Recently, Apple’s new generation smartphone iPhone 15 series has been launched for sale, and iFixit, a foreign professional disassembly organization, also disassembled the iPhone 15 Pro Max for the first time.
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The iPhone 15 Pro Max uses a titanium middle frame design, is equipped with TSMC’s 3nm A17 Pro processor, and is equipped with a periscope lens and a USB Type C interface for the first time.
New internal design architecture
For years, smartphone disassembly required either opening from the front, making battery replacement difficult, or opening from the back, making screen replacement challenging. Apple finally cracked this conundrum with last year’s vanilla iPhone 14, allowing the phone to open from both the front and back. This huge upgrade improves the iPhone 14’s repairability score over previous models. (This has been phased down due to repair limitations imposed by parts pairing, but that’s another story.)
Fortunately, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus also use a similar design. Internal components are mounted on the center frame. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max can now be opened from both directions, too, but in a surprisingly opposite way: all the interior is hidden behind the screen rather than behind the back glass. But now the glass on the back is also removable.
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iFixit said that the iPhone 15 series adopts a new internal structure design, making the iPhone easier to repair and the back glass can be easily replaced. But this inverted internal arrangement makes critical repairs like battery replacement slightly riskier than with the iPhone 14, because you’re removing the expensive, fragile display rather than the glass back. To access the battery and other components, you have to heat and pry open the screen, which is slightly riskier. If you accidentally tear the cable, instead of destroying the monitor, tear the back cover cable.
So why doesn’t the iPhone 15 Pro series adopt a design similar to the new iPhone 14? This may be related to the larger camera array. After all, the camera protrudes from the cutout of the aluminum middle frame, which already means there is not enough space inside for the opposite arrangement.
The caveat is that Apple is continuing to gradually reduce the thickness of the display bezels. Some user teardowns report that the white gasket around the perimeter of the display is new, but that’s not the case – it just changes from black to white. Its design is a bit different than previous phones, and some people report that it’s harder to remove.
Many components in the iPhone 15 series adopt a modular design. For example, the microphone is now also a separate component.
USB-C interface has no restrictions
In terms of interfaces, the entire iPhone 15 series has also abandoned the Lightning interface that has been used for many years for the first time. Consumers can use the same cable to charge iPhone, Mac, iPad and newer AirPods Pro (2nd generation). Users can also charge AirPods or Apple Watch directly from iPhone using the USB-C connector.
This shift by Apple will benefit all users. In addition to the obvious compatibility advantages, the new USB-C port can also provide 4.5 watts of power to external devices. This is a 15-fold upgrade to the previous Lightning phone, which could only output 0.3 watts.
There have been two previous rumors about the USB-C charging port of the iPhone 15 series. The first is that the part will be serialized, paired with the motherboard, and locked down for independent repair. Fortunately, this is not the case and swapping the two ports maintains full functionality. The second rumor is that for some reason, Apple will limit the USB-C port’s transfer rate. In fact, this is not true.
The A17 Pro system-on-chip (SoC) adds a USB 3 controller, enabling USB 3.2 Gen2 10 Gbps throughput. Because the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus models inherit the older A16 processor, they only support USB 2 and have the same transfer speeds as previous Lightning devices.
Battery capacity growth is sluggish
The battery capacity of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is 4422 mAh, which is 2.3% higher than the 4323 mAh battery capacity of the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Likewise, the iPhone 15 Pro’s 3,274 mAh battery also has a 2.3% increase in capacity compared to the iPhone 14 Pro’s 3,200 mAh battery.
This does not bode well for lackluster battery capacity growth,Because A17 Pro consumes a lot of power. Some recent test reports show that the iPhone 15 Pro series phones will get hot and maintain a higher temperature when running heavy loads, and the battery life will also decrease accordingly.
Titanium middle frame
Due to the use of a lighter and stronger titanium middle frame, the weight of the iPhone 15 Pro Max has been reduced to 221 grams, which is 19 grams lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
One interesting theory about the weight reduction is that by taking less weight around the phone, it will be easier to move around. The technical term for this is moment of inertia, which is the force required to rotate the phone on its axis. When mass is removed from the edges, the phone feels more flexible in your hand—like tucking its legs in when rotating. Compared with the actual weight reduction of 9%, the iPhone 15 Pro series will bring a greater “feeling” of being lighter.
Dr. Drang said: “The change from stainless steel to titanium reduces the surrounding mass, which will undoubtedly reduce the moment of inertia more than a uniform reduction in mass. This will make the iPhone 15 Pro series easier to operate and give people a sense of security, at least to a certain extent. An impression of lightness.”
As a space-grade material, titanium is not only lighter but also stronger. Back in 2001, Apple built the PowerBook G4 out of titanium. But manufacturers tend to avoid titanium if possible, not only because it’s expensive but also because it’s difficult to work with.
So while titanium makes sense for the case, it doesn’t make any difference for the midframe. Typically the midframe is a hidden but mechanically complex aluminum component on which all internal phone components are mounted. But how do you keep the aluminum midframe and use titanium for the perimeter?
Using an industry-first thermo-mechanical process, iPhone’s titanium band wraps around a new lower structure made from 100% recycled aluminum, binding the two metals together with incredible strength through solid-state diffusion. The aluminum frame helps dissipate heat and makes the back glass easy to replace.
This thermomechanical process is most likely solid-state diffusion bonding, a process in which two dissimilar metals are heated to very high temperatures and then pressed together very hard. This isn’t a new idea – blacksmiths have been heating metal and hammering it together for thousands of years. But now, this is very rare. Wikipedia says: “Due to its relatively high cost, diffusion welding is most often used on jobs where it is difficult or impossible to weld by other means.”
high cost? Super hard metal? Difficult job? This sounds like something Apple is really good at.
The picture below roughly shows what a diffusion bonding machine looks like. It heats the metal to 1,700 degrees Celsius, roughly the melting point of steel. It then sucks all the oxygen out, creating a high vacuum of 10-6 Torr. The materials are then pressed together using 100 tons of force. And then leave it there for another hour.
△A vacuum hot chamber for sintering 3D printed parts. It can be combined with a hydraulic press. Photo credit: Centorr Vacuum Industries
It’s an extremely complex, expensive process that’s typically limited to small-scale production of aerospace parts rather than mass production of smartphones.
There is a sustainability implication here. Electronics recyclers are used to handling steel and aluminum, but not typically titanium. If titanium ends up in an aluminum grinder, it can damage or dull the blades. iPhones, on the other hand, have so much residual value that they often get special treatment at these facilities.
Although titanium itself is hard, the coating on titanium scratches easily.
Electronic components
Although Apple has been working hard to develop its own 5G baseband chips in recent years, there is still no exact launch timetable. Apple recently renewed a three-year baseband chip supply agreement with Qualcomm. This also means that Apple’s self-developed 5G baseband chips will still have a long way to go before they are available.
△Red Qualcomm SDX70M Snapdragon X70 modem
Orange: Qualcomm SDR735 RF transceiver
Yellow: Qualcomm SMR546 RF transceiver
Green: Probably Apple 339S01232 WiFi and Bluetooth module
Sky blue: Broadcom AFEM-8234 front-end module
Dark blue: Skyworks SKY58440-11 front-end module
Purple: Qorvo QM76305 front-end module
We can clearly see the Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 5G baseband chip on the iPhone 15 Pro Max motherboard. Qualcomm said,It is powered by artificial intelligence for beam management and antenna tuning.
△Red: It may be Skyworks SKY50313 front-end module
Orange: Possibly Apple 339M00287 front-end module
Yellow: Broadcom AFEM-8245 front-end module
△Red: STMicroelectronics ST33J secure element
Orange: Qualcomm PMX65 power management
Yellow: Qualcomm QET7100 Wideband Envelope Tracker
On the other motherboard is the Apple A17 Pro processor, which is based on TSMC’s 3nm process and has a 6-core CPU (2 large cores clocked at 3.77GHz and 4 small cores), a 6-core GPU and a 16-core neural network engine.
△Red: Apple APL1V02/339S01257 A17 Pro processor stacked below SK Hynix H58G66AK6HX132 8 GB LPDDR5 SDRAM memory.
Orange: Apple APL109A/338S01022 power management chip
Yellow: STMicroelectronics STCPM1A3 power management chip
Green: STMicroelectronics STB605A11 power management chip
Sky blue: Apple 338S00946-B0 power management chip
Dark blue: Apple 338S00616 power management chip
Purple: Possibly Texas Instruments SN2012017 battery charging chip
△Red Apple 338S00739 audio codec
Orange: Apple 338S00537 audio amplifier
Yellow: Winbond W25Q80DVUXIE 1MB Serial NOR Flash
Green: Probably Texas Instruments TPS61280H battery front-end DC-DC converter
Dark blue: probably UWB Module
Purple: Bosch Sensortec 6-axis MEMS accelerometer and gyroscope
Components on the other side of the motherboard:
△Red may be Kioxia K5A4RB6302CA12304 256 GB NAND flash memory
Orange: Apple 338S00537 audio amplifier
Yellow: Texas Instruments LM3567A1 Flash Controller
Green: Texas Instruments TPS65657B0 monitor power supply
Sky Blue: Apple 338S01026-B1 Power Management
Dark Blue: Possibly Apple 338S000843 Audio DSP
Purple: Possible NFC controller from NXP Semiconductors
imaging system
The biggest upgrade to Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max camera this year is the “prism” periscope lens, which increases the iPhone’s optical zoom from 2x to 5x. However, many Android flagships have been upgraded to 10x zoom, such as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. But the way Apple engineers achieved this is particularly interesting, with “prism” being a term coined by Apple’s marketing team.
Rather than opting for a series of lens elements controlled by electromagnets, Apple designed a single-element “periscope” that reflects light multiple times to simulate a 120mm focal length.
A physical challenge smartphone camera designers have struggled with is the thickness of the phone’s lens system, and using a periscope allows the sensor to be slightly offset from the lens, thus reducing the thickness of the lens module.
A periscope is a device for viewing objects through obstacles. In the periscope lens module of a mobile phone, the obstacle becomes the camera itself, which reflects light to the side through a reflector, making the focal length between the front lens and the focus on the sensor larger.
Aside from the new periscope lens, the sensors on the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s main and wide cameras appear to be the same size as last year’s 14 Pro Max, suggesting any improvements in image quality may have more to do with the new A17 Pro processor than Not with the sensor hardware itself. Also, the screws holding the camera in place are much larger than in the past.
△Front lens module and FaceID
Design based on matching parts
Although the iPhone 15 series continues the modular design, iFixit swapped the front camera between two units in the iPhone 15 Pro Max, causing the camera to not work properly.
In terms of repairability, iFixit, despite being enthusiastic about the iPhone 14 series’ easier-to-disassemble design, had to adjust the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s repairability score from a promising 7 to a dismal 4. It highlights how Apple continues to limit repair freedom through its restrictive parts pairing system.
In order to effectively repair these models, users must source parts authorized by Apple and verify repairs. Without calibration, these parts will either not work at all or have impaired functionality and constant warnings.
Separately, iFixit found that the lidar component on the rear of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is critical for augmented reality capabilities and creating content for Vision Pro, but it is also completely locked to the iPhone 15 Pro Max.