iPhone video teardown reveals Samsung, Intel, Balda design wins

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Semiconductor Insights, a firm specializing in technical investigation of circuit design and process innovations, has compiled the first known video teardown of Apple Inc.'s iPhone, revealing major design wins by the likes of Samsung, Intel and Balda.



"Apple has packaged three parts with their own markings, and six more that seem to have Apple-style part numbering and other manufacturer markings," said Greg Quirk, Technical Marketing Manager at Semiconductor Insights. What is also interesting, he said, are the components that are similar between the iPhone and some of the latest iPod models.



NAND flash



For example, the 8GB iPhone employs Samsung's 65-nanometer 8-Gbyte MLC NAND flash. "This is the exact same component that was used in the 8-Gbyte iPod nano," the analyst said. "This memory is used to store things like songs, pictures, and videos." Similarly, the 4GB version of the iPhone uses the same 4GB NAND flash chip as the 4GB iPod nano.



NOR and RF



Handling the Apple handset's code execution for call functionality is an Intel wireless flash chip with 32 Megabits of NOR coupled with 16 Megabits of SRAM. The iPhone also sports three RF components: there's an Apple-branded part that has Infineon die markings. This could be the transceiver, according to SI, as the iPhone's baseband processor is the Infineon PMB8876 S-Gold 2 multimedia engine with advanced EDGE functionality. Rounding out the RF chips is the Marvell 88W8686 (a is a 90-nm Wireless LAN device) and a CSR BlueCore 4 ROM (a Bluetooth component also used in the BlackBerry Pearl 8100).



Apple-branded components



The iPhone's central processor is one of the components that features Apple package markings, but by decapsulating the device SI was able to identify it as a Samsung chip (as was exclusively reported by AppleInsider back in January), which features a three stacked die package containing the S5L8900 processor and two 512 Mbit SRAM dies.



Another Apple-branded part is the Broadcom BCM5973A. While there is no additional information available on the chip, SI estimates that it provides the I/O controller used for the video interface to the touch screen. The third Apple-branded part is said be designed by Philips, but unfortunately the die markings made it difficult for the firm to determine its origin.



iPhone's audio codec is reported to be the Wolfson WM8758, which is the same codec used in Apple's current iPod video. This means users should get the same sound quality as they would experience from their iPod, according to Quirk. Meanwhile, the power amplifier is reportedly supplied by Skyworks, a similar part to the one used in the Motorola RAZR V3x.



Of all the iPhone component suppliers, Balda, a German company, is reported to have scored the biggest design win with the touch screen. "Balda is known for making touch screen that are durable and scratch resistant, a common complaint of the screen in iPods," said Quirk. "Balda has worked with Nokia, Motorola and Sony-Ericsson, but this is their most visible design win that we're aware of, which could help them get further recognition in the LCD industry."



Watch the video teardown and view pictures of the iPhone logicboard, below:







Watch the video teardown



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    bacillusbacillus Posts: 313member
    Irony: Not being able to watch the flash video of the iphone breakdown on your iphone



    Its not a total loss - I get to watch a little blue Lego block with a ? mark in it
  • Reply 2 of 27
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Now we await a breakthrough in cost /performance in NAND. This baby is just begging for higher capacity as soon as possible.
  • Reply 3 of 27
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bacillus View Post


    Fred Thompson (R) '08!



    Hey we've done the actor thing, why not go for a puppet? Oh, silly me, we've just done that too. I know, how about a 3D cartoon from Pixar?
  • Reply 4 of 27
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Now the Political Outsider is infecting ALL of the threads... Admin, how close are you guys to solving these thread issues? Looks like they are pretty entrenched at this time.
  • Reply 5 of 27
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    Now the Political Outsider is infecting ALL of the threads... Admin, how close are you guys to solving these thread issues? Looks like they are pretty entrenched at this time.



    Can't they filer any political crap out? Kind of like a spam filter in e-mail? Although I think Ratatouille would make an excellent supreme judge
  • Reply 6 of 27
    bacillusbacillus Posts: 313member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    Can't they filer any political crap out? Kind of like a spam filter in e-mail? Although I think Ratatouille would make an excellent supreme judge



    If they want to make a rule on sigs - fine. There are plenty I would like to see go, like the pro global warming crap some ram down our throats.
  • Reply 7 of 27
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bacillus View Post


    If they want to make a rule on sigs - fine. There are plenty I would like to see go, like the pro global warming crap some ram down our throats.



    You actually don't believe in gw? That's made my day ROFL. Hey the Earth may be flat as well as 6000 years old you know ... Come on let's get serious here, back to iPhones please



    My wife (who has been hitting me over the head every time I read a review) is as I type logging onto Apple Store to order one ... hehe.



    p.s.sigs should be limited to important stuff like "Death to MS" and "Macs Rule". LOL
  • Reply 8 of 27
    Why is it that every time I read a story "by" AppleInsider I get the nasty feeling they're plagiarizing somebody else's story? It's practically the same thing as this article here:



    http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/s...leID=200001811



    I guess this is to be expected, but I would have liked them to at least put a link in to the source article. Nice "original" reporting AppleInsider.
  • Reply 9 of 27
    buckbuck Posts: 293member
    Since we're so offtopic anyway... how about britwithgoodteeth's sig about raping black men? That's horny.

    Edit: or maybe it's the other way around - I wasn't paying much attention.
  • Reply 10 of 27
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Buck View Post


    Since we're so offtopic anyway... how about britwithgoodteeth's sig about raping black men? That's horny.

    Edit: or maybe it's the other way around - I wasn't paying much attention.



    Hey I know several Brits with good teeth!
  • Reply 11 of 27
    thebeatthebeat Posts: 113member
    you can do SO much with the iPhone, yet the battery life is only what? 5 hours?
  • Reply 12 of 27
    spindriftspindrift Posts: 674member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thebeat View Post


    you can do SO much with the iPhone, yet the battery life is only what? 5 hours?



    No, talk time is 8 hours which is more than most regular handsets let alone any other smartphone that I know of. Audio playback is 24 hours, 7 hours video and over 10 days standby.



    That aint half bad gov.
  • Reply 13 of 27
    desarcdesarc Posts: 642member
    i got about 18 hours straight use out of my phone before it got down to "10%" warning.

    that was about 2 hours talk time, watched a 44 minute episode of ice truckers [odd odd job], 4 or so browsing the net, and the rest listening to the iPod the entire day. bluetooth was on all day, about an hour browsing on wifi [but never shut it off] the rest on edge at the beach.
  • Reply 14 of 27
    b3njb3nj Posts: 70member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bacillus View Post


    Irony: Not being able to watch the flash video of the iphone breakdown on your iphone



    Its not a total loss - I get to watch a little blue Lego block with a ? mark in it







    (but seriously... i thought it was a YouTube film?)
  • Reply 15 of 27
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpinDrift View Post


    No, talk time is 8 hours which is more than most regular handsets let alone any other smartphone that I know of. Audio playback is 24 hours, 7 hours video and over 10 days standby.



    That aint half bad gov.



    Regurgitating Apple's listed specs doesn't earn you brownie points.
  • Reply 16 of 27
    mrtotesmrtotes Posts: 760member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    NAND flash



    For example, the 8GB iPhone employs Samsung's 65-nanometer 8-Gbyte MLC NAND flash. "This is the exact same component that was used in the 8-Gbyte iPod nano," the analyst said. "This memory is used to store things like songs, pictures, and videos." Similarly, the 4GB version of the iPhone uses the same 4GB NAND flash chip as the 4GB iPod nano.







    So why is there a $100 difference between iPhones and only $50 between Nanos?
  • Reply 17 of 27
    citycity Posts: 522member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrtotes View Post


    So why is there a $100 difference between iPhones and only $50 between Nanos?



    I agree. The 8g nano should be priced $50 more at $299US.
  • Reply 18 of 27
    tbagginstbaggins Posts: 2,306member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    Hey I know several Brits with good teeth!



    Exactly. There's at least 10 or 15 in the entire country. Its not nearly as bad as it used to be.



    .
  • Reply 19 of 27
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrtotes View Post


    So why is there a $100 difference between iPhones and only $50 between Nanos?



    mmmm... good question.
  • Reply 20 of 27
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TBaggins View Post


    Exactly. There's at least 10 or 15 in the entire country. Its not nearly as bad as it used to be.



    .



    To be fair several of those came to the US for dental work.
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