The FCC posted Apple’s filing for its new iPhone 3G, and while most of the good stuff is kept under wraps, there are some notable differences between it and iPhone EDGE.

As with last year’s filing, Apple has requested confidentiality for a variety of documents, including test setup and external photographs, and the user manual (all of which will be presumably published after iPhone 3G’s July 11 release date), and permanent confidentiality for the block diagram, operational description, and radio bill of material and schematic. This time around, however, Apple is seeking permanent confidentiality for iPhone’s internal photographs, which were public domain last time around.

Apple again turned to CETECOM Inc., but also utilized a second company, Fremont, Calif.-based Compliance Certification Services, for testing, which were performed over a three-day period, May 17-19. However, the workload appears to be significant lighter than last year’s model, which took 70 days for approval. Of particular note is SAR (specific absorption rate) testing, which normally needs to be performed on each transmitter and antenna (WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular, etc.). In iPhone 3G’s case, however, simultaneous testing was not required since the cellular antenna is 8cm away from any other antenna and the SAR-Antenna pair ratio is 0.270:

“Based on the 1-g (of tissue) SAR limit of 1.6 W/kg and a separation distance of 5 cm, a ratio of SAR to antenna separation is established to minimize SAR distribution overlaps.  The need to evaluate SAR for simultaneous transmission is determined by examining the antennas one pair at a time.  When the SAR to antenna separation ratio for a pair of antennas is < 0.3, SAR evaluation for simultaneous transmission is not required.” (SAR Evaluation Considerations for Handsets with Multiple Transmitters and Antennas, FCC)

Based on the documents made public so far, Apple focused its testing on the 802.11b/g module, rather than the 3G cellular antenna, and submitted far fewer exhibits than for iPhone EDGE.

According to the iPhone Label Location document, all buttons and ports are in the same spot, and the size is identical. (According to the tech specs on Apple.com, a SIM ejector tool is included in the box this time around, eliminating the need to hunt for a paper clip.)

The description of the phone has changed in the supporting documentation, too, from “GSM cellular telephone with Bluetooth and Wifi” to “handheld 3G mobile phone with iPod functions,” as has the lettering on the back on the phone. Apple has moved the capacity box directly under the iPhone name, followed by the FCC compliance label and a string of symbols and logos not included on iPhone EDGE.

All in all, the filing is fairly straightforward, but Apple certainly expects the iPhone 3G to move through the FCC’s labs much quicker than iPhone EDGE, as evidenced by the July 11 release date, just 32 days past its June 9 filing.