iPhone 4 Teardown: Inside Apple's New Phone
by Joe White
June 23, 2010
The online do-it-yourself guide, iFixit, has just posted a 26-step dissection of Apple's iPhone 4 that reveals some interesting facts about the sought after gadget.
We already know that the iPhone 4 has a 5-megapixel camera capable of 720p video capture, a display with 960x640 resolution, a bigger battery, and a three-axis gyroscope. But now, let's take a look at some of the secret discoveries iFixit managed to uncover.
More RAM. Faster processor.
Apple has increased the RAM in the iPhone 4 from 256MB (found in the iPhone 3GS and iPad) to a massive 512MB. Like the iPad, the iPhone 4 also uses Apple's A4 processor, which in turn uses a 1-GHz ARM Cortex A8 core.
The Real Storage Capacity.
After you take away the memory reserved for Apple's own software, a 32GB iPhone 4 handset is actually left with 28.77GB, according to iFixit.
Battery.
Steve Jobs already told us that the iPhone 4 is powered by one big battery. We now know that it's a 3.7V 420 mAh Li-Polymer internal battery, which is what gives the handset all those extra minutes of talk time.
Stainless Steel.
Apple has incorporated its UMTS, GSM, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antennas into a stainless steel inner frame that surrounds the iPhone, and iFixit describes this integration as "a work of genius". Apple expects this new frame to improve the phone's overall reception.
Additionally, to help improve signal quality, the iPhone 4 is designed to use whichever network band has the least interference at any given time - which is a bonus.
Super glass.
The iPhone 4 uses aluminosilcate glass that is twenty times stiffer and thirty times stronger than plastic. IFixit reports that Apple's handset is made from Corning's Gorilla Glass, and also states that the glass, digitizer, and LCD panel are all glued together. This means that if you happen to break your iPhone 4's glass, expect to pay a lot to repair it.
For more information, check out iFixit's 26-step dissection for yourself. And be sure to let us know what you think of the iPhone 4's insides in the comments box below!
