iPhone 6s - Teardown

After one year, the time has come again: Apple's new iPhone generation has been available for sale since 25.09.2015. At this point we would like to introduce you to the new iPhone 6s and take it apart into its individual parts. You will learn what to expect inside, what has changed and how difficult the repair will be.

Key iPhone 6s data at a glance:

• OS: iOS 9.0
• Dimensions: 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm
• Weight: 143 g
• Display: Retina HD Display with 3D Touch 4.7" (1334 x 750) 326 ppi
• RAM : 2 GB
• Memory: 16/64/128 GB
• Rear camera: 12 MP (3840 x 2160 pixels)
• Front camera: 5 MP
• Battery: 1715 mAh

1. Turn off your iPhone before reparation to prevent it from damage. Therefore, press the standby button for about three seconds until the slider appears on the display.
2. Swipe it from the left to right-hand side. Your iPhone will shut down in approximately 10 seconds.

An average iPhone user wouldn’t probably notice any difference from the outside. As the differences in size are not bigger than a tenths of a millimeter, they can simply be ignored. The 7000-series aluminum is the same, there has simply been added an “S” to the back.
The new rose-gold color is worth mentioning.

You can open the iPhone as usual. As in previous models, you have to remove the two pentalobe screws left and right of the lightning connector first.

We’re especially excited to see what’s waiting for us when we take off the display. You had to be particularly careful when opening the previous model because of the Touch ID in the home button Apple introduced with the iPhone 5s.

As in the year before, we need suction cup and pick to carefully lift the display screen. Since it is now additionally glued at the edges, it can unfortunately not be lifted so easily anymore.

After a brief look inside the iPhone, we can breathe easy again: The Home button cable isn’t in the way. Apple stuck to simplification here.

As you probably already know, the connections are hidden under a silver cover so they can’t come undone.

Due to the new 3D touch feature the iPhone 6s display at 60 grams is about 15 grams heavier than the iPhone 6’s display. At first glance, almost all other components look exactly the same.

In picture 2, you can see the old iPhone 6 display on the left-hand side, the new iPhone 6s display on the right-hand side. You’ll notice right away that the new LCD shield is the only difference from the previous model.

Another major difference is that there are just three cable sets attached to the display. By combining the display and touch cables like for example in the Samsung Galaxy models Apple is trying something new.

The earpiece is also under a cover and is located under the FaceTime camera cable set. Both components are only slightly glued together and can therefore be easily removed.

In picture 2, you can see that the differences are minimal.

As with previous models, the proximity sensor and brightness sensor, as well as the ambient microphone, are located on the front camera's cable set. The front camera now has 5 megapixels instead of the 1.2 megapixels in iPhone 6.

It’s very easy to unscrew the rear panel and lift it out. But like in the iPhone 5c, there’s a little screw hidden in the side at the level of the earpiece.

The difference is that there’s no cable set for the Home button under the LCD shield. The cable set now runs under the cover below that. It looks like there’s no easy way to remove it.

Let’s go ahead and remove the home button. The similarities to the iPhone 6 are obvious. Unfortunately, with the iPhone 6s you have to take off the LCD shield, before you can remove the home button. You didn’t have to in the previous model. But because we advise you not to replace the Home button for a variety of reasons, it’s not a huge deal.

In picture 3, you can see the iPhone 6’s Home button on the left and the iPhone 6s’ new Home button to the right of it. There’s no visible difference, but the new version is supposed to identify your fingerprint twice as fast.

One of the new highlights is the Taptic Engine, which is already built into the Apple Watch and can give very precise feedback. In combination with 3D-Touch it is a useful and exciting innovation. We'll anticipate one disadvantage of this component: The battery is smaller due to the Taptic Engine.

Should the Taptic Engine give up the ghost, it can be replaced without any problems.

In picture 3, you can compare the visual differences directly.

The iPhone 6s battery is firmly adhered. To remove the battery you can usually pull off the adhesive strips quite easily. And already easier than it was with the iPhone 6.

If you want to install the new battery properly, you’ll have to use new adhesive strips.

In picture 4, you can see on the left-hand side the iPhone 6’s battery with a loading capacity of 1810 mAh (milliamper-hours). On the right-hand side you can see the iPhone 6s’ new, smaller battery with 1715 mAh. Despite the capacity difference Apple promises the same battery life.

We were really hoping there’d be an improvement here: It’s pretty annoying that the battery only lasts one day.

The speaker is just screwed in place so it’s very easy to remove. You don’t even have to remove the main board.

The shape of the speaker is a little different from the ones in previous models. Key word: Taptic Engine.

The lightning connector has also changed very little: To loosen it, several screws have to be removed, and the cable set of the lightning connector is still glued relatively tight. Therefore, you should be very careful when disconnecting it.

However, there is one fundamental innovation: two microphones are now installed. We are curious to what extent this will affect the speech quality.

The lightning connector, together with the headphone output and the antenna cable, is still attached to the same cable harness. The receptacle for the home button connector, as still present on the iPhone 5s, is missing for the reasons already mentioned.

In picture 3 you can see the differences between the two models.

As with previous models, the iSight camera, now new with 12 megapixels, can be removed relatively easily. It is only attached to the main board with a plug and two Phillips screws.

This simplification was already implemented in the iPhone 5s. With the iPhone 5s, the mainboard still had to be removed to replace the camera.

On picture 3 you can see the camera of the iPhone 6 on the left and the new camera of the iPhone 6s on the right. Here to mention: The increase in focus pixels by almost 50%.

Now we can remove the heart of the iPhone. The shape and structure of the logic board are very similar to those of the last model.

The logic board is screwed in place at several points. Before you can lift it out, you have to remove the SIM card tray, and disconnect the lightning connector and the antenna cable.

Picture 2 shows the exact differences: iPhone 6 on the left, iPhone 6s on the right.

Another fundamental change is the recombination of volume and standby cable. With the previous model it was possible to exchange the volume cable separately from the standby cable without having to remove the main board.

On picture 2 you can see the two cable sets of the iPhone 6 on the left-hand side, on the right-hand side the merged single cable set of the iPhone 6s.

Despite the great similarities to the predecessor model iPhone 6, we noticed a few negative points. First, Apple uses additional adhesive strips to fix the display to the frame. Since we couldn't find any disadvantages in the predecessor model regarding the adhesive strips, it seems reasonable to assume that the additional adhesive is only meant to keep curious people from opening the smartphone. In order to remove the main board, a very small pair of pliers or a miniature hexagon key is needed, which probably isn't available in every household.

In addition, there was a merging of standby and mute/volume cable set, which can also only be replaced after the main board has been removed. This not only increases the repair time, but also means that if one component fails, functional components are replaced at the same time.

All in all, the ease of repair is still good, but has somewhat decreased in comparison to the iPhone 6.

The following points have come to our attention positively:

• Compared to other manufacturers, the display can be removed relatively easily. However, it is more complex than the iPhone 6.
• When the display is removed, access to the entire interior is made possible.
• Replacing the battery is very easy, as the adhesive strips don't tear as quickly when removed.

We noticed the following negative points:

• The display is glued, but still not waterproof.
• A miniature hexagon key is needed to remove the main board.
• Many screws are used.

From the user's point of view, the new, curved front glass could turn out to be a "backward step": Due to its exposed position, the display is now even more sensitive to damage from a fall.

iPhone 6 on the left, iPhone 6s on the right.