Category: Product Design

Anything involving how a product was built to serve a certain need. This could include ways manufacturers make their products more feature-rich, more/less repairable, or how they make stupid decisions that cause the product to break more often.

Tech News

The Indie Smartwatch That’s Doing Everything Right

Pocuter specializes in making tiny computers, like the Pocuter One—and now they’re bringing this small-scale expertise to smartwatches. If you liked the Pebble, you’ll love the Spectra, a hackable and…

November 22, 2024

by Carsten Frauenheim - iFixit

Product Design

Why Hardware Makers Are Turning to Off-The-Shelf Parts

Some tech companies take “custom hardware” to an absurd extreme, designing and building every part of their products. Others use more readily-available parts, and embedded systems to build their proprietary…

November 1, 2024

by Charlie Sorrel - iFixit

Product Design

Samsung Copies Everything Apple Does—But What About Repairability?

At this year’s Galaxy event, Samsung yet again launched a bunch of Apple knockoffs, some of them more shameless than ever. But while Samsung’s hardware and software don’t usually match…

September 16, 2024

by Charlie Sorrel - iFixit

Tech News

HMD Skyline: A New Twist on Repairable Smartphone Design

HMD is bringing camshaft technology to smartphones. Yes, you read that right. As recently as a week ago, if you’d told us 2024 will be the year that smartphones finally…

July 18, 2024

by Carsten Frauenheim - iFixit

Product Design

We’re Changing How We Score Repairability for Smartwatches

The last couple years have seen big upgrades to iFixit’s repairability scoring system—the measuring stick by which we gauge how easily (or not) you can repair the latest products. From…

July 2, 2024

by Elizabeth Chamberlain - iFixit

Product Design

How Open Hardware Empowers Users

iFixit is a proud supporter of the 2024 Open Hardware Summit taking place May 3 & 4, 2024 in Montreal, Canada. Hardware is hard. It’s a bit of a cliché…

May 3, 2024

by Manuel Haeussermann - iFixit

Product Design

Sticky Notes: What Every OEM Should Know About Adhesives

Here’s a simple truth: Making high-tech devices affordable, portable, durable, and mass-producible isn’t easy—especially if you also include profitable, a.k.a. not going out of business in the process. The design,…

May 1, 2024

by Jeff Suovanen - iFixit

Tech News

DIY Xbox Controller Repairs Just Became Much More Appealing

What a huge difference a piece of software can make. Microsoft’s recalibration tool—recently added to the Xbox Accessories app—means that it’s actually possible for a normal human with basic soldering…

March 11, 2024

by Charlie Sorrel - iFixit

Product Design

How Teenage Engineering Designed a Barcelona Factory to Build Its New K.O. II Sampler

Teenage Engineering’s new K.O. II sampler is like a grown-up version of its Pocket Operator series, crossed with a 1970s/80s-era calculator. It’s getting musicians so excited that it sold out…

January 22, 2024

by Charlie Sorrel - iFixit

Opinion

A Clear Trend Comes Back

The 90s were a time of wacky and wild trends. From Furbies to Tamagotchis, it was an era of colorful fads—especially when it came to electronics. For those of us…

August 28, 2023

by Manuel Haeussermann - iFixit