First iPhone 7 Plus teardown reveals larger battery, revamped internal design, faux speaker port, m

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
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in iPhone edited September 2016
Mere hours after Apple's iPhone 7 Plus arrived in the hands of pre-order customers on Friday, the team at iFixit ripped the new flagship smartphone open to reveal a larger battery, revamped internal layout, fake speaker port in lieu of a headphone jack and other goodies.




iFixit's teardown is ongoing as of this writing, but the firm is posting pictures of the process on its webpage. This year, the company flew out to Japan to obtain its launch day dissection subject.

Upon first glance, iPhone 7 Plus appears to be largely similar to iPhone 6s Plus, save for the dual-camera array and lack of headphone jack. The phone's connective tissue is also unchanged, as two pentalobe screws secure the display assembly to the 7000 series aluminum chassis. Then things begin to deviate.

Compared to last year's model, iPhone 7 Plus contains a stronger adhesive tape iFixit believes might be related to waterproofing. Another change, this year's iPhone opens to the side like a book, whereas the display on previous versions flipped up like steno pad. Cabling and other connectors have been reworked to support this new arrangement.

Photos also revealed a 2,900 mAh battery, up from the 2,750 mAh cell found in iPhone 6s Plus. Coupled with Apple's new A10 Fusion processor, which promises to deliver both speed and efficiency with a unique quad-core design, the smartphone should see a boost in time between charges.

Announced last week, and subsequently defended by Apple executives, iPhone 7 and 7 Plus no longer feature a 3.5mm headphone jack. In its place, iFixit found what looks to be a non-functional speaker port.

Just above the faux speaker port is the enhanced Taptic Engine module that generates phone vibrations and powers the new solid-state home button. Compared to the iPhone 6s, this year's Taptic Engine appears to be a quite a bit taller, suggesting the unit's internal weights were enlarged for enhanced feedback.

Moving to the dual-camera system, the teardown confirms suspicions that Apple is using two identical sensor modules outfitted with specialized lens packages. The wide angle imager, thought to be identical to iPhone 7's iSight camera, comes with an optical image stabilization system and new lens array, while the telephoto shooter lacks OIS.

On the logic board lives Apple's A10 Fusion processor, with 3GB of Samsung LPDDR4 RAM, a Qualcomm MDM9645M LTE Cat. 12 Modem and components from Skyworks and Avago. Intel is also supplying modems for iPhone 7, specifically handsets operating on AT&T and T-Mobile networks in the U.S.

Apple's iPhone 7 Plus went up for pre-order last Friday alongside the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 and the new Apple Watch Series 2. On Wednesday, Apple announced initial supply of all iPhone 7 Plus versions, as well all jet black iPhone 7 models, had been depleted.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    kevin keekevin kee Posts: 1,289member
    In its place, iFixit found what looks to be a non-functional speaker port.

    Actually that is incorrect. The Taptic Engine takes half of its place.
    edited September 2016 perkedeldoozydozenmike1
  • Reply 2 of 23
    ChiumeisterChiumeister Posts: 3member
    Any chance for battery fire in the 7 or 7 plus in your view?
  • Reply 3 of 23
    larryalarrya Posts: 606member
    kevin kee said:
    In its place, iFixit found what looks to be a non-functional speaker port.

    Actually that is incorrect. The Taptic Engine takes half of its place.

    Looks that way to me, too.  I guess we basically traded the headphone port for having a non-mechanical home button.  I would also want to put the Taptic Engine there, under the home button, for maximum effect.  I think I would rather have the port than feedback from pressing the button.
  • Reply 4 of 23
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    kevin kee said:
    In its place, iFixit found what looks to be a non-functional speaker port.

    Actually that is incorrect. The Taptic Engine takes half of its place.
    To be fair, this is the 7 Plus. I doubt the 7 has anything like this bumper covering the fake speaker grille. They design the phone for the smallest size, and the larger size gets some extra space. But as you point out, not enough for a headphone jack.

    still not a very innovative use of free space given their claims.
  • Reply 5 of 23
    kevin keekevin kee Posts: 1,289member
    larrya said:
    kevin kee said:
    In its place, iFixit found what looks to be a non-functional speaker port.

    Actually that is incorrect. The Taptic Engine takes half of its place.

    Looks that way to me, too.  I guess we basically traded the headphone port for having a non-mechanical home button.  I would also want to put the Taptic Engine there, under the home button, for maximum effect.  I think I would rather have the port than feedback from pressing the button.
    It is actually directly under the home button (look at the charger port) just not at the middle because of the other side components took half of the space already. The non-mechanical home button path the way for full screen iPhone in the future. It is needed, so is the taptic engine. Headphone port have to go either way.
    airbubble
  • Reply 6 of 23
    JoePiervincentiJoePiervincenti Posts: 36member
    Kinda funny to see an article posted on Thursday night about what happened hours after customers got their phones on Friday lol
  • Reply 7 of 23
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    kevin kee said:
    In its place, iFixit found what looks to be a non-functional speaker port.
    Actually that is incorrect. The Taptic Engine takes half of its place.
    There is word that there is a microphone down there, too. If they used some extra room for a better mic, perhaps Siri's listening abilities could be greatly improved.
    doozydozen
  • Reply 8 of 23
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member

    mac_128 said:
    kevin kee said:
    In its place, iFixit found what looks to be a non-functional speaker port.

    Actually that is incorrect. The Taptic Engine takes half of its place.
    They design the phone for the smallest size, and the larger size gets some extra space.
    They designed for the 4.7" iPhone and then leave extra space in the 5.5"? I'm beside my self in shock with that comment. The better camera setup, and larger battery don't indicate to that you your comment is patently false?
    JanNLwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 9 of 23
    vinvvinv Posts: 1member
    intel modem in gsm, qc in cdma. 

    intel cat 10 450 mbps / qc cat 12 up 13 down (600 mbps)

    verizon model has the advantage. Unless intel's silicon in more power efficient.
  • Reply 10 of 23
    boredumbboredumb Posts: 1,418member
    oops - sorry - wrong topic...it'd be nice to be able to completely eliminate posts in error
    edited September 2016
  • Reply 11 of 23
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,279member
    larrya said:
    kevin kee said:
    In its place, iFixit found what looks to be a non-functional speaker port.

    Actually that is incorrect. The Taptic Engine takes half of its place.

    Looks that way to me, too.  I guess we basically traded the headphone port for having a non-mechanical home button.  I would also want to put the Taptic Engine there, under the home button, for maximum effect.  I think I would rather have the port than feedback from pressing the button.
    Which also begets the water resistance. Really? no feedback indicating that you actually "pressed" the botton?! Get real.
    nolamacguy
  • Reply 12 of 23
    hmlongcohmlongco Posts: 536member
    larrya said: Looks that way to me, too.  I guess we basically traded the headphone port for having a non-mechanical home button.  I would also want to put the Taptic Engine there, under the home button, for maximum effect.  I think I would rather have the port than feedback from pressing the button.
    The Taptic Engine is also used in the UI to provide feedback. Hit the bottom of a scrolling list, for example, and you'll feel a slight "bump". Pick list spinners have a slight tick between entries, and so on. The API was also just made available to developers, so the Taptic Engine can also be used for g-shock-style game effects.

    IOW, they didn't go to all of that effort just for a fake home button click...
    nolamacguy
  • Reply 13 of 23
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,110member
    If it's true, the lack of OIS on the telephoto camera seems like a big omission that hasn't been well publicized. You actually need it more with a telephoto lens than a wide angle lens, as anyone who has ever looked through binoculars can tell you. 
  • Reply 14 of 23
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    I will be waiting awhile before I get mine. Once I get one, I will be interested to see how the stereo works since the two speakers are completely different. I not sure there is sufficient separation to make a difference anyway and one speaker is pointing directly at you and the other is pointing away to the side. Personally, I would have liked a real speaker in that place instead of a fake one. Many times I listen to music on the patio at night and I point the speaker directly at the seating area.  With another speaker the volume would be a little better, but we'll see.
  • Reply 15 of 23
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    larrya said:
    kevin kee said:
    In its place, iFixit found what looks to be a non-functional speaker port.

    Actually that is incorrect. The Taptic Engine takes half of its place.

    Looks that way to me, too.  I guess we basically traded the headphone port for having a non-mechanical home button.  I would also want to put the Taptic Engine there, under the home button, for maximum effect.  I think I would rather have the port than feedback from pressing the button.
    your guess is incorrect. apple's head engineering guy already said very plainly in the Buzzfeed article that we got the better cameras (and new chips), bigger battery and water seals with the space. 

    enough of the armchair engineering, please. 
    Soli
  • Reply 16 of 23
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    As I posted earlier, the 4.7" iPhone 7 doesn't have any extra room to spare for a headphone jack:


    edited September 2016
  • Reply 17 of 23
    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • Reply 18 of 23
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    mac_128 said:
    As I posted earlier, the 4.7" iPhone 7 doesn't have any extra room to spare for a headphone jack:
    Neither iPhone 7 models do.
  • Reply 19 of 23
    socalreysocalrey Posts: 17member
    Teardown Update: According to Apple, this plastic component is a barometric vent. With the added ingress protection afforded by the watertight seal, the iPhone uses this baffle to equalize the internal and atmospheric pressures in order to have an accurate altimeter. https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone+7+Plus+Teardown/67384
  • Reply 20 of 23
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    socalrey said:
    Teardown Update: According to Apple, this plastic component is a barometric vent. With the added ingress protection afforded by the watertight seal, the iPhone uses this baffle to equalize the internal and atmospheric pressures in order to have an accurate altimeter. https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone+7+Plus+Teardown/67384
    Exactly and it's larger in the Plus than the 4.7" phone to accommodate the extra space. It's pretty clear that Apple could have engineered the Plus to include a headphone jack. But again, the components for the iPhone 7 were designed to fit the 4.7" model than placed into the Plus model where they had more room to add dual cameras and a larger battery. Jut like the Watch is engineered for the significantly smaller 38mm Watch, and then put into the larger 42mm case which affords them more battery. One day I suspect we'll see additional features added to the 42mm not available on the 38mm just like the iPhones. Either way, it doesn't make a lot of sense to keep the headphone jack in one model and not the other, whether they could or not. It would just create confusion. Not to mention, they are likely leaving room they know they're going to need to add something else next year.
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