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Iphone Cellphones Power Hardware Technology

iPhone XS Teardown Shows Few Changes Aside From the Battery (engadget.com) 61

iFixit tore apart Apple's iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, revealing very similar insides to last year's iPhone X. Engadget reports the findings: One of the most interesting features is the battery on the XS. The iPhone XS sports a slightly downgraded battery from the iPhone X, a 10.13 Wh battery (2,659 mAh at 3.81 V) versus 10.35 Wh (2716 mAh at 3.81 V). But a new configuration might more than make up for it: Apple is using a brand-new L-shaped single-cell battery instead of two separate batteries. However, the XS Max still sports two batteries. Some other tweaks include a new, Apple-branded power management chip and a new antenna line on the bottom of the phone. The camera bump is also slightly taller, meaning your iPhone X case might not fit on your XS, if you plan on upgrading. The Verge also notes that "there's no evidence that the teardown team could find of any improved water or dust resistance, despite the improved IP68 ratings on the iPhone XS and XS Max."
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iPhone XS Teardown Shows Few Changes Aside From the Battery

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  • “meaning your iPhone X case might not fit on your XS”
    Why any normal person. Upgrade from the X to the Xs.
    Not that the Xs is bad, but there isn’t anything that extra new that would be worth the expense of upgrading.
    If you are some sort of Apple collector then why would you use your old X case on the phone?

    • by Anonymous Coward

      If you're using the Apple Upgrade Program, there's effectively no reason not to.

      Well, no reason not to if you were upgrading your phone every two years anyway. If that was what you were doing anyway, the Apple Upgrade Program costs essentially the same as doing that, but you can upgrade every year instead.

      There are, of course, caveats:

      - With the AUP, you MUST pay for Apple Care. If you were already doing that, the difference in cost between buying it outright is actually pretty small. This has more to do wi

    • Not that the Xs is bad, but there isnâ(TM)t anything that extra new that would be worth the expense of upgrading.

      I'm not upgrading from the X myself but there is one factor that is super tempting - the Xs (or Xr or Max) camera is a lot better in low light.

      Take a look at dynamic range and especially lack of noise in low light photos and video from Daring Fireball [slashdot.org], each image shows and iPhone X and then the Xs side by side.

      Again I am not upgrading but the difference is actually pretty significant. And t

  • by greenwow ( 3635575 ) on Friday September 21, 2018 @07:42PM (#57357902)

    "got the same iPhone 8/iPhone X back glass construction, meaning on tiny crack call for a whole chassis replacement."

    My company makes several iOS apps, so we have about 75 iOS devices. It's been disappointing how easily the back glass cracks but in Apple's defense, that doesn't affect functionality.

    What does affect functionality is that while all of our really old iDevices that use the old 30-pin connector still work even though some of them are over a decade old, nearly all of the devices with a lightning connector have problems. The vibration when you get a message is enough to disconnect them from charging.

    • by tsa ( 15680 )

      Pulling the accumulated lint out of the opening with a tooth pick or something similar helps a lot with that.

  • by LynnwoodRooster ( 966895 ) on Friday September 21, 2018 @07:51PM (#57357938) Journal
    I had no idea that an L shaped 10.31 Wh battery has more capacity than a pair of rectangular 5.175 Wh (10.35 Wh combined) batteries in a single pack! I wonder if Tesla is aware of this magical power of the L!
    • by GrahamJ ( 241784 )

      The article points out that it’s a downgrade. My guess is it’s a cost savings to make one type of battery instead of two.

  • New battery, cameras, mainboard, SoC, modem, antennae, eSIM, haptics, speakers... yep, not many changes at all!

    Personally I just picked up a used X to save a bunch of money, but calling the XS mostly the same is disingenuous at best.

    • Yes I am sticking with my X this year, but it's not like there are not good reasons to own the newer device, and the summary is odd in skipping over the ways the device is upgraded pretty well...

  • 4 to 4s
    5 to 5s
    6 to 6s
    X to XS

    There's never a huge dramatic change when Apple adds an "s" or "S" to the model name. They save the really big changes for when the Number is incremented.

    • There's never a huge dramatic change when Apple adds an "s" or "S" to the model name. They save the really big changes for when the Number is incremented.

      I think the amount of internal changes tends to be about the same. But 4 to 4s is no external change, 4s to 5 is, 5 to 5s isn't, 5s to 6 is etc. In any case, not enough reason to upgrade for existing customers.

      If you buy a new phone every two year, you either started with a 4 and stayed on the "no s" line or you started with a 4s and stayed with the "s" line.

  • I like apple. But my number 1 want, in terms of improvement, is more battery life. Historically, it has been great on their plus size models. But poor on the rest.

I'd rather just believe that it's done by little elves running around.

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