The Nintendo Switch gets the iFixit treatment, teardown reveals surprisingly repairable device

A ritualistic teardown of all new hardware that’s launched is now an essential part of technology culture. Master of this ritual is, of course, iFixit, who’ve taken their skills to the Nintendo Switch and ripped it down to its constituent components. Here’s what they discovered. The biggest news from the Nintendo Switch teardown was the fact that iFixit gave it a repairability score of 8. The only complaints iFixit had on that front were that the tri-point screws on the back make opening up the device a little hard and the fact that the digitiser and display assembly needs heating and prying to open up.

The rest of the teardown didn’t reveal too much since we’re aware of the Switch’s hardware specifications anyway. The chipset is an Nvidia Tegra X1 and it’s paired with 4GB of Samsung LPDDR4 RAM. Internal storage is courtesy of a 32GB Toshiba eMMC chip. There’s a 2x2 Wi-Fi ac chip and a Broadcom Bluetooth 4.1 controller. A copper heat pipe extracts the heat and a metal plate and fan combination help to dissipate it. iFixit discovered that the battery in the Switch itself is a 16Wh unit and that the controllers use 1.9Wh batteries. The battery isn’t user-replaceable, but apparently, Nintendo intends to start a paid battery replacement service. The right side Joy Con controller features 4 IR LEDs and an IR camera. This camera is what’s used to detect shapes, distance, etc. in games like 1-2 Switch. iFixit notes that the HD rumble motor is a single unit and weighs 5.5g. Coming to the hub unit, which connects your Switch to the TV, there isn’t much to report. As iFixit puts it, it’s a box full of ports (USB, HDMI, etc.). And there you have it! The Switch has experienced its first teardown and gets a good report card for its troubles.