iFixit gives the iPhone 11 the teardown treatment, reveals similar logic board as Pro models and more

iFixit has already taken apart the iPhone 11 Pro Max. Now the team has turned its attention on the other new iPhone model this year, the iPhone 11.

First and foremost, the teardown has revealed what Apple made clear enough in its own right: the iPhone 11 is basically an iPhone XR in the primary strokes, with some iPhone 11 Pro technology thrown in for good measure.

The teardown revealed that there is a new “double-decker logic board” inside the casing, something that is “never before seen” on the mid-size lineup of iPhones. However, as noted in the report, swapping the display without Apple’s special tools will disable the True Tone functionality. However, the display itself does remain user-swappable, though.

On the logic board, we identify a few chips and take some guesses as to what they might be. The APL1W85 is Apple’s A13 Bionic system-on-chip, layered over SK Hynix H9HKNNNCRMMVDR LPDDR4X RAM—SK Hynix’s documentation doesn’t contain a decoder for this model number, but it’s seemingly 4GB of the stuff. Rounding out the chips is a chip labeled H230FG82D6AD0-BC 922Y / M1TPAR31HA1 (probably storage) and another with a model number I7J9, perhaps Apple’s new U1 wireless positioning chip.

Of course, the teardown revealed other tidbits related to the battery and other cables. It’s definitely worth checking out.

What about bilateral charging, you may ask? Turns out that the iPhone 11 doesn’t show any direct indication that the feature was ever planned for the new iPhone models after all.

And if you’re curious about the repairability score, iFixit is giving the iPhone 11 a score of 6 out of 10 (with 10 being the easiest to repair). Here’s how they break it down:

+ The prioritized display makes replacement of this critical component easier than in other devices.

+ Display swaps don’t require too much hardware swapping, so you can keep Face ID

+/- We prefer screws and non-adhesive fasteners over glue, but tiny proprietary screws are still hostile to repair.

+/- The high IP rating means your phone is better protected, but these measures also complicate repair.

– Front and back glass doubles the chances of breakage, and the rear glass can only be replaced with a full case swap.