If you thought the Apple Pencil had the lowest reparability rating ever given by iFixit you have another thing coming. Today, iFixit completely tore down the other iPad Pro first-party accessory, the Smart Keyboard.
Before anything, iFixit noted that the “high tech fabric” used to protect the Smart Keyboard may be nylon to the similar tactile feedback from windbreaker. Once the fabric is peeled, the dome switches are revealed, with a stiffening weight placed on the spacebar key.
Once the keyboard was completely sliced open, iFixit discovered the circuit board in the center of the keyboard, with no additional LEDs, batteries, or fans due to the slim size of the keyboard.
Under the keyboard frame, there were “intestinal squiggles” covering the the plastic casing which were facing small vents towards the top of the device which released air pressure each time a key was pressed, according to iFixit.
Lastly, the “brains of the operation” was revealed. The Smart Keyboard uses an ARM-based microcontroller from STMicroelectronics and is covered by another three layers of fabric which should help the Smart Connector (the connection point of the iPad Pro and the Smart Keyboard), withstand a lifetime of usage.
In the end, iFixit gave the Smart Keyboard a reparability rating of 0 out of 10. This means that as soon as you damage the keyboard, it is impossible to repair it. The site noted while the keyboard is extremely durable, trying to tear the device in any shape or form will render the device unusable.
