Apple AirPort Time Capsule - Customization
After taking apart and putting back together my Apple Airport Time Capsule yesterday, I used the iFixIt guide as a guide to the repair difficulty.
iFixit lists The repairability of the Apple Airport Time Capsule at an 8 out of 10.
I think there is a caveat to that rating:
If and only if you are using the exact same components in the repair.
Most of the time, the repair would use the same components, that’s the nature of repairing, otherwise, that would be customizing.
For my repair, instead of a Seagate brand hard drive, which the AirPort Time Capsule uses, I used a Western Digital brand hard drive.
They should be the same, right?? Their data sheets lists them to be the same:
Nothing on the data sheets lists any physical dimension variations between them.
After seeing the tolerance levels in the AirPort Time Capsule, I learned hard drives are not all equal, especially around the corners.
That’s where the rubber segments “customization” comes in with the larger drive. The iFixit guide mentions the customization for the rubber segments deep inside the unit.
I found there is another customization required for the rubber cover, because of differences in the corners of hard drives!
This single variation wreak havoc for me for over an hour when putting the unit back together. As of this morning, my hands are still sore from adjusting to this variation.
I was a guy that built my own computers from standard parts. Until yesterday, I never saw how manufacturer variations can have such drastic effects on product integrations. Any customziation, even switching hard drive manufacturer would
I applaud Apple for such maintaining tight tolerances, restricting customizations from the internals, while keeping products in their original vision.
My hands are sore but the Apple AirPort Time Capsule is satisfying upon my eyes.