As with every product that comes out, iFixit has released its teardown of the HomePod 2, and first impressions are very good in regards to repairability. This is great news after the first HomePod and its glue-based horror that meant it was almost impossible to get inside.
This could mean that the HomePod 2 is much easier to repair, although that will count on Apple not software locking all the parts and making them easier to acquire. The teardown also revealed a lot about the inner workings of the new HomePod as well, like the new speaker array and the bass driver.
HomePod 2 internals revealed
The teardown makes for fascinating viewing. First is the number of screws used to keep the HomePod in one piece while allowing what seems to be a fairly easy disassembly. Then, there’s that new bass driver that moves a lot of air, and with it, sound. Apple looks to have approached the HomePod 2 with the same modularity that you’d find in the likes of the best Macbook line, or the best iPhone.
Under the bass driver, there’s another surprise – a large heatsink on the amp part of the speaker. As iFixit points out, this is likely to make sure that any heat given off does not distort the sound of the speaker. Moving down further, past some slightly tricky-to-reach screws and iFixit finds the tweeter modules.
And modules they definitely are. They pop out with little effort and look like they could be easily replaced if needs be. This could be part of Apple’s repairability scheme, but again, it’s not yet known if these parts are software locked to the device.
Software locked means that a certain part will only work with a certain logic board, so you can’t interchange parts from different devices, even if they are the same model. Something can be as easy to disassemble and have all the modularity they want, but Software locking will put a kibosh on affordable repairs.
Either way, this is a fascinating look at a speaker that we absolutely loved.
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