iFixit has posted its complete teardown of the iPhone 7 Plus. As usual, the report confirms some specs and reveals a few new things. The dimensions of the new device are identical to those of the iPhone 6s Plus, although the report confirms that it’s slightly lighter than its predecessor. A1785 is the new model for the iPhone 7 Plus. The report also confirms that the headphone jack removal did indeed make room for the new Taptic engine, as Apple executives revealed last week, and that the second lower speaker grill is entirely cosmetic.
The teardown also reveals that Apple is now using less common tri-point screws to secure some components, which iFixit concludes are simply used to hinder third-party battery and screen replacements. The headphone jack has also been replaced by a molded plastic component that appears to channel sound into the microphone, or out from the Taptic Engine. An x-ray of the Taptic Engine revealed a tiny linear actuator, some springs, and a weighted core. The battery in the iPhone 7 Plus is now rated at 3.82V and 11.1 Wh of power, which works out to 2900 mAh of capacity — an upgrade from last year’s 2750 mAh cell, but still a slight step down from the iPhone 6 Plus’ 2915 mAh version. The camera array includes two 12MP cameras, and the teardown confirms that only the wide-angle camera incorporates optical image stabilization.
In terms of chip sets, the iPhone 7 Plus includes the expected Apple A10 Fusion CPU with a bump to 3GB of RAM, and a collection of radio and controller chips from Qualcomm, Skyworks, Avago, Universal Scientific, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Murata, NXP, Cirrus Logic, and more. The teardown also revealed the areas where waterproofing has been applied, including strong adhesive strip sealings, more stickiness in opening the iPhone 7 Plus, the camera lenses being built into the chassis, substantial gasketing on the Lightning cable assembly and around the SIM plug and tray, and ingress protection on the speaker grills. However, the new model still includes a water damage indicator inside.
