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iFixit began its teardown of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus after the new smartphones became available last Friday, discovering the specifics of the smaller batteries, Taptic Engine, and 3D Touch display. After a few iPhone fans began extensive water resistance testing over the weekend, iFixit decided to revisit its teardown of the new devices with a renewed focus on components placed by Apple that could point to the company's interest in a more liquid-proof smartphone.

The site closely inspected a strip of glue that acts as a gasket surrounding the entire inside edge of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, accounting in total for a slight 0.3mm increase in width when in comparison to last year's models. Described as "a string of sticky goop," iFixit theorizes that if Apple hadn't placed the gasket there to hold components in, perhaps "it was designed to keep liquids out."

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First, Apple takes this gasket business pretty seriously: they didn't just run a strip of glue around the existing display like they were caulking a bathtub. Instead, it appears the iPhone's frame has been subtly reworked to accommodate the new gasket. We noted a slight, but measurable, increase in the width of the lip running along the perimeter of the frame--it's about 0.3 mm wider than on the iPhone 6, making it just wide enough for that little gasket to land on.

One-third of a millimeter may not seem like much, but given how tight the iPhone's tolerances are nowadays, the change is big enough to see with the naked eye. And it's almost certainly enough of a change that other components had to be subtly tweaked to match. Make no mistake, Apple gave this careful thought.
Even the logic boards of the new iPhones appear to be updated to at least partially protect against liquid intrusion, with all cable connectors on the logic board -- "from the battery and display, to the Lightning port and buttons" -- surrounded and reinforced with a small silicone barrier. As iFixit points out, the logic board's various connectors are the most vulnerable to water within the iPhone's body, so the fact that Apple has appeared to safeguard them against liquid damage is definitely notable.

Otherwise, the rest of the internal components of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus -- like the headphone jack, speaker, power, and volume buttons -- didn't showcase any forms of waterproofing by the Cupertino-based company. Today's news follows a few days of water resistance talk about the new iPhones thanks to a handful of video tests created by various YouTubers, along with a new rumor pointing to the "iPhone 7" adopting a fully-waterproof body when it debuts next year.

Article Link: Improved Water Resistance of iPhone 6s Attributed to New Gaskets and Seals
 

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,106
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It's great that Apple finally decided to do this, but strange that they didn't advertise it. Perhaps this is a test for the iPhone 7. If the sealing goes well, Apple can improve upon it even more next year and advertise it as a feature without hearing from tons of users about how they fried their phone. The iPhone 7 is likely to be an even more simplified design, so waterproofing it should be even easier. At the very least I think they'll advertise the next iPhone as water resistant—kinda similar to the Apple Watch. Could you dunk it? Yeah, but they don't come out and recommend it in case something happens.
 

rdlink

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Nov 10, 2007
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Out of the Reach of the FBI
My first thought on these "gaskets" is: What about in-store repairs? I have an iPhone 6 and the screen is loose. I have a genius bar appointment this weekend to get it fixed. They're going to want to replace the screen.

I have had a broken screen fixed before on both my phone and my girlfriend's phone, and both times ended up with dust in the camera lens that caused the phone to need to be replaced later. I am hoping against all hope that this gasket means the end of in-store screen replacements.
 
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AtheistP3ace

macrumors 6502a
Sep 17, 2014
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Philly
Slowly moving towards a water proof iPhone! Not that I ever want to bring my phone into the pool but hey, something nice to have if you drop it in a puddle I suppose!
 
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v0lume4

macrumors 68020
Jul 28, 2012
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The work and craftsmanship in design, of these devices, and people destroy them just so they can look at "tear down porn". Such a waste of perfectly good iPhones.
Yes, but... it's not like there is any shortage of these phones. They've sold at least 13 million. And that statistic is outdated by a week now. :rolleyes:

I'm not trying to give you a hard time. It blows my mind that these phones are nearly as beautiful internally as they are externally.
 

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,106
19,604
The work and craftsmanship in design, of these devices, and people destroy them just so they can look at "tear down porn". Such a waste of perfectly good iPhones.
How is it a waste when iFixit does a tear down? They're a company that specializes in iPhone and other electronics repair. It's easy for them to put the thing back together just as well as it was before.
 

xFerrr

macrumors member
Jun 2, 2011
39
7
That's nice, but if it falls in the toilet, I'm still never using it again.

You know you can wash it, right? If it fell to the toilet and has been proved it resists some water, then you can place it in clean water later and wash it.

Plus, people clean toilets with their hands everyday, I guess you wonder how they haven't cut their hand.
 

cmichaelb

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Aug 6, 2008
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Italy
You know you can wash it, right? If it fell to the toilet and has been proved it resists some water, then you can place it in clean water later and wash it.

Plus, people clean toilets with their hands everyday, I guess you wonder how they haven't cut their hand.

Cut their hand? My toilets aren't sharp. I use gloves.
 

gsmornot

macrumors 68040
Sep 29, 2014
3,576
3,687
I doubt we will see an iPhone labeled waterproof or even resistant any time soon. If my Apple Watch is only listed with minimal resistance there is no way the phone is going to be rated at a higher level.
 

WaxedJacket

macrumors 6502a
Oct 18, 2013
690
1,071
Is this something Apple actually advertised? I don't recall them talking about waterpoofing the phone
 

Eduardo1971

macrumors 65816
Jun 16, 2006
1,383
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Lost Angeles, Ca. usa
The work and craftsmanship in design, of these devices, and people destroy them just so they can look at "tear down porn". Such a waste of perfectly good iPhones.

I would tend to agree but people are free to use (or abuse) their phone's in whatever way they feel is appropriate.

I would never personally do that to my own phone.

I really love my iPhone 6s! My previous iPhone was the 5s. Love, love, love the bigger screen!!!
 

Popeye206

macrumors 68040
Sep 6, 2007
3,148
836
NE PA USA
Is this something Apple actually advertised? I don't recall them talking about waterpoofing the phone

No... it wasn't pushed as a feature or even mentioned for that matter... I think they left it as a surprise feature so it would get after release attention. A brilliant marketing move and kudos' to Apple for doing this! Awesome!
 
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