First iPhone 3G tear-down photos live from New Zealand launch

[AppleInsider]

The guys from iFixIt.com were on hand for the start of the worldwide iPhone 3G launch in New Zealand this morning where they purchased and began dissecting one of the new handsets.

The first thing they found was that the new iPhone contains a boat load of microchips with proprietary Apple markings on them, including an Apple-labeled Samsung processor.

Rumor has it that the folks at TechOnline will soon be decapping the mysterious batch of Apple-labeled chips by soaking them in an acid bath to eat away their ceramic coating. They'll then use x-rays and other fancy equipment to examine them and try and determine their origin.

In a significant departure from the first iPhone, iFixIt discovered that the LCD and glass covering are separate components, just like on the iPod Touch. Previously, they were glued together, making replacement screens very expensive.

Another change is that the iPhone's two circuit boards -- logic and communications -- have now been combined into one. "Rather than stacking them, as in the last model, they laid it out along the entire length," iFixIt said. "We're guessing this allowed them to make the battery longer."

Speaking of the battery, there's another pleasant surprise -- it's not soldered to the logic board.

As for the specific components, iFixIt has spotted: Intel NOR flash memory, a Skyworks power management chip (SKY77340), an Apple-branded ARM chip, and an Infineon SMARTi Power 3i.

Cracking open the iPhone 3G | Source: iFixIt.

The battery isn't soldered on! | Source: iFixIt.

One side of the logic board | Source: iFixIt.

The other side of the logic board | Source: iFixIt.

Infineon's description of the SMARTi Power 3i chip says it's "optimized to support modem and data card applications based upon X-GOLD208 and X-GOLD 608, with features ranging from EDGE up to 3G and HSDPA."

The biggest news, according to the Apple parts reseller, is the Samsung memory markers on the processor again, which read: "339S0036 ARM K4X16163PC-DGC3 EMC567DB 819 8900B N182F0A3 0825." The Samsung memory on the chip is said to be slightly different from the first iPhone, which was K4X1G153PC.

iFixIt is continually updating their tear-down as they delve deeper into the specific components they've uncovered.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[nagromme]

I hope those 2 tiny screws that everyone has been saying look so "awful" and "un-Apple" (despite every Apple laptop ever being fastened with screws) mean that this iPhone is easier to open than past iPhones/iPods.

No more prying?

[qwen3579]

2 screws away from a battery replacement with no soldering!

NICE!

[DimMok]

This is so exciting, its like when my son was being born!

On another note.......Dudes, whats up with this guys dirty ass fingernails...DISGUSTING


LOL

[stompy]

Originally Posted by DimMok

On another note.......Dudes, whats up with this guys dirty ass fingernails...DISGUSTING
LOL

Hit the first link and go to iFixit. See his comments "(Sorry about the dirty fingernails-- we've been waiting in line in cold Auckland for a while.)"

[nagromme]

Waiting in line, or digging escape tunnels?

[8CoreWhore]

Where's the SSD?? I wish he would comment on the two screws and how we could replace battery.

[NasserAE]

It is funny. This time we at the US will be the last to get the iPhone

[KenC]

...and organized inside.

[cnocbui]

Originally Posted by DimMok

This is so exciting, its like when my son was being born!

On another note.......Dudes, whats up with this guys dirty ass fingernails...DISGUSTING


LOL

You seriously need to let go of your joystick and go and get some experience of the real world. Fingernails get dirty in the real world - dude - and the means and facilities required to try and get them clean, are not always readily to hand. Even when they are, it is not always possible to get 100% of it out.

[melgross]

Originally Posted by 8CoreWhore

Where's the SSD?? I wish he would comment on the two screws and how we could replace battery.

There is no SSD.

There are flash chips soldered to the board using flash protocols for use.

An SSD incorporates a separate HDD controller for the interface, which allows faster transfers. Then the computer must also incorporate a controller on its end.

This is all much more expensive to do.

[JeffDM]

That picture is fine. My nails are dirtier, but then, I do actual work on occasion and I don't have a manicurist to scrub them.

[Bloodshotrollin'red]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

That picture is fine. My nails are dirtier, but then, I do actual work on occasion and I don't have a manicurist to scrub them.

He photoshopped his fingernails clean! How gay is that?

Tis okay, though... I'm gay and I don't mind dirty finger nails. I hate deodorants and any perfumes other than pure male pheromones.

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by Bloodshotrollin'red

He photoshopped his fingernails clean! How gay is that?

I can see that though, it's easier to touch up a blemish than go back and reshoot.

[Eriamjh]

Interesting shield on the PCB. I wonder why they didn't just to a ground plane on an inner layer?

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh

Interesting shield on the PCB. I wonder why they didn't just to a ground plane on an inner layer?

I think it's a more thoughrough way to isolate different parts of a circuit.

[uRbAn]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

That picture is fine. My nails are dirtier, but then, I do actual work on occasion and I don't have a manicurist to scrub them.

As soon as we get the iPhone it'll keep our nails clean due to the touch-screen. Long fingernails = Hard to type Google

-=uɐqɹn=-

[addabox]

Let's back up here-- as has been noted, it looks like the case crack just took removing those two screws, and then we find out the battery isn't soldered in.

Isn't that the really big news? That an iPhone battery replacement is now just a battery purchase away?

It's like Apple is giving us a stealth user replaceable battery and just not saying anything about it. Kind of like, "All right, if you absolutely insist on replacing your own battery, we'll make it pretty easy, but we're certainly not gong to claim it as a feature, or anything crass like that."

[SpamSandwich]

Originally Posted by addabox

Let's back up here-- as has been noted, it looks like the case crack just took removing those two screws, and then we find out the battery isn't soldered in.

Isn't that the really big news? That an iPhone battery replacement is now just a battery purchase away?

It's like Apple is giving us a stealth user replaceable battery and just not saying anything about it. Kind of like, "All right, if you absolutely insist on replacing your own battery, we'll make it pretty easy, but we're certainly not gong to claim it as a feature, or anything crass like that."

Tho' it would make a lot more sense if Apple made an easily removable batt on the exterior, away from the sensitive electronic bits...

[melgross]

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Tho' it would make a lot more sense if Apple made an easily removable batt on the exterior, away from the sensitive electronic bits...

Both ways have their pluses and minuses. I would hope that anyone buying their own battery would not be all thumbs about things like this.

I was trying to teach someone to solder (at his request) recently. His hands shook so much during it that I could see that it just wasn't his thing, and I told him so.

I do have a number of devices that require you to remove screws to replace a battery, even to exposing the circuits inside. Most of them expect that you are a professional, so it isn't a concern. But some are consumer devices.

[neverPCagain]

Interesting shield on the PCB. I wonder why they didn't just to a ground plane on an inner layer?

I used to design similar stuff. The real reason is not to use the metal as ground, but rather provide an elecromagnetic shield between different chips to make sure there's no crosstalk between them. Of course in this case it also helps to use the sheild as a standoff to make sure the tiny parts don't get crushed by accidental pressure during assembly

Ahhh, the wonders of engineering...