What Im going to present is probably not the cleanest or most elegant way of opening an iPod classic, but it works.  Oh, and I wont take responsibility for damage, injuries, etc, so with that in mind…

First a bit of background on the problem.  If you’ve ever messed around with any surgeries on any of the older iPods (changing the iPod battery, LCD, hard drive, earphone jack, motherboard, clickwheel, etc), you’re probably pretty familiar with the methods of opening them.  The 5th gen iPod video is pretty close to the classic in terms of appearance, so you might wonder why the classic is so much harder to crack open.  It seems that Apple’s accounting dept has taken notice of DIYers lowering their margins by fixing their own problems.  Starting with the classic, Apple has kindly intensified the structural security of the case.  That is, they’ve installed interlocking metal tabs into the case of the classic.  These pretty much deny any of the soft plastic tools that you can use to open the older cases.  This is also why you wont find many how-to’s about opening classics.

Now comes the difficult but obvious decision: there’s no easy way to open the case without damaging it.. but if I don’t open it, my iPod is a $300 paperweight.  Once you come to terms with this, keep reading.

There are posts and videos that talk about using knives to pry open the classic, or using screwdrivers or other blades to wedge the case apart.  Once you have some practice, you can get these open in about 15 min; but the first time I tried took me an hour, and I destroyed an LCD.  In my opinion these methods are far too risky, because one wrong blow and the LCD cracks.  Or worse, you drive a blade through the motherboard.  I’ve seen a hard drive with a knife wound, not to mention countless ripped headphone jack/hold switch, hard drive, and LCD ribbons.  There’s a safer way to get inside the iPod classic, but it’s gonna take power tools and some steady hands.

If you’ve got a Dremel or other rotary tool, you’re in luck.  If not, go get one, because youre going to need it for something anyway.  You could probably use a drill with a small bit, but this one’s more risky, as you could push the bit into the internals if you break through the case.  Anyway, slap on the carbon cutting bit, some goggles, and find a place to work.  The locations of the clasps can be seen in the images below:

iPod classic

iPod classic

iPod classic

Clamp the iPod so it won’t go anywhere, but be careful not to crush the internals or scratch the case too much.  Obviously the LCD is not the best place to clamp, unless that’s what you’re replacing.  Make sure your iPod’s hold switch is on; I’d suggest taping it down.  SLOWLY dig three shallow grooves with the rotary tool at the locations of these clasps.  These should be just deep enough so that you can see inside the case in the middle of the groove.  Be careful not to go too deep and not to let the rotary tool run off of the iPod.  You can now work your tools in between the case halves.  This part takes some patience as well, so don’t rush it.  From here, you can pretty much proceed around the case and crack it open.

Once you’ve got the insides worked out, slap on some tape to seal it and get yourself a silicone case and you’re all set!

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