iFixit has completed an Apple Pencil teardown, removing the outer plastic casing to reveal the pencil's inner metal cylinder. The teardown provides a closer look at several Apple Pencil components, including the antenna, battery, pencil nib, Lightning connector and miniature folded logic board.
Apple Pencil has two emitters in the tip that enable the iPad Pro to determine the pencil nib's angle and orientation relative to the display, and adjust the pen stroke accordingly, explains iFixit. iPad Pro has a digitizer that likely determines the distance from each emitter to the screen.
At the core of the Apple Pencil is a tiny 0.329 Wh lithium-ion rechargeable battery that holds just 5% of the charge of an iPhone 6s battery, next to a small cylindrical black and gold antenna. There is also a small ribbon cable that connects the Apple Pencil's battery with its Lightning connector for charging.
On the other side of the battery is the Apple Pencil's tiny folded logic board that weighs just one gram, yet houses more than five components, including an ST Microelectronics low-power 32-bit ARM-based Cortex-M3 microcontroller and Qualcomm Bluetooth 4.1 chip from Cambridge Silicon Radio.
- Red: ST Microelectronics STML151UCY6 Ultra-low-power 32-bit RISC ARM-based Cortex-M3 MCU - Orange: ST Microelectronics AS5C Y533 (also found in the 2015 Apple TV) - Yellow: L05286 QS4 VG Z SGP 528 - Green: EWX 01129 - Not shown: Cambridge Silicon Radio Qualcomm CSR1012A05 Bluetooth Smart IC
iFixit awarded the Apple Pencil its lowest repairability score of 1 out of 10. While the pen nib and cap can be replaced if worn out or lost, iFixit says you can't get inside the Apple Pencil without destroying the device. It says the 12-hour battery is not replaceable, giving the Apple Pencil a limited lifespan.
Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors.
Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard...
Apple has completed Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) for at least one iPhone 17 model, according to a paywalled preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report.
iPhone 17 Air mockup based on rumored design
The EVT stage involves Apple testing iPhone 17 prototypes to ensure the hardware works as expected. There are still DVT (Design Validation Test) and PVT (Production Validation Test) stages to...
Apple will likely manufacture its 20th anniversary iPhone models in China, despite broader efforts to shift production to India, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In 2027, Apple is planning a "major shake-up" for the iPhone lineup to mark two decades since the original model launched. Gurman's previous reporting indicates the company will introduce a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold"...
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too.
2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3
Apple didn't update the...
Wednesday April 30, 2025 3:59 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is preparing to launch a dramatically thinner iPhone this September, and if recent leaks are anything to go by, the so-called iPhone 17 Air could boast one of the most radical design shifts in recent years.
iPhone 17 Air dummy model alongside iPhone 16 Pro (credit: AppleTrack)
At just 5.5mm thick (excluding a slightly raised camera bump), the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air is expected to become ...
Tuesday April 29, 2025 3:36 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
All upcoming iPhone 17 models will come equipped with 12GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence, according to the Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station.
The claim from the Chinese leaker, who has sources within Apple's supply chain, comes a few days after industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will all be equipped with 12GB of RAM.
...
Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Tuesday April 29, 2025 1:30 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
I think iFixit repairability scores have served their time. It's time to stop this. You can't continue to make things smaller, more compact and more advanced, and still lay it out so the average Joe can replace every part with a screwdriver and some elbow grease.
I enjoy the iFixit teardowns for one reason -- I am a techie and love to see the innards of things. The reality is that 99% of all consumers of any technology do not have the skills or time to fix things and will either pay someone else to do so or will simply replace it. I am always amazed by this fact. I love to tinker and will fix anything in my house or even with electronics. But all my friends call a plumber, electrician, or other handyman to get things done. Same here, it is more important to make things work well and last as much as possible, not to make them repairable by a consumer, because they won't. Many on this site are the tinkerers, but please remember that in this case we are the 1%ers not the commoners.
- Red: ST Microelectronics STML151UCY6 Ultra-low-power 32-bit RISC ARM-based Cortex-M3 MCU
