As the iPhone SE is slowly beginning to reach the hand’s of customers around the world, the folks at ChipWorks have already been able to take Apple’s latest 4-inch phone apart to see what’s powering it all on the inside. It’s often been said the iPhone SE is an iPhone 6s crammed into the body of an iPhone 5/5s, and for the most part, it looks like that really is the case.
First off, the A9 chip used in the iPhone SE is the same chip used in the iPhone 6s. In the case of the iPhone SE obtained by ChipWorks, the processor was made by TSMC, although that could vary on a per-device basis. Furthermore, the device is using the same 2GB LPDDR4 RAM that the iPhone 6s uses. Interestingly, the date of this part according to labelling is around August or September of last year, meaning that it has been sitting around in inventory since then and was likely originally intended for the iPhone 6s. As far as the storage goes, Toshiba handled the 16GB flash chip found in this iPhone, which is a new chip.
When it comes to the touchscreen controller, Apple is going all the way back to the iPhone 5s days. Apple is using the Broadcom BCM5976 and Texas Instruments 343S0645 in the iPhone SE. This solution has been used in the iPhone 5s and various iPods over the years. These parts would likely differ had Apple chosen to included 3D Touch with the iPhone SE.
As for the NFC solution, there’s the NXP 66VIO, which consists of the Secure Element 008 and NXP PN549. This is the same solution that was first used in the iPhone 6s last year. The 6-axis inertial sensor, for things like the accelerometer and gyroscope, is the same AISC and MEMS sensor used in the iPhone 6s. The Qualcomm MDM9625M modem and 338S00105 and 338S1285 Audio ICs are also the same as the iPhone 6s components.
Despite the way it seems, there are some differences between the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s. For one, there’s a new Apple/Dialog power management system:
There are several components in the iPhone SE that we have seen before. There are also some components we have never seen before. These new devices include a Skyworks SKY77611 power amplifier module, a Texas Instruments 338S00170 power management IC, the Toshiba THGBX5G7D2KLDXG NAND flash, an EPCOS D5255 antenna switch module, and an AAC Technologies 0DALM1 microphone.
You can view the full gallery of teardown images here.
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Now we know why the price is so low.
A pretty impressive device nonetheless.
Not really. At a full $250 cheaper, it’s hard to put the difference with the 6S at a .7″ smaller screen and 3D Touch. Seems odd.
Larger screen area is actually more of a demand, and we know what demand does to pricing
Also 3D Touch feature with the Apple Inc. Mark Up
$250 sounds about right
The part dated from september does not mean that it was intended for 6s. They were plenty of rumors suggesting Apple has been sitting on a supply of SE since last year.
The thing in the storage is the type, is there any word if it may be NVMe like in the case of the 6S?
It’s very interesting that they used old parts from previous iPhone models to come up with a new product that is still highly functional and impressive.
https://versus.com/en/apple-iphone-se-vs-apple-iphone-6s
Kudos!
This phone is a beast!! If you get one now, you won’t need a new phone at least until 2020. Which is impressive for $400 Apple device (comparing pricequality).
Or until your eyes can no longer handle the tiny type on the tiny screen. Unfortunately, I’m one of those who can no longer handle a small screen. Even 5.2″ is pushing it for me. :-)
I may suggest you to wear glasses…
“This phone is a beast!! If you get one now AND NEVER UPDATE THE OS, you won’t need a new phone at least until 2020.”
FTFY
Sounds good so far. For people who don’t want/need the larger physical size but want to upgrade from their old phone, I think this is a great product. Factor in the lower price point and I can see Apple doing well with this. Great products are always the best type of marketing.
I have a relative waiting to buy – but sensibly will hold off a couple of weeks to let other people find the usual foul-ups first.
There doesn’t seem to be much new here, so hopefully this may be a product that arrives in full working order.
On the other hand, Apple has been directing much of it’s efforts into protecting dead criminals, so no way of knowing if this new phone will work. We’ll need to see.
Looking forward to seeing the updates on here.
It sounds good to me. The iPhone SE deal is a good thing for those who wanted a small-screen iPhone with latest speed benchmarks. I am personally planning to get myself an iPhone SE. I hope Apple has fixed the battery problem we faced in iPhone 5s.
What about the touche id, is it as fast as in the 6s ?
It’s about the same as 5s, maybe a fraction of a second quicker. At least it was in my very unscientific test a few minutes ago.
Has anyone heard if you can move a custom colored iphone 5s housing on an SE yet ?
I’d be more interested at $349. And I’d be more interested in larger 6 or higher phones if the case was thicker and not rounded.
This makes sense on the pricing end. It is very clear why Apple introduced it for just $400.
iphone se parts substantially from iphone 6s, iphone 6