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iPhone SE Teardown: 3D Touch Chip Removed, iPhone 8 Camera Sensor, and More

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iFixit has published its full teardown of the new iPhone SE, confirming that the device has many similar or identical components as the iPhone 8, including the display, battery, cameras, Taptic Engine, SIM tray, and more.

The new iPhone SE appears to have the same 12-megapixel rear camera sensor as the iPhone 8, with the benefit of the A13 chip's improved image signal processor, as Rene Ritchie mentioned earlier this month. iFixit also found that the front-facing camera sensor on the new iPhone SE and the iPhone 8 are interchangeable.

ifixit-iphone-se-vs-8-vs-xr-rear-camera-sensors.jpg
From left to right: iPhone SE, iPhone 8, iPhone XR​

While the new iPhone SE and the iPhone 8 have virtually identical display assemblies, Apple has removed the 3D Touch module from the iPhone SE. iFixit even tested the new iPhone SE with an iPhone 8 display and found that 3D Touch still did not work, suggesting that the feature is disabled at the software level on the device.

The teardown also confirms reports that the new iPhone SE has a 1,821 mAh battery capacity, identical to the iPhone 8.

ifixit-iphone-se-teardown-2020.jpg

The new iPhone SE has been available to order on Apple.com since April 17 and began arriving to customers on April 24. Pricing starts at $399 for 64GB of storage, with 128GB and 256GB options available for $449 and $549 respectively.

Article Link: iPhone SE Teardown: 3D Touch Chip Removed, iPhone 8 Camera Sensor, and More
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/04/27/iphone-se-teardown-second-gen-ifixit/
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I think the biggest trade off they made here was wireless charging. They bring people into that technology, setting up future phones to have no ports. So removal of 3D touch was something that was happening no matter what. They are done with that unfortunately. I am very curious to see if it stays on the Apple Watch or not starting with AW6.
 
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Intel PMB9960 Modem ( XMM7660 ), while it was pretty much settle when it was announced, I thought I will wait until the teardown.

So credit where credit's due, Kudos to Jpack for getting it right, although the Dual Sim was not Dual Physical Sim as predicated.
 
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otternonsense said:
They didn't bother to change the camera sensor. They didn't utilise the extra space from removing the 3D Touch sensor.

I know, I know, $399 phone and all (don't forget that sales tax kiddos), but they're not even trying at this point!
Click to expand...


They are trying – they are trying to keep it cheap.

That means you don’t retool and redesign unless there are big benefits.

And while it is simple in principle to talk about “just make the battery bigger“, that may well affect not only battery costs (since they have already driven the cost Way down of the existing battery) but other things related to fit in the Design and manufacturing of the phone.

So yes, a bigger battery was entirely feasible and would have been very nice, but it also would’ve increased the cost.

And they cannot forget that that also would make it more of a competitor with their premium phones.
 
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tkukoc said:
I think the biggest trade off they made here was wireless charging. They bring people into that technology, setting up future phones to have no ports. So removal of 3D touch was something that was happening no matter what. They are done with that unfortunately. I am very curious to see if it stays on the Apple Watch or not starting with AW6.
Click to expand...
Apple watches don’t have 3D Touch. They have force touch it’s a different and less sophisticated technology.
 
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Labyrintho said:
They are trying – they are trying to keep it cheap.

That means you don’t retool and redesign unless there are big benefits.

And while it is simple in principle to talk about “just make the battery bigger“, that may well affect not only battery costs (since they have already driven the cost Way down of the existing battery) but other things related to fit in the Design and manufacturing of the phone.

So yes, a bigger battery was entirely feasible and would have been very nice, but it also would’ve increased the cost.

And they cannot forget that that also would make it more of a competitor with their premium funds.
Click to expand...

A bigger, better battery for the iPhone 8 isn't a nice to have: battery life is its biggest weakness. They might as well bundle the SE together with a smart battery case in the same package because it barely makes it through half the day as it is.

And isn't it Apple we're talking about? Don't they still have an R&D department, even for budget friendly devices? Also, at €500 and counting in Europe, it might be cheaper than its flagships, sure, but let's not pretend it's a bargain. A little bit more effort could have gone a long way to round it up as a device.
 
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I’m curious why the rear camera is made with different materials and has a different part number. I suspect they made an improved one that would still fit into the old case design, which would save quite a lot in retooling costs.
 
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otternonsense said:
A bigger, better battery for the iPhone 8 isn't a nice to have: battery life is its biggest weakness. They might as well bundle the SE together with a smart battery case in the same package because it barely makes it through half the day as it is.

And isn't it Apple we're talking about? Don't they still have an R&D department, even for budget friendly devices? Also, at €500 and counting in Europe, it might be cheaper than its flagships, sure, but let's not pretend it's a bargain. A little bit more effort could have gone a long way to round it up as a device.
Click to expand...
I get that it has a small battery,but what the hell are you doing with your phone for it to last barely half a day??? It must be glued to your hand non stop.You need help.
 
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anek007 said:
Didn’t the iPhone 11 Pro got 4hr extra from the XS a12 chip? Why is the SE still the same usage time as the iPhone 8? iPhone 8 had a a11 but no battery usage improvements.
Click to expand...

Bigger battery is the biggest reason

but also better PMU, improved radio and modem efficiency, and the more energy efficient display (displays drain the most power)

A sort of "bigger battery plays the biggest role but its also the sum of its parts" that contributes to the impressive battery jump in both the 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max
 
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jacks64 said:
I get that it has a small battery,but what the hell are you doing with your phone for it to last barely half a day??? It must be glued to your hand non stop.You need help.
Click to expand...

Picture this: you are visiting a new place. You use google (or apple maps) to orient yourself and seek public transport directions. You snap pictures of things that catch your attention (mind you, not obsessively). You exchange a few messages with friends. Heck, you might brush through a couple tinder cards while commuting. Anyway, I don't need to explain how people use a smartphone.

That was e.g. what I was doing during my trip to Japan last year and by early afternoon the phone was at 30%, with a recently replaced battery and low battery mode. On warmer days it goes down even faster. Good thing I had an extra mophie pack.

You need to accept reality and not attack people if their experience doesn't match yours.
 
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NickName99 said:
I’m curious why the rear camera is made with different materials and has a different part number. I suspect they made an improved one that would still fit into the old case design, which would save quite a lot in retooling costs.
Click to expand...

Part of the manufacturing process is the answer to that, and the 8 camera sensor is still very impressive today (same main camera used by the 8 Plus and iPhone X) - the ISP is really what adds to modern smartphone cameras. Many companies use the same handful of suppliers yet their results are different, its not just the physical lens part itself but the digital part that goes into processing the image and that is why the SE produces a better image or can take better pictures. They haven't modified their physical specs in a while, outside of larger sensors and different focal lengths - but what "wows" the average person now a days are more effects and clarity, and looking at your typical SE picture, it is impressive and just goes to show how good the actual hardware in the 8/+/X was despite being 2.5 years old

The portrait stuff is impressive and you can, with jailbreaking tweaks, enable the same modes on the iPhone 6s to iPhone 8 models as well to surprisingly good results, albeit not as good as what the new SE can pull off because the A13 simply has a better ISP.

Although Apple used the same design and process in the original SE as the 5s, as well as the iPad 5 and 6 sharing design with the first gen iPad Air, or the new iPad Air 3 sharing the iPad Pro 10.5, they all have little changes here and there, to make the production and also disassembly and refurbishing/repair processes more streamlined, and as new parts are ordered new numbers are given in the new product


(Its not as simple as "we have an old bin of unused iPhone 8 lenses, lets shove them in the new SE" as the internet narrative goes, But the actual camera module themselves may be the same specification, despite a new part number. Similar to how the design might be the same as the iPhone 8 right now to the millimetre, but the part numbers will be new ... The actual savings are in the greater manufacturing process itself, as that same design has already been used to manufacture a phone and the R&D has already been done etc etc.)
 
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otternonsense said:
They didn't bother to change the camera sensor. They didn't utilise the extra space from removing the 3D Touch sensor.

I know, I know, $399 phone and all (don't forget that sales tax kiddos), but they're not even trying at this point!
Click to expand...
Sure they are! They’re trying to simultaneously improve the iPhone 8 and cut another $50 from the selling price. “Didn’t bother to change the camera sensor” is a less accurate way of saying “kept the less expensive iPhone 8 rear camera instead of upgrading to the larger, more expensive sensor used on the $599 iPhone XR”.
 
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dogslobber said:
So it's really a second edition of the iPhone 8. Why didn't Apple just name it the iPhone 8se and save all the confusion with the original SE and this 8se?
Click to expand...

I'm guessing Apple feels the overwhelming majority of their customers are not confused by labels. And instead make purchase decisions based on price and features.
 
Apple, with their huge resources really could have put in more than a minimal effort, even for their cheapest phone.
Apple is clearly not doing their best for each product anymore. I guess this is the new Apple now.
 
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