Though we’ve still got a good 10 hours or so before the iPhone 5s officially goes on sale here in the US, the handset has already landed in Australia and other countries. And from what we’re hearing , stock is extremely limited.
But wouldn’t you know it, the folks over at iFixit managed to snag one, and have already started their teardown ritual. And you know what that means: hi-res photos of the new A7 chip, Touch ID sensor and more coming up…
First up we have the Touch ID fingerprint sensor that Apple built into the iPhone 5s Home button. This is actually the first time we’re really seeing the component in the wild, as it [surprisingly] didn’t leak ahead of launch.
iFixit says that it’s a CMOS chip, essentially comprised of a bunch of very small capacitors that work together to create an image of the ridges on your finger. The sensor tech is AuthenTec’s, and is covered by a sapphire shell.
Next there’s Apple’s all-new A7 processor. Unfortunately, this doesn’t tell us much more about the chip than what we already knew—we’ll have to wait for someone to open it up—but still, this is one of the better A7 pics we’ve seen.
And finally, there’s the 5s’ iSight camera. As most of you know, Apple chose to stick with 8-megapixels here, but has improved almost every other aspect of the camera: larger sensor area, improved aperture, and bigger pixels.
iFixit notes that the back of the iSight camera is labeled DNL333 41GRF 4W61W— markings that are consistent with Sony’s IMX145 module from the iPhone 4s and 5. It’s not the same one, obviously, but it appears to be Sony’s again.
For more photos and information, head on over to iFixit’s teardown page.