First iPhone 5s teardown shows no major internal changes [u]

Posted:
in iPhone edited March 2014
As has become typical of every major Apple product launch, the new iPhone 5s is being torn down just hours after it officially went on sale in Australia, offering some of the first looks at the phone's innards.

Editor's note: This article was continuously updated as the teardown was in progress.

iPhone 5s Teardown
Source: iFixit


The techs at iFixit are in the midst of carrying out a teardown of Apple's latest flagship smartphone, which is expected to reveal unannounced specifications and internal layout.

This year, the repair firm is tearing down the device live. So far, not much has been revealed aside from the battery, which is a 3.8V 5.92Whr unit, up from 5.45Whr in the iPhone 5.

iPhone 5s Teardown
Touch ID fingerprint sensor and home button.


The new iPhone's logic board appears to have been revamped, with enhancements including repositioned antenna connection placement that does away with cumbersome flex cables. The EMI shielding is also of note, as there are perforations for better cooling.

In conclusion, iFixit found no substantial changes to the iPhone 5s' internals compared to the iPhone 5. Aside from the slightly larger A7 SoC and Touch ID, the design is as expected. Interestingly, no mention was made of Apple's M7 motion coprocessor. Further investigation will likely reveal the chip's placement on the logic board.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 37

    Come on… 0/10 repairability… 

  • Reply 2 of 37
    Even the innards are made of gold! They think of everything!

    [IMG ALT=""]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/31876/width/350/height/700[/IMG]
  • Reply 3 of 37

    But will it blend?

  • Reply 4 of 37
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hentaiboy View Post

     

    But will it blend?


     

    iPhone 6

  • Reply 5 of 37
    Decap that A7 and put it under an electron microscope! I wanna see that chips layout!
  • Reply 6 of 37

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     

    Come on… 0/10 repairability… 


    That would be my HTC One. 

  • Reply 7 of 37
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hentaiboy View Post

     

    But will it blend?


     

    Dave Letterman used to have a skit called "Will it Float?" Very funny sometimes.

  • Reply 8 of 37
    sennensennen Posts: 1,472member

    iFixit, doing Samsung's job for them. :P

  • Reply 9 of 37
    drblankdrblank Posts: 3,385member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     

    Come on… 0/10 repairability… 


     

    What do you expect? iFixit is looking to sell parts and tools so people will avoid taking their products to a qualified Apple Tech that has been trained, certified, has proper tools, has proper parts and their work is covered under a warranty.   MOST people are NOT going to try to fix their own device, so it really doesn't matter.  Tower computers are a little different since they are genetically designed for the user to pull them apart and replace RAM, PCI cards, etc.  But mobile devices, even laptops shouldn't be messed with unless the mfg specifically designs it to have some user replaceable components, which is becoming rarer and rarer to find.  Replacing a component with a third party is not always better performing and more reliable and 100% compatible.

  • Reply 10 of 37
    Argh!!! Someone find out who makes the CPU and the process size! Pretty please? The suspense is killing me.
  • Reply 11 of 37
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by flux8 View Post



    Argh!!! Someone find out who makes the CPU and the process size! Pretty please? The suspense is killing me.

     

    Hm, at least from the outside I can't see anything disputing AnandTech's conclusion that it should be Samsung and 28 nm...

  • Reply 12 of 37
    kpomkpom Posts: 660member

    The last comment says the markings are Samsung.

    http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone+5s+Teardown/17383/2

     

    I guess the speculation that Samsung was caught off guard was mistaken. Samsung may have been caught off guard, but several months ago, not several days ago when their co-CEO announced that next year's Galaxies will have 64-bit chips.

  • Reply 13 of 37

    Strange headline. It has a new processor, different RAM, better radios, bigger battery, better camera, better flash, but "no major internal design changes"? What would constitute a major change then, unless the writer is simply talking about the layout of black squares of silicon.

  • Reply 14 of 37

    @ KPOM What last comment says the markings are Samsung?

  • Reply 15 of 37
    sennen wrote: »
    iFixit, doing Samsung's job for them. :P
    Lol! No doubt the first 20 iPhones in South Korea are ordered by Samsung's "engineering and design" teams
  • Reply 16 of 37
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chabig View Post

     

    Strange headline. It has a new processor, different RAM, better radios, bigger battery, better camera, better flash, but "no major internal design changes"? What would constitute a major change then, unless the writer is simply talking about the layout of black squares of silicon.


     

    iFixit's focus is on repairs, so I guess this mainly refers to the internal layout, how to open the device etc., not specs.

  • Reply 17 of 37
    I want to know (a) how much RAM is in the A7, (b) any markings of a fabrication vendor on the A7, (c) what process in nanometers is the A7 printed at, (d) what radio chips are being used ...
  • Reply 18 of 37
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by PeterAlt View Post



    I want to know (a) how much RAM is in the A7, (b) any markings of a fabrication vendor on the A7, (c) what process in nanometers is the A7 printed at, (d) what radio chips are being used ...

     

    a) According to the marking F8164A1PD on the A7 they say it is supposed to be 1GB, which is in line with the numbers identified by Geekbench

    b) Everbody identified the markings as pointing to Samsung so far, I do not know, and iFixit writes that they will not make a final statement until they have looked inside the chip. This seems to be in line with the references to Samsung 9to5Mac found in configuration files.

    c) If b) is true, then it must be 28 nm, if not...?

    d) LTE Modem: Qualcomm MDM9615M

    Transceiver: Qualcomm WTR1605L

    WiFi: Murata 339S0205

  • Reply 19 of 37
    drblankdrblank Posts: 3,385member
    flux8 wrote: »
    Argh!!! Someone find out who makes the CPU and the process size! Pretty please? The suspense is killing me.

    What is the reason why you are asking? Does it really matter? Is it just raw curiosity or is there some other reason?
  • Reply 20 of 37
    What do they do with the phones when they are done? Do they put them back together to see if they can assemble the phone like the Chinese?
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