We all knew it was going to happen sooner than later, but who would have thought the iPad would see its first teardown a day before its official release?
Yesterday, Engadget uncovered photographic evidence that the FCC was able to beat iFixit and TechRestore at their own game by posting the first known pictures of the tablet's internals - a full day before most consumers have even had a chance to get their hands on one. The FCC's photos revealed that the tablet's chassis provided ample room for any number of the additional components that iPad-haters have bemoaned the absence of since the device was first unveiled. The pictures did not give up a lot else however, as the FCC took the time to Photoshop out any information that could have been used to identify the device's chipsets:
Enter the evil geniuses at iFixit, who contrary to popular belief, are still alive and well. Feeling that the FCC's striptease left something to be desired, the teardown ninjas were able to extract the raw photo information contained in the images, resulting in this:
Boom! Naked!
By applying the the same shenanigans to the rest of the FCC's teardown photos, iFixit was able to post an impressive gallery of low resolution pictures to go along with their high-calibre tech analysis of the the iPads guts. They even managed to uncover a picture of the 3G iPad's communications board! That's a pretty decent return for a hard day's work and some high level geekery!
iFixit's Chris Cline has promised the site's visitors can expect to see their official, more detailed teardown of the tablet on April 3rd, just as soon as they get their meathooks and screwdrivers on their pre-ordered unit.
