Honey, I shrunk the battery: Something's gotta give as iPhone 12's logic board swells to accommodate 5G chippery
- Reference: 1603715344
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/10/26/iphone_12_ifixit_teardown/
- Source link:
A [1]new teardown from iFixit shows off the innards of the entry-level iPhone 12, as well as its Pro sibling. With these new mobes, Apple makes few advancements in the cause of repairability, instead keeping faithful to the design decisions found in previous devices. That is to say they're straightforward, if not a bit fiddly, to disassemble.
[2]
Pic: iFixit (click to enlarge)
Still, there were a few surprises. Both devices, for example, use Qualcomm's X55 5G modem, as well as the same 5G and LTE transceiver that features on Snapdragon 865 platform. Although Qualcomm is a long-time Apple supplier, recent years had suggested Apple was looking elsewhere for its modems.
The previous-generation [3]iPhone 11 used an LTE modem from Intel. Furthermore, at the end of 2019, Apple [4]acquired Intel's cellular modem business for $1bn , suggesting the firm would move development in house, as it has done with [5]Apple Silicon on the Mac .
[6]
Pic: iFixit
iFixit expressed concerns that Apple had made compromises in the quest to include 5G. It noted the logic board – which contains the fundamentals of the phone, including the SoC, storage, and cellular radios – was significantly bigger than previous generations. This forced Apple to use a conventional rectangular battery on the Pro version, compared to the bigger L-shaped unit used on the iPhone 11 Pro.
The teardown also showed Apple had shrunk the Taptic Engine compared with older iPhones. The Taptic Engine is a major component of the iPhone experience, providing haptic user interface feedback through a linear actuator.
Apple released the [7]iPhone 12 and 12 Pro last Friday , along with the latest-generation iPad Air. Pre-orders for the more capable (and expensive!) iPhone 12 Pro Max flavour open early next month – meaning we'll have to wait a while to see what's inside Apple's priciest blower. ®
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[1] https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone+12+and+12+Pro+Teardown/137669
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/10/26/ifixitiphone12interior.jpg
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/01/31/apple_leapfrogs_sammy_and_huawei/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2019/12/02/apple_1bn_intel_5g/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/05/benchmarks_apple_a14_chip/
[6] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/10/26/ifixitiphone12batt.jpg
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/13/apple_iphone_launch/
[8] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Just curious
Smaller battery equals shorter runtime? Or have they managed to up the battery capacity despite the smaller form factor?
Re: Just curious
Battery is smaller than on the Iphone 11 (marginally). Maybe A14 was optimized to use less power when running on 4G...
Re: Just curious
Anandtech aren't sure yet. They note Apple aren't boasting about the new chip being more power efficient, but it's possible that it is (along with OLED display and other components) to offset slightly smaller battery - and retain battery life comparable to last model.
They'll likely have a test soon, now the phone is shipping.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/16088/apple-announces-5nm-a14-soc-meagre-upgrades-or-less-power-hungry
Re: Just curious
> Smaller battery equals shorter runtime?
Neither - less power required. Older 3G & 4G phones needed a lot of battery power to cause brain tumours, but speading Covid via 5G is much more power efficient.
[Note: may contain buts and other statements of an ironic nature.]
Re: Just curious
Smaller battery equals shorter runtime?
[1]Tomsguide says yes for the 12, no for the 12 Pro.
iPhone 12 has a 2815mAh battery, which is 90.5% of the 3110mAh battery in the iPhone 11.
Setting aside 5G power-hoggery, the 12 gave 10.38 hrs of 4G runtime on their battery test, which is 92% of the 11.27 hrs for the 11. So, pretty close to a direct correlation.
Oddly, despite a similar difference in battery size, the results were flipped for the Pro versions: 12 Pro gave 11.4 hrs of 4G runtime on their battery test -- 109.6% of the 10.4 hrs for the 11 Pro. They offered no explanation for the difference.
5G battery life absolutely sucks on both models.
[1] https://www.tomsguide.com/news/iphone-12-battery-life-results-are-in-and-theyre-not-great"
Re: Just curious
Not sure you can put any meaningful figure on "runtime" because people use phones in so many different ways that affect consumption. Using a phone mainly to check emails and make & receive a few calls and SMS messages is completely different to using it to watch Netflix, YouTube and be on social media for half the day. If you use the cellular connection significantly, then how close you are to the cell tower makes a huge difference to the power consumption.
I put my phone on charge when I go to bed and unplug it when I get up. I do not want to have to charge it in between. Therefore I want a phone that has a runtime of 16 hours at least with the way I use my phone 99% of the time.
Re: Just curious
Not really, you can do a direct comparison to different models with the same scenarios, like the post before did.
A cynic might think that they are using 5G as the hook to reel in a load of upgrade punters who will then discover that there are a number of "compromises" made in the design spec of the iPhone 12 which are magically fixed in the iPhone 13 ... why sell a phone when you could sell two!
True, but a realist would say if they hadn't included 5G in their flagship phone they would have faced all sorts of criticisms for that too.
The Iphone 13 will come quicker than the 5G
Buying the latest shiny shiny, or any other smartphone, for the 5G is probably a little but premature, by at least 18 months.. And what with Huawei having been taken out of the market 5G is likely to come later rather than sooner...
Apple however, with the fortune that they now have amassed, could actually help by installing some antenae whilst simultaneously providing some of their lawyers to help fight the green anti-5G crowd...