Besides playing music, Apple's iPod nano can display movies, television and other video content on its 51mm (2-inch) screen. TechRepublic's Mark Kaelin cracked open the 4GB (third-generation) iPod nano to see what makes this device tick.
(CNET.co.uk's sister site TechRepublic runs a regular series called "Cracking Open" in which they take a look inside a variety of gadgets. CNET.co.uk is publishing this excerpt.)
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The iPod nano is very thin and getting inside is going to require some very precise physical encouragement.
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The iPod nano is just thick enough to handle a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones. You can bet the insides are going to be tightly packed.
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The back plate is just a piece of molded metal, but it was a bear to remove. Apple definitely does not want you to open your iPod.
The first thing you see when you remove the back cover is the battery. Notice that you should not poke at it.
The second thing you notice is the flash memory chip -- 4GB from Hynix, in this case.
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The 4GB flash memory in this iPod was made by Hynix. We have seen pictures of the 8GB version of the iPod nano and it has memory made by Samsung. Apple went with the best bids, we suppose.
The next step is to remove the six screws marked by the arrows and see what lies beneath.
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One way Apple keeps the iPod nano so thin is by using ribbon connections for the video, audio and button connections.
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While it is nice that the ribbons allow for thinness, it certainly makes cracking it open a much more delicate operation.
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The connecting ribbon to the button interface is attached with one of these very tiny clamping gate. We hate to see one of these when we crack a device open.
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Deep breath, steady hand, so delicate.
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The audio-connecting ribbon does not have a clamping gate. Fortunately, the housing for the plug comes out with the ribbon connected.
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The clamping gate for the video connection ribbon is on the underside of the battery. It will have to wait.
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Once the button interface ribbon is detached, we can then lift up the battery to reveal the underside of the circuit board.
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Taking our first look at the logic chips, we can see two large chips with the Apple logo. There is also one large chip with an unfamiliar logo.
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Here you can see that the ribbon-to-click interface is now disconnected.
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Now we can the video connection -- another clamping gate.
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It is hard to believe that there is an LCD in there that can show videos.
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The underside of the famous Apple button and wheel interface is much less exciting from the inside. On the ribbon is a famous name when it comes to touch interfaces, Synaptics.
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The USB connection transfers data and power. Oddly enough, there are no capacitors that can be seen.
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The chips don't reveal their functions, but one chip must hold the software for the visual interface, one must control sound, and another must handle video production. But which is which? It's a little difficult to figure out.
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Taking a closer look, can you figure out which chip does what?
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The only thing you haven't seen in the previous photos is the curvy piece of metal that was attached near the audio plug. Our best guess is that it acts as a ground for the device.
Our intention was to put our iPod nano back together in working condition. Unfortunately, we ran into a problem. The closest we have come to bringing it back to life so far is the white screen of death.
We are going to keep trying to get the iPod working again, but we are discouraged. Darn our unsteady fingers.
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