iPad 2 GSM & CDMA Model Teardown – No Big Surprises
The folks at iFixit have been at it again and this time they decided to tear apart the GSM and CDMA versions of the iPad 2. The company already did a teardown of the 16GB WiFi iPad 2 but they thought it only made sense to do the same for the other two models in the iPad 2 lineup.
The teardown didn’t reveal any big new surprises from what we’ve seen in either the iPad 2 WiFi model or iPhone 4 for Verizon. The most obvious difference between the models is the type of 3G wireless technology used in both the GSM and CDMA models. The 3G GSM model uses UMTS chips from Infineon while the CDMA model uses a baseband processor from Qualcomm. The GSM unit also features a micro SIM slot unlike the WiFi and CDMA versions, that don’t require a SIM card to function.
The extra 3G wireless circuitry doesn’t take up much extra space as it all fits conveniently on a 1″ x 3″ circuit board connect to the main motherboard. Both the AT&T and CDMA units also add in extra 3G wireless antennas, which are not needed on the WiFi only models.
[images: iFixit]
