Chipworks has gotten their hands on an iPhone SE, and immediately tore it apart, revealing a collection of components borrowed from the rest of the iPhone lineup, including parts from the iPhone 5s, 6, and 6s lineups.
As expected, the processor inside the new 4-inch handset is the same A9 as is found in the flagship iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. Labeled with an APL1022 part number from TSMC, it includes SK Hynix memory, which appears to be the same 2GB LPDDR4 DRAM module found in the iPhone 6s.
The NFC chip is the NXP 66V10, and the 6-axis sensor is from InvenSense. Both were also used in the iPhone 6s. The Qualcom MDM9625M modem and the accompanying transceiver match those in the iPhone 6, and the Audio ICs, which Chipworks believes were designed by Cirrus Logic, are the same as the iPhone 6s. The touchscreen controllers components (Broadcom BCM5976 and Texas Instruments 343S0645) look to match those found in the iPhone 5s.
Not all of the components in the new handset were brought over from other models, as Chipworks identifies a “338S00170 device,” which it believes is “very likely a new Apple/Dialog power management IC,” a Skyworks SKY77611 power amplifier module, a 16GB Toshiba NAND flash module, an EPCOS D5255 antenna switch module, and an AAC Technologies microphone.
We’ll likely find out more as other teardown fanatics, such as iFixit, do their thing. The new iPhone SE hits shelves tomorrow, March 31. As usual, Apple hasn’t released any official first weekend sales numbers, though reports indicate preorders racked up an impressive 3.4 million units in China alone.
