New iPad Pro 9.7's sticky innards mean tricky repairs - CNET

You'll probably never choose to take apart your 9.7-inch iPad Pro, after leaing about the obstacles encountered by the folks at iFixit.

Released this past weekend, the new $599 iPad Pro is similar in features to its 12.9-inch cousin except for the 9.7-inch screen size used in the regular iPad lineup. Sales of the larger $799 iPad Pro have been weak since its release last fall, so Apple is hoping a smaller, less expensive version might kickstart consumer demand. However, one unfortunate similarity exists between the two iPad Pro tablets. Both are assembled in a way that makes it difficult to remove components.

If a hardware problem pops up, most iPad owners wouldn't tear apart their device themselves, instead relying on the vendor or a repair shop to do the difficult work. But the repairability of a tech product is important because it reveals how well the manufacturer assembled the parts and how expensive the device may be to fix when it's no longer under warranty.