, on 10/14/2008, -1/+5i think making everything that small and gluing the ***** out of it upps the survivability. my friend old shuffle got hit by a car and still works just fine
  • llama5492, on 10/14/2008, -1/+95Put it on one page for ***** sake.
    • sceneshopninja, on 10/14/2008, -0/+3Someone needs to write a FF addon that can intelligently pre-load all of the pages of a multi-page article... then automatically write an email to the site admin explaining that twelve ***** pages is pretty useless since the majority of the flood of Digg traffic that hits the site isn't seeing the ads because we're running ABP.
  • chaosgroove, on 10/14/2008, -2/+40I could have easily cracked open a Nano in far less than 12 separate pages.
    • kbcool, on 10/14/2008, -0/+0Yes, but you would have gotten less ad revenue
  • ptFoe, on 10/14/2008, -11/+15iSuck
  • gravityPersists, on 10/14/2008, -10/+5On an unrelated note: I think I almost just broke the universe. Setting up my iPhone as a wireless router for my laptop using PDAnet, I was able to get online with my computer and use skype to call my iPhone.

    I say almost broke the universe, because I didn't answer....
    • cheeseron, on 10/14/2008, -1/+3too bad you could have done that with windows mobile and palm phones for the past year or so.
  • ddaman308, on 10/14/2008, -12/+7The saddest part was that probably costs Apple $10 to make and $149 to sell.
  • JonTheGoose, on 10/14/2008, -0/+69I don't think they showed enough ribbon cable pics.
  • Sisko41, on 10/14/2008, -10/+5I'll stick with my touch - Nanos are for the weak.
  • AlanFang, on 10/14/2008, -3/+3612 pages? Are you ***** serious?
    • kihadat, on 10/14/2008, -1/+9You gotta get those juicy ribbon cable photos in there somehow.
    • CrushThemTorg, on 10/14/2008, -1/+2Yeah. ***** that. Buried.
  • DaviDTC, on 10/14/2008, -1/+1This was done the first hour they were on sale...
  • Paranoidmarvin, on 10/14/2008, -1/+4How the hell do they make those things?
    • SugarCoatedSalt, on 10/14/2008, -0/+3with the right tools, the one who opened this sounds like a ***** neanderthal.
    • danny37415, on 10/14/2008, -4/+1Chinese children
    • digitalpencil, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1magic
    • Elementix, on 10/14/2008, -0/+2They reverse engineered Megatron.
  • pogoyoyo, on 10/14/2008, -0/+4Remember when the ipod video had 4 clips holding it together...
    Thus allowing you to open it anytime you want, easily..
  • bryson430, on 10/14/2008, -2/+9I liked the part where they opened the iPod up.
  • CalcProgrammer1, on 10/14/2008, -3/+9It would've been easier to crack the case...you can still use the insides without a case, but the case is useless without working insides. Pretty neat how they crammed it onto a small board though, but the lack of user-serviceable parts is a big shame. The problem with Apple is that they're so focused on making seamless cases and such that they make it impossible to open. I like my non-Apple products, I can take an ordinary screwdriver and get them apart quickly without any risk of breaking the case. Apple makes nice stuff, but their cases need work.
  • handheldchimp, on 10/14/2008, -2/+8Jesus, that ***** is small inside. Apple never disappoints me. Their stuff is crazy on the outside, but once we get to the inside...it's a whole new story.
  • lilhelper, on 10/14/2008, -1/+9what sad is the most expensive part of that ipod is probably the case.
    • sockpuppets, on 10/14/2008, -1/+10or the marketing.
    • xciton, on 10/14/2008, -0/+4Nonsense.

      The LCD, CPU, Battery, Flash are all more expensive than the case. Some of the them are multiple times more expensive than the case.

      Extrusion Aluminum is common and very inexpensively done these days.
    • digitalpencil, on 10/14/2008, -0/+2what were you thinking would be in there? jewel-encrusted PCBs?
  • DismantleRepair, on 10/14/2008, -4/+2Didn't the new nano come out over a month ago?
  • BigDaddyBucyk, on 10/14/2008, -1/+1 I was able to replace the battery on the older ipods. I didn't want a new one anyway.
  • dm33, on 10/14/2008, -1/+67They did a horrible job. Fuzzy pictures. Smash it open.

    These folks did it right http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/First-Look/iPod/iPod-N ...

    ifixit opened it without having to break anything. Crystal clear pictures.
    • pooljoe, on 10/14/2008, -0/+9And in only 5 pages...Good find dm33
    • tylermoyn, on 10/14/2008, -2/+0Or if they DID break it, they learned tried again on another nano
  • JulyZerg, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1I'm having battery problems with mine. From this, it looks like I'm going to need some serious help.
  • heliox, on 10/14/2008, -0/+312 pics, and half dealt with some ribbon cable.
    Save your time and jump to the last:
    http://crave.cnet.co.uk/digitalmusic/0,39029432,49 ...
  • Proctor, on 10/14/2008, -1/+5Buried because of 12 pages. ***** you CNET.
  • doublem9876, on 10/14/2008, -1/+2Wow. How useless. "This looks like a ribbon."

    Ummmm... so what did we find out about the iPod through all of this? Nothing!
  • MrViklund, on 10/14/2008, -2/+1Idiot! You should not be allowed handle iPods!!! Boycott Crave!
  • shadowspawn, on 10/14/2008, -1/+4they were stumped at the ribbon cable? LOOK AT IT. (It was made to be taken apart)

    Anyway it's a good article, but like any "oh i can waste my money and put pictures on the internet" article...

    Yes. You can find the SMT components on the internet with a little more time than it took to write the article without doing so.

    Well you get the point.
    • JakeyG14, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1You mean the ol' "pull it until it breaks" method isn't right?

      ps Innuendo not deliberate.
  • loulan, on 10/14/2008, -0/+4What's the point of this? I mean, their conclusions were more or less, "there's a 8gb flash chip, accelerometers, and probably some chips involved in producing sound". Wow.
    • SexyGeniusNinja, on 10/14/2008, -0/+2But the pointed out that it is probably the small chips which are involved in producing sound................ Yeah terrible article.
  • dabura, on 10/14/2008, -0/+2You broke it !???!??!!
    *head diving through the window*
  • labsONE, on 10/14/2008, -1/+4Or, y'know, you could go to iFixit and get a proper teardown of the Nano 4G.
    Without the ribbon cable ripping. And proper part identification.

    *points at http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/First-Look/iPod/iPod-N ...
    • Frostek, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1This article is superior to the one foisted upon us!
  • bassman12593, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1sledge-hammer
  • IvesMozart, on 10/14/2008, -0/+0Nothing exciting. Looks like one of those old Casio clocks
  • Mittz, on 10/14/2008, -0/+0oh god, please get a macro lens if you are going to continue doing these things.
  • myshambar, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1And holy *****, it is the exact same thing as the last three generations. Whoo.
  • rath01, on 10/14/2008, -1/+2Way to know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the iPod after you broke it open. Worthless article.
  • Technopundit, on 10/14/2008, -0/+2Now that you have defiled the inner sanctity of the fourth generation Nano -- YOU ARE CURSED!!!
  • MrWhoopee, on 10/14/2008, -3/+03rd gen is better.
  • technetix, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1R.I.P.
  • damm, on 10/14/2008, -0/+1Clearly people are still using scripts if this crap got to the front page :/
  • toepuff, on 10/14/2008, -0/+2What the ***** is wrong with CNET? That was the ***** quality tear down I've ever seen.
  •  

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