The Playdate reaches 20,000 sales as it receives its first teardown

The Playdate has been available to pre-order for a few weeks now, although new pre-orders will now not ship until 2022. Apparently, Panic has sold almost 20,000 units so far for at least US$179 each. One device has gone to iFixit, which has already taken the tiny handheld apart.

The Playdate is easy to open, with just four screws and some clips securing the back panel to the rest of the device. Panic states that damaging something invalidates the device's warranty, even if removing the sticker reveals a 'VOID' warning. Damaging the sticker's seal does not void your warranty though, at least in the US.

Thankfully, the Playdate's battery is simple to replace and call for no special equipment. Panic uses some glue to adhere the battery, but iFixit describes it as only 'mildly glued down'. Other repairs require more screws to be removed; none are proprietary.

Unfortunately, Panic has firmly glued the display to the device's front, while the buttons and I/O are stuck to the midframe. The USB Type-C port is soldered to the motherboard too, another missed opportunity in terms of repairability. Overall, iFixit awarded the Playdate a 6 out of 10 for repairability, in part because of its electromagnetic and serviceable crank handle.

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