iPad Pro (4th generation) teardown report is out

Recently, the well-known disassembly team iFixit released a video report on the disassembly of the recently released 2020 new iPad Pro (4th generation), giving everyone a glimpse into the true appearance of the A12Z Bionic processor chip  and built-in LiDAR optical radar scanner inside the body for the first time.

Compared with the A12X chip on the third-generation iPad Pro tablet launched in 2018, which showed powerful computing performance, the fourth-generation iPad Pro, as the successor, is now equipped with the A12Z Bionic chip. Previous benchmark test results have shown that the fourth-generation iPad Pro with built-in A12Z has significantly improved its multi-core performance benchmark score compared to the previous generation, mainly because the GPU graphics processing chip has been upgraded to an 8-core architecture (the previous generation had a 7-core GPU).

The outside world is very curious about the differences between the two chips A12X and A12Z that Apple independently developed for its flagship tablet.

 
According to iFixit's disassembly report on the fourth-generation iPad Pro, basically, most of the components used inside the body are roughly the same as those of the third-generation iPad Pro in 2018. One of the main upgrades is that the built-in memory configuration has been upgraded to 6GB (the previous generation was 4GB). As for the A12Z Bionic processor chip, as described on Apple's official website, it has an 8-core GPU graphics processor to enhance the overall heat dissipation architecture and performance control optimization, which is a slight improvement based on the previous generation A12X chip architecture.

After disassembling the 2020 fourth-generation iPad Pro flagship tablet, you can see the built-in wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle dual lenses and optical radar scanner, and the packaging design in which the three components are interconnected.

The front-facing FaceTime video camera and built-in battery capacity are both the same as the previous generation, with a 7-megapixel selfie camera and 36.59 Wh of battery. The USB Type-C charging port at the bottom of the body is also modular in design, just like the previous generation.

 
In terms of repair difficulty, iFixit gave it a score of three points (the same as the previous generation), mainly because the internal body of the fourth-generation iPad Pro uses a large amount of strong adhesive like the previous generation, so it will be relatively difficult for users to disassemble and repair it by themselves in the future.

Since the main camera on the back of the fourth-generation iPad Pro has been upgraded to a "dual-lens" module, and for the first time, a built-in optical radar scanner sensor has been installed. After disassembling the actual device through iFixit, the outside world can also get a glimpse of the true appearance of the components of the camera module. Including: a 10-megapixel wide-angle lens, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens and an optical radar scanner sensor. Apple uses a design that interconnects and packages these three components together. With the help of the optical radar scanner sensor, it can be used to measure the distance of objects within a range of 5 meters, enhancing the real experience of AR augmented reality.

Apple's official introduction: "The specially designed LiDAR scanner uses direct time of flight (dToF) to measure light reflected from up to five meters away in indoor or outdoor environments. It detects at the photon level and can operate at nanosecond speeds, opening up endless possibilities for augmented reality (AR) and a wider range of 3D sensing applications."