Skip to main content

iFixit teardown of iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max finds a few differences from the X

We’ve already seen one iPhone XS teardown from a Dutch company who managed to get their hands on one early, but now iFixit is here with its usual detailed breakdown of what it has found inside.

The company reports that while much is unchanged from the iPhone X, there are a few differences, not all of them yet mentioned by Apple …

After its complete makeover last year, the new iPhone looks very familiar—looks like we’re back on a tick/tock upgrade cycle for now […]

We notice an extra antenna band has moved in where our left-side mic-hole friends used to live. Rumor has it this is for “Gigabit LTE,” and it seems to make a difference […]

  • The Taptic Engine inside the XS Max has been resized—big phone, bigger vibrations
  • The XS Max also gets an extended logic board, with one of the display connectors moved to the bottom.
  • Camera: the wide-angle sensor size has been increased by 32%. Pixel size has also been bumped, bringing better low-light performance and contributing to the new “Smart HDR” feature.
  • There was one thing Apple forgot to mention about the new camera: all that 32% had to go somewhere, and it turns out the camera bump had to grow a little—your iPhone X case may not fit your iPhone XS.
  • The XS packs a 10.13 Wh battery (2,659 mAh at 3.81 V), weighing 39.5 g—slightly downgraded from last year’s X. But this decrease in capacity comes with a wild new battery configuration. Rather than using two cells to fill this L-shaped recess, Apple has constructed an all-new single-cell battery.
  • The XS Max battery unsurprisingly comes out on top capacity-wise, with 12.08 Wh (3,179 mAh at 3.80 V), and weighing 46.6 g. No single-cell here, though!

iFixit gives the new models a surprisingly good repairability score of 6/10, the main problem identified being the glass back carried over from last year’s model.

Glass on front and back doubles the likelihood of drop damage—and if the back glass breaks, you’ll be removing every component and replacing the entire chassis.

Check out the full set of photos over at iFixit.


Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

Author

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


Ben Lovejoy's favorite gear