As expected Apple’s latest iPad Mini with Retina display has received an appalling repairability score from iFixit.
The recent iFixit teardown earned the latest Apple slate a meagre 2 points out of 10, suggesting any attempts to mend or modify it from home should be resisted and saved for the pros only.
READ: Apple iPad mini Retina display pictures and hands-on
Despite a bad repairability score - typical for Apple, which likes to fix its own kit - there is some really amazing tech crammed into this tablet. You get a 7.9-inch 2048 x 1536 resolution screen at 326 ppi, a dual-core A7 CPU with 64-bit architecture, 1GB of RAM, M7 motion-tracking coprocessor, 5-megapixel and 1.2-megapixel cameras and up to 128GB storage.
The key bad points hindering repair were: too much glue in the case joins and battery back, the Lightning connector is soldered to the logic board, hidden screws are tough to find, and the screws are so small they can be easily lost.
But the build quality was clearly impressive and the end result is a tip-top tablet. Here’s hoping Apple got it right first time so you won’t have to worry about getting it fixed.