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iFixit's iPhone X Teardown Reveals Two Battery Cells, 'Unprecedented' Logic Board (macrumors.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the what's-inside dept.

iFixit has posted its teardown of the iPhone X, revealing a new TrueDepth camera system, stacked logic board, L-shaped two-cell battery pack, and Qi-based inductive charging coil. Mac Rumors reports: Like every other model since the iPhone 7 Plus, the iPhone X is a sideways-opening device. A single bracket covers every logic board connector. iFixit said the miniaturized logic board design is incredibly space efficient, with an unprecedented density of connectors and components. It noted the iPhone X logic board is about 70 percent of the size of the iPhone 8 Plus logic board. The extra room allows for a new L-shaped two-cell battery pack rated for 2,716 mAh, which is slightly larger than the iPhone 8 Plus battery. iFixit's teardown includes some high-resolution photos of the iPhone X's new TrueDepth camera system that powers Face ID and Animoji. For those unfamiliar, a flood illuminator covers your face with infrared light. Next, the front-facing camera confirms a face. Then the IR dot projector projects a grid of dots over your face to create a three-dimensional map. Last, the infrared camera reads this map and sends the data to the iPhone X for authentication. Like the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, the inside of the iPhone X's rear shell is affixed with an inductive charging coil based on the Qi standard. iFixit gave the iPhone X a so-called repairability score of six out of a possible 10 points. It said a cracked display can be replaced without removing Face ID's biometric hardware, but it added that fussy cables tie unrelated components together into complex assemblies that are expensive and troublesome to replace.

4 of 89 comments (clear)

  1. Wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Iâ(TM)m an EE and Engineering Design Firm owner with over 20 years of experience and 200+ Leading Edge Wireless Cellular/WiFi/Microwave/Satcom Product designs under my belt and I have to say WOW. This is very, very impressive. They would have spent months on the PCB design alone! Applause to Appleâ(TM)s Engineers!

    1. Re:Wow by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I agree that the engineering is impressive. TFA shows the front of the PCB, and here is the back. More than half the real estate is covered in BGAs. Anyone know how many layers were used? It even looks like it has a removable battery.

      My wife has one on order, but, alas, I don't think she will let me disassemble it.

  2. Re:Did they find the pure-strain gold? by glennrrr · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It sort of strange that gold and diamonds, which have very limited usage in large quantities, are considered intrinsicly valuable, while a pocket computer with thousands of man-years of effort behind it, and craftsmanship down to the nanometer is thought of as something that should be dirt cheap.

  3. Re: Did they find the pure-strain gold? by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 1, Interesting

    What do you think the appropriate price for this phone is? And the correct amount of hype?