3G iPhone disassembled, photographed
New handset easier to repair
It didn't take long for someone to splash out on a 3G iPhone and take it to bits. Mac repair specialist iFixit got its handset in New Zealand and has uncovered the phone's interesting under-the-bonnet features.
Apple's iPhone 3G: opening the case
Image courtesy iFixit
A couple of screws on the base of the new iPhone allow the screen assembly to be lifted, revealing the innards. Like the iPod Touch - but not the first iPhone - the LCD and its glass cover are not bonded together, allowing broken glass to be replaced without junking the entire display.
No more hard-wired batteries
Image courtesy iFixit
Another practical improvement: the battery's not hard-wired, so it can be replaced far more easily than was previously the case.
The main circuit board
Image courtesy iFixit
It also appears to be an 1150mAh pack - smaller than the 1400mAh battery used in the first iPhone. That suggests the superior battery life Apple claims for the 3G handset, when compared to the original, comes through better power management and components that use less power overall than their predecessors did.
Stripping out the circuit board reveals Intel NOR Flash chippery and a variety of connectivity components form Infineon. The processor is an ARM chip sporting an Apple logo, but the model number coding reveals it to be a Samsung CPU.
iFixit's full iPhone 3G strip-down can be found here.
COMMENTS
Re: @Lloyd
Missed a very important one - A working SIP client.
So regardless of how much the iPhone 3G is advertised it looks like I am going to buy a Nokia N78 instead (it will be upgrade time around the end of the summer). I can actually use it as a proper SIP handset in the house.
@Alain
Have Sun got the JVM working properly on Macs now then? Last time I tried to use it for testing my code the JVM would fall over continuously, unlike a Linux or Windows box. Safari seemed to have an inbuild inability to cope with the Javascript commands calling the VM and would collapse like the flimsy and pointless but ultimately pretty thing that it is.
devices invented to fulfill a task
Does anyone remember when a mobile phone was exactly that? it was only 9 yeara ago.
It really does amuse me watching the desktop environment wars transferred to what is, in truth, still rather a mundane device.
It is laughable to see people lining up (one of my colleagues among them who paid up for mark one) to pay up to 160 quid plus a minimum of 35 a month for a device with a reflective metal back and a touch screen that is locked to a specific company and will only work with their software or that which is approved by them, even MS weren't so stupid to retain this policy for Windows Mobile.
Remember people, its only a phone after all and by buying it you are contributing to the fortune of a guy who is already absurdly wealthy and that £75/month contract you just signed for a 'free' iphone will haunt you long after you get bored with the device.
So
So the Cupertino Pirates , wankers and wowsers are at last acknowledging their first version design of the mark one was pure and utter crap that should not have escaped from the drawing board but was carelessly rushed into production unlike some of the more recent Chinese clone variants !
I love it , but would not touch one even if offered for free on a pre paid contract plan due to to many other hidden from sight strings attached !
As Nelson would say "Ha ! Ha!" !
no flash, but that missed the point
I agree, a flash would be great.. and by flash I mean flash, like on the K800i, not some silly white LED that pretends to do n anything worth while... but that kinda flash eats battery ( I think) and while in the UK n possibly Europe we like to MMS, its not so widespread in the US ( I think) and this IS a US centric device, that has been slightly upgraded for a wider market.. maybe iPhone G3 (rather than 3G!) will have one??
But as per title, the lack of flash (and not the other flash) misses the point, the camera is really just a 'cos we have to', the iPhone is a 'communications' device, rather than a phone, its not even a smart phone, its a hand held 'mu-mac' <--( i'll trade mark it now!) which like it or not is changing the mobile communications market, for the better.
Its not perfect, but then nothing IS perfect and it may not be your 'cup of tea' but despite lacking all the thing AC listed.. its still a LOT better than any other communications convergence device that I've used.. and I've used quite a few.
I'll be very happy with mine.. once it finally arrives.. and thats another story all together!
