Today's the big day. You've spent the night sitting on a cold sidewalk outside the Apple Store, and months upon months of speculation have led to a shiny, new iPhone 5 in your hands. Well, unless you're like many of us and are just waiting for a package to arrive at the door. In the meantime, how about a look at the inside of Apple's new iOS device?
The fine folks at iFixit flew all the way to the other side of the world, just to snag an iPhone 5 at the earliest possible time. After a long night of tearing down the sixth-gen iPhone, we get our first real glimpse at what makes the thing tick.
While iFixit has a ton of nice, hi-res photos of iPhone 5 internal components, the return to simplicity for the new iPhone's construction is really great news. As we're all too aware, a sudden case of butter-fingers can mean a shattered screen. And a shattered screen can equal costly repairs or driving yourself nuts taking the device apart.
Thankfully, the iPhone 5 features top-down construction; so the entire disassembly process is more simplified. If you're just replacing a busted display, the screen will lift straight off with a suction cup. Of course, you're still going to need one of those proprietary Pentalobe screwdrivers to get the case open.
Replacing other components isn't so simple, though. The Lightning connector, headphone jack, and loudspeaker are all housed in a single assembly. If the headphone jack should go out, for example, you'll likely need the whole assembly. iFixit did note the Lightning connector as a necessity, as there is "no way" a 30-pin connector could fit inside the new iPhone 5 construction.
Another interesting note: the entirety of the iPhone 5 back casing weighs just a little more than the glass from the iPhone 4S. No wonder it's 20-percent lighter.
Be sure to check out the full teardown pics for a close-up look at the new A6 processor, the Qualcomm LTE chip, and a breakdown of each and every component that makes up Apple's new device.
Follow this article's author, Matt Clark on Twitter.
