Amazon Kindle 4 Teardown Reveals Minimal Changes, Highlights Reading Focus
Update: You can find the latest teardowns of new models like the Kobo Aura H2O, Kobo Glo HD, or Tolino Shine 2 HD here:
- Kobo Glo HD and Tolino Shine 2 HD disassembled [Disassembly]
- Kobo Aura H2O disassembled [Disassembly]
Original message: 
A day without Kindle 4 news feels like a lost day – or at least that’s the impression one might get at the moment. Tech enthusiasts will be pleased: the Kindle 4 was disassembled just two days after its release.
The whole process wasn’t as sophisticated as the repair guides you might find at iFixit, but it’s enough to get a good look inside the Kindle 4.
The efforts to capture these images were made by BlogKindle.com. As the author notes on the blog, there is no easy way to open the Kindle 4. The rear cover is not only firmly secured but also attached to the battery with an adhesive pad. Even at this first step of opening the device, the eReader showed significant wear marks. During the course of further operations, the Kindle suffered irreversible damage. So, the Kindle fell victim to the tinker’s curiosity.
Nonetheless, we now have some insights into the components used in the Kindle 4. It features a Freescale MC13813892AJ CQQD129D processor. This i.MX508 processor with Cortex-A8 architecture and a maximum clock speed of 800 MHz was specifically designed for use in eBook readers. We’ve reported in the past that this processor family is powerful enough to play videos on an eInk display, although the Kindle 4 doesn’t have this feature.
The Kindle 4 is equipped with just 128 MB of RAM from the manufacturer Hynix – whereas the Kindle (3) Keyboard boasts 256 MB of RAM. The battery capacity has also been almost halved. The new Kindle has a small 890 mAh battery, while its predecessor had a 1750 mAh battery.
Otherwise, there aren’t too many innovations or unexpected changes. The Kindle 4 clearly emphasizes, with this hardware, that it’s focused on pure reading functionality at the lowest possible price. If you want to see the rest of the images of the disassembled Kindle 4, you can head over here and here.
