iFixit’s iPhone SE teardown reveals which pieces come from older iPhones
Reviews of the new 2020 iPhone SE are here and so is iFixit’s teardown of the device. While the $400 handset has a design similar to that of an iPhone 8, the teardown reveals that it’s surprisingly modern on the inside.
Specifically, the phone includes an A13 Bionic SoC with a third-generation neural engine. This, according to iFixit, was pulled from the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. That’s significantly more powerful than the iPhone 8’s A11 Bionic chip, and it should enable the product to handle whatever workload you throw at it.
“Apple didn’t have to give the SE their newest A13 Bionic chip—but they did, guaranteeing that this phone lasts for many years to come,” iFixit writes. The SE also appears to include Gigabit-class LTE with 2×2 MIMO and 802.11ax Wi‑Fi 6 with 2×2 MIMO + Bluetooth 5.0 + NFC, which are also found in the iPhone 11.
A number of other components appear to be sourced from the iPhone 8, including the 4.7 Retina HD display with 1334 x 750 resolution and True Tone. There’s no 3D touch, unfortunately.
“Before you get any ideas about adding 3D touch to your new iPhone SE though, we tried it, and it doesn’t work,” iFixit warns.
The phone features a 12MP wide-angle rear camera and a 7MP front-facing camera as well as a second-gen Touch ID sensor, both of which are most likely pulled from an iPhone 8.
The fact that the newest iPhone contains so many returning parts is good news for anyone who wants to repair their phone themselves. “Replacement parts should be easier to find—and re-using the existing manufacturing lines produces less waste overall,” according to iFixit.
If you want to know how it feels to use the iPhone SE, check out Dieter Bohn’s review of the excellent device.
Reviews of the new 2020 iPhone SE are here and so is iFixit’s teardown of the device. While the $400 handset has a design similar to that of an iPhone 8, the teardown reveals that it’s surprisingly modern on the inside. Specifically, the phone includes an A13 Bionic SoC with…
