iFixit has released its teardown of the second-generation Apple TV 4K, revealing an easy to repair, modular design, alongside a laborious process to dismantle the redesigned Siri Remote.
As with previous Apple TV models, the entire plastic shell of the device is transparent to IR light, allowing the Siri Remote to be used from any angle.
The large fan inside the Apple TV is not connected with a cable to the logic board, using four metal contact pins instead, making disassembly even easier. iFixit noted the easy teardown of the Apple TV since each of its components are simply layered in place and easy to remove with a screwdriver.
In the redesigned Siri Remote, the battery is located in the bottom half, with circuitry taking up the top half. To get inside, two screws have to be removed from a panel on the bottom of the remote where the Lighting port is located, but iFixit found that it is not possible to access anything meaningful here without removing even more screws elsewhere.
The Clickpad and buttons had to be removed with brute force, revealing more screws to remove. Once these were taken out, the battery and circuitry could be slid out of the bottom of the remote. iFixit noted that the entire disassembly of the new Siri Remote was made difficult by "super tight" tolerances.
iFixit discovered that the Siri Remote uses a "tiny" 1.52 Wh battery and it is not glued in place, which should make replacement somewhat easier.
Like the previous model, the second-generation Apple TV scored an eight out of 10 for repairability. The new remote, on the other hand, was very difficult to repair. Even a simple battery replacement requires total disassembly and risks damage.
