Teardown describes iPhone SE as a mix of prior components

As has become a regular custom, iFixit has done a visual teardown of the latest Apple hardware. In this case, it's the iPhone SE, Apple's lower-cost handset that appears to cram the latest-gen A13 processor into the chassis of 2017's iPhone 8.

That relationship was the focus of the teardown. iFixit went in seeking to confirm whether this really is the iPhone 8 with just a few changes, and it even opened up the two devices side by side. The answer appears to mostly be "yes." When first inspecting the SE via X-ray, iFixit found it to be close to identical inside to the iPhone 8 “apart from some very subtle antenna rework and moving a few chips around the logic board.”

The two phones are so similar that many components, such as the main speaker or the Taptic Engine, are interchangeable between them. The iPhone SE also has exactly the same size battery as the 8, at 6.9Wh, but the battery connector is different, so the batteries are unfortunately not interchangeable.

Other discoveries include the omission of 3D Touch-related components, and that the camera appears closer in design to that of the iPhone 8 than the iPhone XR or 11. In fact, iFixit confirmed that the iPhone 8’s camera works in the iPhone SE, as does its display.

In the end, iFixit says Apple “Frankensteined this phone together with parts from previous models,” which can be a boon for repairability because of increased availability of parts.

The iPhone SE received a 6 out of 10 for repairability. As far as pros and cons go, iFixit writes that the display and battery are fairly simple to access but that the phone’s glass back is “impractical” to replace. For more details about chips found on the board and the like, visit the full teardown.

Listing image by iFixit

Comments are closed.