You just knew that the fellows over at iFixit would be taking their brand spanking new iPad 2 apart, rather than having a quick bash of Cut the Rope on it - but, for once, they weren't the only chaps taking a new device apart for all the world to see.

IHS iSuppli also had a bash at the traditional new toy teardown, and revealed some interesting data with regards to the cost of producing the second-gen Apple tablet.

Its teardown report states that the iPad 2 carries a bill of materials of $326.60 which it describes as "virtually the same costs as the first version of the device".

However, it does state that a few of the iPad 2's components would be pricier - such as the touch screen and the processor, so it looks as if Apple's profit margins are less with its new tablet. Although, with reports of record breaking opening day sales, it probably isn't all that bothered.

Away from the money side and it's business as usual for an Apple device - in that it's a bugger to get into and, as such, would be a pain to self-repair should anything go wrong.

iFixit only scored it 4 out of 10 for repairability, blaming the glued down screen as the main culprit for the difficulty.

Other interesting tit-bits from the teardowns are:

- A 3.8V, 25-watt-hour unit battery which is "just a hair more" than the original's 24.8-watt-hours.

- The A5 chip looks like being the work of Samsung.

- A thinner display at 2.4mm for the LCD and 0.62mm for the glass (compared to 3.2 and 0.85mm).

Apart from that, it's pretty much just the standard tweak that we all kind of expected. "The iPad 1 and iPad 2 use the same components and suppliers for the NAND flash, the multi-touch controllers and touch screen drivers, as well as the same core chip in the wireless section as was found in the iPhone 4," said Andrew Rassweiler, senior director and principal analyst and teardown services manager for IHS.

"Many of the other components - including the apps processor and the Bluetooth/frequency/global positioning system/wireless local area network chips - have the same suppliers and are essentially new revisions of the chips found in the previous iPad and other iPhones."

It looks as if we'll have to wait for the rumoured iPad 3 before we see a serious step up in spec.