A site by the name of AppleLeaks today posted photos of what is claimed to be the logic board from a next-generation iPhone model. The report is unsure about whether the board is from an upgraded iPhone 5 model or a cheaper "iPhone 4S" model Apple is also said to be planning to launch, but the images do add more detail to the picture that is beginning to come together.
Comparing the pictures to the ones of the logic boards for the CDMA and GSM iPhone 4 models as seen in teardowns by iFixit (see steps 13 and 14), it is interesting to note that this new logic board carries a form factor more similar to that of the CDMA iPhone 4 but with a SIM-card slot also squeezed onto the board. That inclusion of the SIM-card slot on the new logic board has resulted in a reshuffling of the chip locations on the front of the board, while the back side remains quite similar to the CDMA iPhone 4 logic board.
Front of CDMA (top) and GSM (bottom) iPhone 4 logic boards (Source: iFixit)
Notably, the relatively large area on the front of the logic board designed to house the main processor for the device is rectangular in nature on the new board, suggesting that it is designed for the rectangular A5 system-on-a-chip found in the iPad 2 rather than the square A4 chip found in the iPhone 4 and original iPad. Apple is of course expected to use the A5 in the iPhone 5, but there has been some question as to whether Apple would step up to the A5 for its cheaper iPhone 4S model or continue to use the A4 in order to hold costs down.
The iPhone 5 is expected to be a "world-mode" phone capable of running on both GSM and CDMA networks. The presence of a SIM-card slot on the new logic board does indeed confirm GSM compatibility for this device, whether it be an iPhone 5 or 4S, and CDMA compatibility would come from the inclusion of a specific chip supporting the dual standards. Such a chip from Qualcomm is already used on the CDMA iPhone 4, but accommodation for a similar chip on this new logic board can not be confirmed given that the board is unlabeled.
One of the more prominent differences in the actual logic board form factor between the GSM and CDMA iPhone 4 is a semicircular cutout at the bottom of the board. That cutout fits around the new circular vibrator used in the CDMA version, a change from the vibrator used in the GSM version. The presence of the cutout on this new logic board suggests that Apple will continue to use the circular vibrator found in the CDMA iPhone 4.
AppleLeaks also posts of the battery for the iPhone4S/5, in line with photos from other sources seen several times earlier this week.
Thursday January 23, 2025 6:41 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 18.3 should be released to the public next week, following beta testing since mid-December. While the software update is a relatively minor one, it still includes a handful of new features, changes, and bug fixes for iPhones.
Below, we recap everything new in iOS 18.3.
Notification Summary Changes
Examples of inaccurate Apple Intelligence notification summaries
Apple Intelligence...
Thursday January 23, 2025 7:32 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Walmart still does not accept Apple Pay or other NFC payments at its more than 4,600 stores across the U.S., and it stood firm on its reasoning for that today.
A spokesperson for Walmart today informed MacRumors that its position on contactless payments has not changed since we last reached out about the matter in 2022. The big-box retailer said it remains focused on its own convenient...
Friday January 24, 2025 1:55 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is set to release iOS 18.3 next week, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a couple of neat new capabilities to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 devices, and bug fixes.
While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.3 still introduces capabilities that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've...
Wednesday January 22, 2025 6:01 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year. In this article, we recap rumored features and changes for the device.
The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports Wi-Fi 6E, which would be an upgrade over the current Apple TV's standard Wi-Fi 6 support. Wi-Fi 6E extends the...
Tuesday January 21, 2025 4:31 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes.
The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
Friday January 24, 2025 8:16 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 18.3 is expected to be widely released next week, and that means the first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner.
Apple has previously implied that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, as that is when it promised to make Apple Intelligence available in even more languages.
Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far.
Apple Intelligence for Siri
Siri ...
Wednesday January 22, 2025 2:07 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Popular caller ID app Truecaller is rolling out an update that brings real-time caller ID support to its iOS subscribers.
Apple introduced Live Caller ID Lookup in iOS 18, allowing third-party caller ID apps to securely retrieve information about a caller from their servers, hence today's Truecaller update.
iPhone users can enable the Live Caller ID Lookup feature by going to Settings ➝ ...
Wednesday January 22, 2025 9:39 am PST by Joe Rossignol
New information has surfaced that indicates the rumored iPhone SE 4, iPad 11, and new iPad Air models are nearing launch.
A private account on social media platform X today revealed that iOS 18.3 or iPadOS 18.3 will be preinstalled on all of those upcoming devices when they are released. It is still unclear exactly when the devices will launch, but this information suggests that Apple will...
Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app.
Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
