First iPhone 6s teardown reveals smaller battery, tightly packed components [u]
Hours after Apple's iPhone 6s and 6s Plus went on sale in launch countries New Zealand and Australia, the team at iFixit tore into the new device to reveal an expectedly smaller battery and a slightly reworked internal layout.
While a full teardown has yet to be published online, iFixit is posting pictures of the process on Twitter. With a chassis design only slightly tweaked from last year's model, iPhone 6s contains only a few internal changes to make room for a larger Taptic Engine vibration mechanism and 3D Touch-enabled display.
So far, photos have revealed a 1,715 mAh battery, down from the 1,810 mAh cell found in iPhone 6. The drop in overall charge capacity shouldn't impact running time thanks to more efficient silicon like the A9 processor and embedded M9 motion coprocessor.
Other enhancements for this year's "s" update include a 12MP iSight camera with 4K video capability (and optical image stabilization applied to both still and video footage on 6s Plus), a 5MP FaceTime shooter with Retina flash, faster Touch ID module, faster LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity, stronger cover glass, a frame made from 7000 series aluminum and a new rose gold color. The hardware enables advanced iOS 9 functions like always-on Siri, Live Photos and more.
Apple's iPhone 6s is rolling out worldwide on Friday, with preorder shipments already arriving at houses and brick-and-mortar Apple Stores in New Zealand and Australia. Apple exhausted launch day preorder supply on Monday, meaning the only way to get a unit on Friday is to visit a company store or authorized reseller.
Update: iFixit has posted ongoing progress of the teardown to its website.
While a full teardown has yet to be published online, iFixit is posting pictures of the process on Twitter. With a chassis design only slightly tweaked from last year's model, iPhone 6s contains only a few internal changes to make room for a larger Taptic Engine vibration mechanism and 3D Touch-enabled display.
So far, photos have revealed a 1,715 mAh battery, down from the 1,810 mAh cell found in iPhone 6. The drop in overall charge capacity shouldn't impact running time thanks to more efficient silicon like the A9 processor and embedded M9 motion coprocessor.
Other enhancements for this year's "s" update include a 12MP iSight camera with 4K video capability (and optical image stabilization applied to both still and video footage on 6s Plus), a 5MP FaceTime shooter with Retina flash, faster Touch ID module, faster LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity, stronger cover glass, a frame made from 7000 series aluminum and a new rose gold color. The hardware enables advanced iOS 9 functions like always-on Siri, Live Photos and more.
Apple's iPhone 6s is rolling out worldwide on Friday, with preorder shipments already arriving at houses and brick-and-mortar Apple Stores in New Zealand and Australia. Apple exhausted launch day preorder supply on Monday, meaning the only way to get a unit on Friday is to visit a company store or authorized reseller.
Update: iFixit has posted ongoing progress of the teardown to its website.
Comments
The Taptic Engine
Apple decreased the battery size and added the Taptic Engine for a reason. The iPhone is even heavier, something Apple doesn't like to do.
I truly believe the Taptic Engine will sell the iPhone to many people making these compromises worth it.
Every year when the teardowns arrive, I am struck by the appearance of the iPhone insides. They resemble what I as a teenager imagined alien tech would look like.
HE'S ON TO US!
The same for their Macs, too. Other OEMs have gotten better since the iPhone's rise to fame, but some are really awful. Check out this Moto X teardown from just two years ago. It's not even in the same league. Look at all that wasted space on the fibreglass which results in wasted space inside the device.
I'm going to be very curious to see how this all pans out.
Every item mentioned above in the article 'should' theoretically add to heavier draw on battery. And none of the components (to my knowledge) are of a smaller die than the components from last years 6 model. Also, there are more Individual components than for the 6, and the components (CPU etc) are more powerful; (therefor, more power hungry).
Love any other perspectives. But in any case, I'll find out for myself soon enough.
I am under the impression that the A8 is 20-nanometers and A9 is 14nm, not to mention the advancements in the chip design itself. There might be other savings, and Apple does say the longevity on a full charge for the same activity is the same YoY.
I don't know much about DC electric (battery) power but to see this amazingly powerful device, with everything it's capable of -- being powered by a seemingly paltry 3.8 volts of energy -- just completely amazes me.
Edit: That said, what's even more amazing is the battery life we actually get. I know I'm going to get flack for that statement from the power-users but from what little knowledge I know of current battery tech, we should be thankful for even that much length of time from something so small.
I am under the impression that the A8 is 20-nanometers and A9 is 14nm, not to mention the advancements in the chip design itself. There might be other savings, and Apple does say the longevity on a full charge for the same activity is the same YoY.
There is some split between Samsung and TSMC with Samsung getting the majority of orders (if rumors are correct). Samsung uses 14 nm FinFET and TSMC is using 16 nm FinFET. No idea if there are indeed different A9 chips, or if the split is between A9 and A9X, which somehow would make no sense as the iPad Pro will certainly have no comparable volume. Would be interesting to know.
I'm getting old, sorry, what the f*%k does YoY mean?
year over year
Year over year
I don't know much about DC electric (battery) power but to see this amazingly powerful device, with everything it's capable of -- being powered by a seemingly paltry 3.8 volts of energy -- just completely amazes me.
Edit: That said, what's even more amazing is the battery life we actually get. I know I'm going to get flack for that statement from the power-users but from what little knowledge I know of current battery tech, we should be thankful for even that much length of time from something so small.
They're not "power-users."
They're pretentious know-it-alls.
I'm getting old, sorry, what the f*%k does YoY mean?
I have always heard/read it as "Year on Year" , but that's in the UK...
Can't wait.. Apple says my iPhone 6S 128GB is on route for delivery today.
I still want official word it is 2gb of ram
New smaller smart audio codec also.
What's the number 1 'feature' asked for? More battery life.
What does Apple give us? A smaller battery.
Isn't that just so typically Apple? Find out what we want, give us the opposite.
What's the number 1 'feature' asked for? More battery life.
What does Apple give us? A smaller battery.
Isn't that just so typically Apple? Find out what we want, give us the opposite.
While I personally would prefer a thicker, heavier phone that had longer battery life, no one is asking for a smaller or larger battery. What consumers ask for is longer battery life. If Apple has found a way to reduce the size of the battery but maintain the same battery life, that's fine.
And Apple didn't arbitrarily reduce the physical size of the battery - they needed room for the taptic engine. You could argue that battery life is more important than the benefits of the taptic engine, but Apple thought otherwise.
What will be interesting is to see how much the new "Hey, Siri" functionality reduces battery life. That function is only available on older models when those models are connected to external power so they must have done something to optimize power usage in the latest "s" models. This implies that if one kept the "Hey, Siri" functionality turned off in the newest phones, you would get longer battery life. Obviously, we'll know for sure over the next few weeks as consumers get their new phones.
I'm getting old, sorry, what the f*%k does YoY mean?
I don't know, I'm still trying to figure out what IDK means!
I don't know, I'm still trying to figure out what IDK means!
Let me know when you do :-)