We already saw one iPhone 12 teardown even before it got released officially in the US this past Friday, and had an idea about what’s inside. The 2815mAh battery is smaller than what’s in the iPhone 11, but the 6.1″ OLED display panel is thinner, there is a Qualcomm X55 5G modem, a new MagSafe charging coil, and the Taptic Engine vibration motor size has been reduced compared to the 11 to make room for other internals.
Now that iFixit has taken apart the iPhone 12 Pro as well, we know what those other components are. It seems that Apple has rearranged a lot from its usual iPhone assembly in order to fit the 5G modem, filters and antennas inside the 12 series.
There are other takeaways about the iPhone 12 vs 12 Pro differences and new features from the teardown:
- You can swap the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro 6.1″ OLED displays and 10.78Wh batteries.
- Stronger adhesive for record water-proofing depths of 20 feet (Apple is even making authorized repair centers use heat in their opening procedures now.)
- The mainboard is much larger now with the 5G modem, so the SIM card tray and battery are flipped on the other side.
- The speakers are waterproofed with gaskets for the first time, making the iPhone 12 easier to repair.
- Those little elliptical thingies on the side of the US iPhone 12 models are indeed the 5G mmWave antennas for the likes of Verizon.
Those tiny strips on the side of the US iPhone 12 models are the mmWave 5G antennas
As a wrap, the iFixit engineers give the iPhone 12 Pro and its cheaper sibling a 6/10 score for repairability, noting that, while there is stronger adhesive to attack during their opening, most components are modular and there is much less glue holding everything together inside now, but rather screws and gaskets. We’ll leave you with the main material difference between the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro, the aluminum vs stainless steel frame, captured on x-ray.
The iPhone 12 (left) is built on aluminum, vs the 12 Pro’s (right) steel frame
