First iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus teardowns reveal high-capacity batteries, reworked innards
Coming just hours after Apple launched the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus on Friday, repair firms and blogs are already performing teardowns of the two handsets to reveal major component redesigns and layout tweaks necessitated by a super-thin form factor.
In Japan, Apple blog Mac Otakara has completely disassembled the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 version, revealing an intricately designed interior with all-new components squeezing into a slightly revamped layout.
As seen in the video below, Apple was forced to make concessions in designing the ultra thin handset. For example, the 1,810mAh battery is now fastened to the aluminum chassis via adhesive tabs, a major change that sits somewhere between removable batteries from past iPhones and glued-in power packs from the current iPad lineup.
A variety of components have been redesigned or otherwise tweaked to fit within the 6.9-millimeter chassis, including the ear speaker, vibrator, iSight camera module and display, which now appears to be bonded to the front cover glass.
Looking at the parts piece-by-piece, it is clear that a majority of previously rumored components leaks were indeed accurate, including reports concerning the iPhone's logic board, Touch ID, metal harnesses, flex cables and more.
Repair firm iFixit has also commenced its customary live dissection of the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, which has confirmed rumors of a 2,915mAh battery rated at 3.82 V and 11.1 Watt hours.
As with the 4.7-inch model, the iPhone 6 Plus features a relocated -- and redesigned -- vibrator motor, which now sits to the right of the battery. Apple appears to be using a linear oscillating type vibrator instead of the rotating mass unit found in the iPhone 5s. Unlike the linear oscillator found in iPhone 4S, the iPhone 6 Plus unit is rectangular.
Moving on to the logic board, Apple's new A8 SoC is easily spotted just above the phone's nano-SIM reader, while a Hynix NAND flash module resides on the flip side. Other notables include Qualcomm's MDM9625M LTE-Advanced modem with support for carrier aggregation, two baseband chips from Avago, Triquint amps and silicon from usual players Skyworks and Broadcom.
The repair firm gave the iPhone 6 Plus a repairability score of 7 out of 10, citing the use of pentalobe screws and the fact that Apple does not share repair information outside of its authorized service network.
Editor's Note: This article was continuously updated during the teardown process.
In Japan, Apple blog Mac Otakara has completely disassembled the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 version, revealing an intricately designed interior with all-new components squeezing into a slightly revamped layout.
As seen in the video below, Apple was forced to make concessions in designing the ultra thin handset. For example, the 1,810mAh battery is now fastened to the aluminum chassis via adhesive tabs, a major change that sits somewhere between removable batteries from past iPhones and glued-in power packs from the current iPad lineup.
A variety of components have been redesigned or otherwise tweaked to fit within the 6.9-millimeter chassis, including the ear speaker, vibrator, iSight camera module and display, which now appears to be bonded to the front cover glass.
Looking at the parts piece-by-piece, it is clear that a majority of previously rumored components leaks were indeed accurate, including reports concerning the iPhone's logic board, Touch ID, metal harnesses, flex cables and more.
Repair firm iFixit has also commenced its customary live dissection of the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, which has confirmed rumors of a 2,915mAh battery rated at 3.82 V and 11.1 Watt hours.
As with the 4.7-inch model, the iPhone 6 Plus features a relocated -- and redesigned -- vibrator motor, which now sits to the right of the battery. Apple appears to be using a linear oscillating type vibrator instead of the rotating mass unit found in the iPhone 5s. Unlike the linear oscillator found in iPhone 4S, the iPhone 6 Plus unit is rectangular.
Moving on to the logic board, Apple's new A8 SoC is easily spotted just above the phone's nano-SIM reader, while a Hynix NAND flash module resides on the flip side. Other notables include Qualcomm's MDM9625M LTE-Advanced modem with support for carrier aggregation, two baseband chips from Avago, Triquint amps and silicon from usual players Skyworks and Broadcom.
The repair firm gave the iPhone 6 Plus a repairability score of 7 out of 10, citing the use of pentalobe screws and the fact that Apple does not share repair information outside of its authorized service network.
Editor's Note: This article was continuously updated during the teardown process.
Comments
Sheesh! I mean; one day, theses phones are going to be just a single slab of transparent crystal "grown" in a Petri dish. And they'll give it a negative score on "user repairability".
Hmm. Comments are particularly quiet tonight.
Everybody must be busy standing on line.
Gonna head in a bit and lineup (already ordered my phone but will be fun to chat with some Apple fans)
Hmm. Comments are particularly quiet tonight.
Everybody must be busy standing on line.
I'm busy constantly checking the UPS app to track my iPhone 6's progress.
Careful now, don't overload their servers.
If it was part of a general review on the iPhone I would agree with you. Being that iFixit is in the repair business though I would expect the reparability of the iPhone to be the focus of their teardown/review. Obviously they are going to rate the phone low in this area but that shouldn't have an impact on the decision to buy. Unless of course they are advising against the purchase of an iPhone 6 based on reparability that would be different. I haven't actually read the reviews on their site however, only the info posted here.
How incredibly pointless, considering we saw this unfold in reverse during all the leaks. :P
Seriously though, I despise iFixit, everything they stand for, and every PR video they produce. They rip people off for their "services", and well....just look at what they did to that 6 Plus.....they're aren't enough to go around as it is!
The part they don't show is: iPut it back together and sell it on eBay for 2 large this week.
Really the 6 and 6+ have an 1110 mah difference, that's like a 60% increase, really Apple couldn't make them same thickness and same battery life, or very similar with like a 2000 and a 2925 mah battery.
You tell 'em. I really wish Apple would listen to people like you, instead of their own engineers. iPhones would be such much betta!
What about the ram and ghz of the phone? I want that confirmed
Yea me too. It matters so much. SO MUCH.
Well, if i understand correctly, i believe the vast difference is for the reason being that the type of customer that will buy the iphone 6 will use less media and power consuming tasks that also prefer smaller less hassle device, and the people who buy the iphone 6 plus are heavy media users that will put the iphone 6plus to work, so they decided to really amp up that battery. They would more like garner complaints from 6 plus users about battery life, and they would most likely garner complaints from iphone 6 users that are a little more conservative about size and thickness issues, so they catered each device to the consumer types. Thats my "opinion" i could be wrong.
Daaaayummmm! I agree!! Get to it iFixit!!!
Eager to see these. My problem is iFixit "whining" about how "difficult" do-it-yourself repairs are.
Sheesh! I mean; one day, theses phones are going to be just a single slab of transparent crystal "grown" in a Petri dish. And they'll give it a negative score on "user repairability".
Unless of course they are advising against the purchase of an iPhone 6 based on reparability that would be different.
To a certain extent; in a certain way; they kinda are. Their reviews are kind of couched that way. Like "Gee whiz, Apple really shouldn't make these things with nano technology and molecularly fused seams. Really disappointed with Apple here" Their reviews have that kind of undercurrent to them.
Sorry for them; as I said above the technology is not going to get more user tear-downable. No more hard drive bays and expansion ports and thumbscrews.
Edit: Still; I love the work they do with their tear downs and their repair guides. And they sell solid products.
Why use Korean Hynix NAND flash instead U.S. Micron?
They use whatever's available, and at the right price from Hynix, Micron, and Samsung
What’ll that do? All they can do is claim it’s unfixable.
Whoa, a live feed from the Samsung lab.