iFixit: iPhone XS Has 'Notched' Battery and iPhone XS Max Has Apple-Designed Power Management Chip [Updated]

[MacRumors]

The repair experts at iFixit have shared teardowns of the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, providing a look inside the latest models.

iPhone XS on left and iPhone XS Max on right via iFixit​

While the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max have improved IP68-rated water resistance, iFixit says it could not find any obvious evidence of increased waterproofing, with the SIM tray gasket and other seals looking more or less the same. Dutch repair website FixjeiPhone had found the iPhone XS was a bit harder to open.

After removing the displays, iFixit uncovered a few differences with the iPhone XS Max compared to the iPhone XS, including a resized Taptic Engine and an extended logic board, with one of the display connectors moved to the bottom. It appears the iPhone XS Max also has a slightly louder earpiece for phone calls.

The teardown corroborates that the iPhone XS has a new single-cell L-shaped battery, while the iPhone XS Max battery remains two cells. As uncovered in Chinese regulatory filings, the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max have battery capacities of 2,658 mAh at 3.81V and 3,174 mAh at 3.80V respectively.

iPhone XS Max on left and iPhone XS on right via iFixit​

Since the L-shaped batteries have six sides, rather than four like a rectangle, iFixit says Apple has "notched" the internal corners of the batteries in the iPhone XS to prevent undue stress from thermal expansion.

"This dramatic shift opens up a lot of design possibilities, but the large notch is responsible for the decrease in capacity relative to the X," its teardown email says. "Only time will tell how this new cell performs with age."

Moving on to the logic board, there is a new Apple-branded power management chip in the iPhone XS Max. Reports had suggested Apple would start using its own power management chip in at least a portion of its 2018 iPhones, as it gradually reduces its dependance on Dialog Semiconductor.

Apple-designed power management chip labeled in green via iFixit​

The teardown does not indicate whether the gigabit-class LTE modems in the latest iPhones are supplied by Intel and/or Qualcomm.

iFixit confirms the wide-angle sensor size has been increased by 32 percent in the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Pixel size has also been bumped, providing better low-light performance and contributing to the new "Smart HDR" feature.

iFixit gives the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max an overall repairability score of 6/10, with 10 being a perfect score. The repair experts say display and battery repairs remain a priority in the iPhone's design, but the all-glass design means the entire chassis must be replaced if the back glass cracks.

Update: A previous version of this article said both the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max have "notched" battery designs, but iFixit says this is only true for the iPhone XS. The article has been corrected.

Article Link: iFixit: iPhone XS Has 'Notched' Battery and iPhone XS Max Has Apple-Designed Power Management Chip [Updated]

 

[csurfr]

I do believe the caption on the batteries is incorrect based on the pictures above.

Edit: corrected in the article.

 

[1050792]

I guess Apple really wants to extend this Notch trend to everything they can. What's next? Notched headphone jack? Oh wait...

 

[dof250]

It looks like the Xs Max also has a bit bigger speaker at the bottom. Iirc i read somewhere that the sound on the Xs Max was a bit louder/fuller than on the Xs.

 

[Andres Cantu]

Too bad Apple never specifies the sensor size in their technical specifications. Would make the Xs camera stand out more. As it is currently, people might think there weren’t many improvements.

 

[csurfr]

Too bad Apple never specifies the sensor size in their technical specifications. Would make the Xs camera stand out more. As it is currently, people might think there weren’t many improvements.

Are you referring the the “30% larger.....” that they spoke about in the keynote?

 

[alpi123]

I wouldn't call the rounded corners a "notch".

 

[greg5green]

The teardown does not indicate whether the gigabit-class LTE modems in the latest iPhones are supplied by Intel and/or Qualcomm.

What kind of monster tears the phone down before turning it on and taking a bunch of screenshots from the Field Test app?

 

[neilpatel2009]

I wouldn't call the rounded corners a "notch".

I believe this is the notch ifixit is talking about.

 

[cmaier]

Too bad Apple never specifies the sensor size in their technical specifications. Would make the Xs camera stand out more. As it is currently, people might think there weren’t many improvements.

They said Publicly that the wide angle sensor went from 1.2micron pixels to 1.4.

 

[827538]

'The teardown does not indicate whether the gigabit-class LTE modems in the latest iPhones are supplied by Intel and/or Qualcomm.'

Yes it does, they use Intel modems. Did you read the breakdown?

 

[anticipate]

No one mentioned how much more wire is coiled in the charge pad. That explains the faster wireless charging.

 

[truthertech]

Are you referring the the “30% larger.....” that they spoke about in the keynote?

Or the big portion of the keynote that was devoted to the camera enhancements?

 

[jona2125]

They said Publicly that the wide angle sensor went from 1.2micron pixels to 1.4.

That is not sensor size, that is pixel size

 

[PickUrPoison]

That is not sensor size, that is pixel size

Right, but bigger pixels+same number of pixels=bigger sensor size. Pixels growing 1.2u—>1.4u is >30% larger. Apple stated something like 32% larger sensor size to Gruber iirc.

 

[ksec]

'The teardown does not indicate whether the gigabit-class LTE modems in the latest iPhones are supplied by Intel and/or Qualcomm.'

Yes it does, they use Intel modems. Did you read the breakdown?

Obviously they didn't, as usual.

And more importantly there are difference between the Xs and Xs Max version. At least the chip are label different differently. Wondering why........

 

[cmaier]

I wouldn't call the rounded corners a "notch".

There is a notch inside the battery where the two legs meet, at the corner.

 

[kemal]

Why did Apple make two different styles of batteries? If they had the new single cell tech for the Xs, why make the Max just like the X with two cells?
[doublepost=1537545817][/doublepost]"[...]there is a new Apple-branded power management chip in the iPhone XS Max"

Had another look. The chip is also shown on the XS mobo.

 

[ksec]

Why did Apple make two different styles of batteries? If they had the new single cell tech for the Xs, why make the Max just like the X with two cells?

Most likely reason is capacity. Even with "just" the X last year, Apple sold 60 Million unit, that is more than twice the iPhone 3Gs sold. It is getting a little hard to scale some early stage tech to 10s of millions unit per year.

2nd is most likely cost, two cells is little cheaper to produce and test.

 

[Andres Cantu]

They said Publicly that the wide angle sensor went from 1.2micron pixels to 1.4.

Yes but they no longer specify it in their tech specs page, and they really should. It’s for their benefit.
[doublepost=1537550250][/doublepost]

Are you referring the the “30% larger.....” that they spoke about in the keynote?

Yup, it’s not in the tech specs page. Don’t see why they stopped specifying pixel size, either.

 

[jona2125]

Right, but bigger pixels+same number of pixels=bigger sensor size. Pixels growing 1.2u—>1.4u is >30% larger. Apple stated something like 32% larger sensor size to Gruber iirc.

Correct, which should put the sensor size at 25mm²

 

[JPack]

That is not sensor size, that is pixel size

Anyone with basic math skills and an understanding of sensor size and pixel pitch can calculate the new sensor size.

 

[jona2125]

Anyone with basic math skills and an understanding of sensor size and pixel pitch can calculate the new sensor size.

Indeed, putting the new sensor at 25mm², roughly 5.8mm x 4.3mm

 

[vtrautia]

So much empty space inside!

 

[HarryWild]

From the image above; (to me,) the Xs Max is just beefed up in every way! All the components look bigger other then the main circuit board but there are differences between them too, however!

I do not know why Apple engineer left such a big notch on the Xs battery. It quite a lot of real estate to leave empty! The Xs Max has complete battery space however which I am happy about! (I try to use as many "howevers" as possible here!)