I began wondering about the internals of an iPhone, as it had dawned on me that I'd never actually seen their guts before. So I immediately googled (to the right of my address bar...in Firefox) "iphone internals" and clicked on the first result. It brought me here...back to Anandtech again. Good job, guys and gals, and especially Anand: your hard work in consistent journalism is paying off. Thank you! :)
My bad, I neglected to mention I saw said news article from its mention in an anandtech article. whoops, haha. anyways, hopefully now that makes sense.
Try the TripChill iPhone travel assistant the next time you travel. Get real-time flight alerts, book hotel and car, view alternate flights, notify friends of travel status, manage your itinerary, and much more.
==========
alora
Just a little FYI on iPhone Batteries
From Jason Snell's Article "The truth about iPhone battery lifespan":
"A true statement, as far as it goes. Batteries die. But many media reports this week have gone further. Take, for example, CNET’s review of the iPhone, which states that “Apple is estimating one battery will last for 400 charges — probably about two years’ worth of use.”
Two years of use, the review says, and your iPhone dies. Or disappears in a puff of smoke, like those old tape recordings on “Mission Impossible.” Sounds pretty awful, right?
Too bad it’s completely wrong.
Apple estimates that the iPhone will lose 20 percent of its capacity — a darn sight less than 100 percent — “after 400 full charge and discharge cycles.”
“Sadly, there are some inaccurate reports out there,” Apple marketing vice president Greg Joswiak told me today during a brief phone call from New York City. Joswiak isn’t quite sure where the story went off the rails — David Pogue’s initial New York Times review of the iPhone mentioned the battery issue, but Pogue got it right: “Apple says that the battery starts to lose capacity after 300 or 400 charges.”
Somehow, though, things got lost in translation. And follow-on reports started claiming that 300 to 400 charges would be the end of the line.
“After 400 complete cycles, the iPhone’s battery still has 80 percent of its charged capacity,” Joswiak said. “And by a complete charge cycle, I mean completely draining the battery, a full chemical cycle.” In other words, using a little battery and then putting your iPhone back in its dock doesn’t count as a charge cycle. If you use a quarter of your iPhone’s battery and then re-charge it, Joswiak said, that’s the equivalent of a quarter of a charge cycle.
“If you top it off, you’re not wasting a charge cycle,” Joswiak said."
Has anyone seen a dissection of the dock? I want to see if there is any electronics in there. There is supposed to be some sort of authentication chip to tell iphone that dock is iphone compatable.
Wow, the non-user changeable battery is a real problem methinks.
Apple is set to make a lot of money on that deal. The customer has to go without their phone for an unspecified period of time, foot a relatively hefty bill and then probably repeat the process a year later.
Model 2 has a user replaceable battery? Let's hope so.
I really thought that there would be an ATI Imageon or an nVidia GoForce inside the device driving the (extremely smooth and high-end for a mobile) graphics. I guess there isn't, so that ARM CPU is doing a load of work - unless Samsung licensed a mobile core from somebody (Imagination?). Maybe it is one of the other chips...
The sad thing is that the coverflow on the iPhone looks to be far more smoother than coverflow in iTunes on a Windows PC...
The deals basically come from a short text search. I don't think the iPhone shows up in the pricing engine, so Apple iPod gets pulled up instead. As you may or may not have noticed, the AT Deals area doesn't necessarily have links to the product being reviewed. :)
Before I wrote the OP, I thought about it being a new product and not in the pricing engine, but then I noticed that the recently reviewed ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2 had nothing in the AT Deals area. I guess there are no other ASRock products in the pricing engine (although I haven't actually looked).
Anyway, I don't think any of this is a big deal, I just found it all kind of curious.
hi yes i have an 8gb iphone and screwed it up i was wondering if anyone who has an iphone would like to sell me the top layer of the pcb board where the battery is connected too thanks renaldo30@aim.com
Thanks for the fast scoop!
Not sure I need one of those phones yet but I really enjoyed seeing how they are constructed. Perhaps the forthcoming review will tell me the marketing hype is real and that I need one of these devices...
Mm... thats an expensive iphone to dissect. $500 + $30 + (60x24) = 1970. so if you killed the iphone through your dissection operation do you still have to pay for the 2 year contract your are signed on or can you get a replacement iphone some how ?
Actually, considering the iPhone is activated after purchase (at home), they may not have even signed a contract to begin with. (In other words, the pic at the beginning showing it's activated might be a different iPhone).
Have you considered telling Apple that the battery inside exploded? It might work, right after you convince them it was a nuclear battery.
All kidding aside, how the heck is someone supposed to change the battery in this thing? I'm not a big fan of cell phones (my fiance wants one, that's the only reason I'm even asking) so I don't know much about them, but the batteries still go bad on them, right? Seems like a lot of money to keep spending if the battery doesn't last so long.
Also, when I see something like this, the first thing that crosses my mind is scratching the screen. It looks like replacing that would be out of the question too. Is the screen made out of glass? If not, is it very scratchable or very resistant to it?
Yes batteries do go bad. And no, you're not supposed to change it by yourself. Of course you can try and void your warranty... but apple really wants you to send it in and have it changed by them, probably for a small fee somewhere around the $200 mark. Sony is/was the same with their PDAs...
In regards to the screen: Excerpt from David Pogues' Review of the iPhone from the New York Times
"... The glass gets smudgy — a sleeve wipes it clean — but it doesn’t scratch easily. I’ve walked around with an iPhone in my pocket for two weeks, naked and unprotected (the iPhone, that is, not me), and there’s not a mark on it"
Regarding Battery, I read on Pogues' and others reviews that the battery is replaceable by bringing it in or sending to Apple for replacement.
On a side note, I read somewhere (completely forgot where and now I can't seem to find it) that when you bring it in for a battery replacement that they (apple) will provide you with a "loaner" iPhone for a fee .
quote: Regarding Battery, I read on Pogues' and others reviews that the battery is replaceable by bringing it in or sending to Apple for replacement.
Where would someone take the phone to get the battery replaced? Some generic store that sells the phones or to an Apple store? Not every place has an Apple store anywhere nearby and there's no way anyone could afford (time-wise) to send their phone away for a couple of weeks just to change the battery. I can't believe anyone would make a phone where the most commonly replaced part (the battery -- mine usually last about a year) has to be replaced in the shop.
I understand your point that not EVERY place might not have an apple store to bring it into but I would assume that if one somehow went out of ones way to acquire an iPhone then it wouldn't (or maybe shouldn't?) be too much trouble to send it/bring it in for replacement.
And besides we don't even know the details on the battery replacement program yet so it might be a bit unfair to say that it would take a couple of weeks for turnaround time. But then again you might be right. We'll just have to wait and see.
quote: What is the iPhone Battery Replacement Program?
If your iPhone requires service only because the battery’s ability to hold an electrical charge has diminished, Apple will repair your iPhone for a service fee of $79, plus $6.95 shipping. Be sure to follow these instructions for optimizing battery life and troubleshooting battery charging issues before submitting your iPhone for battery replacement.
How much does it cost to participate in the program?
The program costs $79, plus $6.95 shipping. The program cost is $85.95 per unit.
All fees are in US dollars and are subject to local tax. Service may not be available if your iPhone has been damaged due to accident or abuse. Please review Apple’s Repair Terms and Conditions for further details.
Will the data on my iPhone be preserved?
No, the repair process will clear all data from your iPhone. It is important to sync your iPhone with iTunes to back up your contacts, photos, email account settings, text messages, and more. Apple is not responsible for the loss of information while servicing your iPhone and does not offer any data transfer service. Please do not send any accessories with your iPhone.
How long will service take?
The repair process normally takes three business days.
From what I can see, the standard warranty on the iPhone is 90 days. So, unless you have some kind of extended warranty, normal battery replacement will cost you $85.95 and three days (I guess they're overnight-mailing things).
Given it's almost $100 and three days to get the battery replaced by Apple, and given how hard is was for Anandtech to get the thing apart, and that it comes back brain dead -- all personal data lost; it seems plausible that Apple simply sends a new phone in replacement and trashes the one the customer sends in. If that's what they plan to do; not very "green" of them.
Again, I don't know anything about cell phones except they triple your chances of getting brain tumors (unless you use a headset), but isn't this kind of expensive? Do they normally charge this much to replace cell phone batteries? Also, $60 a month for 450 minutes seems really expensive, and that's only 15 minutes day. That seems like a lot to me as well, especially when the person that will own it is female and is not allergic to blabbing.
Overall, it seems like a lousy deal, or am I missing something?
quote: Do they normally charge this much to replace cell phone batteries?
I guess it kinda depends on the manufacturer and model of the phone?
I bought a second battery for my Motorola Q (sprint) for about around $70 from the sprint store (i could have bought a cheaper one through ebay but didn't want to risk getting a faulty battery).
Also bought backup battery for my LG Fusic for i think the same price as my Q battery. But my friend was able to get a replacement battery for her Motorola RAZR for like 30 Bucks or something like that. But i agree that 450 minutes seems really low, but at least it has unlimited data (internet). lol ohh and the visual voicemail thingy is really cool.
Another dumb decision by Apple just to make something "pretty" though. There are still people who carry multiple batteries because they can go through more than one. Obviously not an option with the iPhone.
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39 Comments
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p1agu3 - Wednesday, August 5, 2009 - link
The reason I know anandtech is one of my favorites on the web:It's 2009. I see a news article: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=15880">http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=15880
I began wondering about the internals of an iPhone, as it had dawned on me that I'd never actually seen their guts before. So I immediately googled (to the right of my address bar...in Firefox) "iphone internals" and clicked on the first result. It brought me here...back to Anandtech again. Good job, guys and gals, and especially Anand: your hard work in consistent journalism is paying off. Thank you! :)
p1agu3 - Wednesday, August 5, 2009 - link
My bad, I neglected to mention I saw said news article from its mention in an anandtech article. whoops, haha. anyways, hopefully now that makes sense.alora222 - Monday, February 2, 2009 - link
Try the TripChill iPhone travel assistant the next time you travel. Get real-time flight alerts, book hotel and car, view alternate flights, notify friends of travel status, manage your itinerary, and much more.==========
alora
http://www.tripchill.com">http://www.tripchill.com
mikeepu - Friday, July 13, 2007 - link
Just a little FYI on iPhone BatteriesFrom Jason Snell's Article "The truth about iPhone battery lifespan":
"A true statement, as far as it goes. Batteries die. But many media reports this week have gone further. Take, for example, CNET’s review of the iPhone, which states that “Apple is estimating one battery will last for 400 charges — probably about two years’ worth of use.”
Two years of use, the review says, and your iPhone dies. Or disappears in a puff of smoke, like those old tape recordings on “Mission Impossible.” Sounds pretty awful, right?
Too bad it’s completely wrong.
Apple estimates that the iPhone will lose 20 percent of its capacity — a darn sight less than 100 percent — “after 400 full charge and discharge cycles.”
“Sadly, there are some inaccurate reports out there,” Apple marketing vice president Greg Joswiak told me today during a brief phone call from New York City. Joswiak isn’t quite sure where the story went off the rails — David Pogue’s initial New York Times review of the iPhone mentioned the battery issue, but Pogue got it right: “Apple says that the battery starts to lose capacity after 300 or 400 charges.”
Somehow, though, things got lost in translation. And follow-on reports started claiming that 300 to 400 charges would be the end of the line.
“After 400 complete cycles, the iPhone’s battery still has 80 percent of its charged capacity,” Joswiak said. “And by a complete charge cycle, I mean completely draining the battery, a full chemical cycle.” In other words, using a little battery and then putting your iPhone back in its dock doesn’t count as a charge cycle. If you use a quarter of your iPhone’s battery and then re-charge it, Joswiak said, that’s the equivalent of a quarter of a charge cycle.
“If you top it off, you’re not wasting a charge cycle,” Joswiak said."
http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macword/2007/07/ip...">The Truth about iPhone Battery Lifespan
CptanPanic - Thursday, July 5, 2007 - link
Has anyone seen a dissection of the dock? I want to see if there is any electronics in there. There is supposed to be some sort of authentication chip to tell iphone that dock is iphone compatable.Roy2001 - Tuesday, July 3, 2007 - link
So, are you able to put all parts back and make it work again?Xenoterranos - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
I can think of 4 things you didn't do in this tear down, and all of them involve the battery...gregor7777 - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
Wow, the non-user changeable battery is a real problem methinks.Apple is set to make a lot of money on that deal. The customer has to go without their phone for an unspecified period of time, foot a relatively hefty bill and then probably repeat the process a year later.
Model 2 has a user replaceable battery? Let's hope so.
EODetroit - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
I remember when it was a one-man show. Now just hope for a blog update... maybe an update on the value of the iPhone next?Googer - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
Engadget has confirmed the iPhone's processor.http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/01/iphone-processo...">http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/01/iphone-processo...
http://www.arm.com/products/CPUs/ARM1176.html">http://www.arm.com/products/CPUs/ARM1176.html
js2007 - Sunday, July 1, 2007 - link
Any signs of a hidden GPS chip on the iPhone? Could it be in the ARM package?
js2007 - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
I really think that GPS is in there somewhere on an unmarked chip.No one noticed when Apple introduced the MBPRO with the 802.11.n only to be activated later for $1.99?
;-)
psychobriggsy - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
I really thought that there would be an ATI Imageon or an nVidia GoForce inside the device driving the (extremely smooth and high-end for a mobile) graphics. I guess there isn't, so that ARM CPU is doing a load of work - unless Samsung licensed a mobile core from somebody (Imagination?). Maybe it is one of the other chips...The sad thing is that the coverflow on the iPhone looks to be far more smoother than coverflow in iTunes on a Windows PC...
Kensei - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
It the Apple iPod Video (80 GB) Black supposed to be showing up in the AnandTech Deals area under the article's header?JarredWalton - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
The deals basically come from a short text search. I don't think the iPhone shows up in the pricing engine, so Apple iPod gets pulled up instead. As you may or may not have noticed, the AT Deals area doesn't necessarily have links to the product being reviewed. :)Kensei - Sunday, July 1, 2007 - link
Before I wrote the OP, I thought about it being a new product and not in the pricing engine, but then I noticed that the recently reviewed ASRock 4CoreDual-SATA2 had nothing in the AT Deals area. I guess there are no other ASRock products in the pricing engine (although I haven't actually looked).Anyway, I don't think any of this is a big deal, I just found it all kind of curious.
Googer - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
I am surprised the iPHONE does not have or support 1394 for on the go video/data transfers. After all, Apple is the biggest proponent of the standard.CrystalBay - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
How much does this phone cost to build ?JAS - Friday, June 29, 2007 - link
Interesting. You guys are fast. But it's sad to see a perfectly good iPhone put to death.bossman - Thursday, December 27, 2007 - link
hi yes i have an 8gb iphone and screwed it up i was wondering if anyone who has an iphone would like to sell me the top layer of the pcb board where the battery is connected too thanks renaldo30@aim.comChe - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
Slice it up!! Great article guys, would love to see a video of the effort used to get in that phone.Oakenfold - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
Thanks for the fast scoop!Not sure I need one of those phones yet but I really enjoyed seeing how they are constructed. Perhaps the forthcoming review will tell me the marketing hype is real and that I need one of these devices...
tuteja1986 - Friday, June 29, 2007 - link
Mm... thats an expensive iphone to dissect. $500 + $30 + (60x24) = 1970. so if you killed the iphone through your dissection operation do you still have to pay for the 2 year contract your are signed on or can you get a replacement iphone some how ?LukFilm - Friday, June 29, 2007 - link
They don't pay $60 for 24 months, they can just cancel the service for $175 fee.Devo2007 - Friday, June 29, 2007 - link
Actually, considering the iPhone is activated after purchase (at home), they may not have even signed a contract to begin with. (In other words, the pic at the beginning showing it's activated might be a different iPhone).DerekWilson - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
the activated phone was in fact a different one. we never had service for the disassembled one.TA152H - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
Have you considered telling Apple that the battery inside exploded? It might work, right after you convince them it was a nuclear battery.All kidding aside, how the heck is someone supposed to change the battery in this thing? I'm not a big fan of cell phones (my fiance wants one, that's the only reason I'm even asking) so I don't know much about them, but the batteries still go bad on them, right? Seems like a lot of money to keep spending if the battery doesn't last so long.
Also, when I see something like this, the first thing that crosses my mind is scratching the screen. It looks like replacing that would be out of the question too. Is the screen made out of glass? If not, is it very scratchable or very resistant to it?
Griswold - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
Yes batteries do go bad. And no, you're not supposed to change it by yourself. Of course you can try and void your warranty... but apple really wants you to send it in and have it changed by them, probably for a small fee somewhere around the $200 mark. Sony is/was the same with their PDAs...michael2k - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
Why do you think would they charge that much? It only costs $59 for an iPod battery replacement from Apple, $79 for the iPhone:http://www.apple.com/batteries/replacements.html">http://www.apple.com/batteries/replacements.html
There is a $6.95 shipping/handling fee, so that's really $66 and $86, respectively.
PrinceGaz - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
I love the ironic/sarcastic (depending on intent) way you used "only" :)
michael2k - Sunday, July 1, 2007 - link
No sarcasm intended, sorry. A $59 battery replacement doubles the life of an iPod, as opposed to buying a brand new player from whole cloth.$59 for a new batter vs $249 for a new iPod or $229 for a new Zune.
Makes $59 downright affordable, no?
mikeepu - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
In regards to the screen: Excerpt from David Pogues' Review of the iPhone from the New York Times"... The glass gets smudgy — a sleeve wipes it clean — but it doesn’t scratch easily. I’ve walked around with an iPhone in my pocket for two weeks, naked and unprotected (the iPhone, that is, not me), and there’s not a mark on it"
Regarding Battery, I read on Pogues' and others reviews that the battery is replaceable by bringing it in or sending to Apple for replacement.
On a side note, I read somewhere (completely forgot where and now I can't seem to find it) that when you bring it in for a battery replacement that they (apple) will provide you with a "loaner" iPhone for a fee .
DaveLessnau - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
Where would someone take the phone to get the battery replaced? Some generic store that sells the phones or to an Apple store? Not every place has an Apple store anywhere nearby and there's no way anyone could afford (time-wise) to send their phone away for a couple of weeks just to change the battery. I can't believe anyone would make a phone where the most commonly replaced part (the battery -- mine usually last about a year) has to be replaced in the shop.
mikeepu - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
I understand your point that not EVERY place might not have an apple store to bring it into but I would assume that if one somehow went out of ones way to acquire an iPhone then it wouldn't (or maybe shouldn't?) be too much trouble to send it/bring it in for replacement.And besides we don't even know the details on the battery replacement program yet so it might be a bit unfair to say that it would take a couple of weeks for turnaround time. But then again you might be right. We'll just have to wait and see.
DaveLessnau - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
From http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/service/batter...">Apple's iPhone Out-of-warranty Battery Replacement Program FAQFrom what I can see, the standard warranty on the iPhone is 90 days. So, unless you have some kind of extended warranty, normal battery replacement will cost you $85.95 and three days (I guess they're overnight-mailing things).
jonp - Thursday, July 5, 2007 - link
Given it's almost $100 and three days to get the battery replaced by Apple, and given how hard is was for Anandtech to get the thing apart, and that it comes back brain dead -- all personal data lost; it seems plausible that Apple simply sends a new phone in replacement and trashes the one the customer sends in. If that's what they plan to do; not very "green" of them.TA152H - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
Again, I don't know anything about cell phones except they triple your chances of getting brain tumors (unless you use a headset), but isn't this kind of expensive? Do they normally charge this much to replace cell phone batteries? Also, $60 a month for 450 minutes seems really expensive, and that's only 15 minutes day. That seems like a lot to me as well, especially when the person that will own it is female and is not allergic to blabbing.Overall, it seems like a lousy deal, or am I missing something?
mikeepu - Saturday, June 30, 2007 - link
I guess it kinda depends on the manufacturer and model of the phone?
I bought a second battery for my Motorola Q (sprint) for about around $70 from the sprint store (i could have bought a cheaper one through ebay but didn't want to risk getting a faulty battery).
Also bought backup battery for my LG Fusic for i think the same price as my Q battery. But my friend was able to get a replacement battery for her Motorola RAZR for like 30 Bucks or something like that. But i agree that 450 minutes seems really low, but at least it has unlimited data (internet). lol ohh and the visual voicemail thingy is really cool.
strikeback03 - Monday, July 2, 2007 - link
Another dumb decision by Apple just to make something "pretty" though. There are still people who carry multiple batteries because they can go through more than one. Obviously not an option with the iPhone.