First iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c Teardowns Show Touch ID Home Button, Nearly Identical Internal Layouts

Australian iPhone repair firm iExperts has already gotten its hands on the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c models (via TUAW), working to perform teardowns of the two devices to examine their internals. While the company has yet to start digging into the chips on the main logic board, it has been able to reveal a few details about the devices.

iphone_5_5s_5c_open

Left to right: iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c

Unsurprisingly, the internal layouts of the new devices are consistent with that seen in leaked part photos and generally in line with that of the iPhone 5. Battery capacities have increased from 5.45 Whr in the iPhone 5 to 5.92 Whr in the iPhone 5s and 5.73 Whr in the iPhone 5c. That iPhone 5s number is slightly different than what appeared in regulatory documents last week but is consistent with what we saw on a December 2012 prototype, albeit with a newer part number on the battery.

A direct comparison of the logic boards from the three devices also shows how Apple has slightly narrowed the boards on the new devices compared to the iPhone 5, making room for a slightly larger battery.

iphone_5_5s_5c_logic_boards

Left to right: iPhone 5, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c

Other tidbits discovered during the teardown include a metal clip holding in the new cable providing a connection for the Touch ID sensor in the home button, as well as a new coating on the power button believed to be designed to increase durability.

iphone_5s_touch_id_flex

iPhone 5s home button flex cable with integrated Touch ID sensor

More information from the new iPhones is undoubtedly forthcoming, with the teardown experts at iFixit also drawing upon their own extensive experience to delve into the details on the various components.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iphone 17 pro majin bu sky blue

iPhone 17 Pro Allegedly Coming in Sky Blue Color Used for MacBook Air

Tuesday April 22, 2025 4:08 am PDT by
Apple will unveil the iPhone 17 Pro in a new Sky Blue color, the same color that debuted on the latest M4 MacBook Air models Apple released in March. That's according to the leaker Majin Bu. Concept mockup from Majin Bu Writing on his website, Bu claims that "sources close to the supply chain confirm that several iPhone 17 Pro prototypes have been made in various colors, with Sky Blue...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...

Top Rated Comments

SockRolid Avatar
151 months ago
Which, let's all say it together, just sucks for what's supposed to be a top of the line smartphone. It may run fine this year, but I imagine it will have a shorter lifespan than most.

They really needed to boost the RAM this time around.
LOL. The number and quality of technical issues that haters can whine about has diminished.
Hasn't it longofest?

Remember the "Your wife will love the dual core Tegra processor" days?
When you could copy and paste Samsung's latest CPU GHz and pretend to brag about it.
When the entire mobile computing world was 32-bit.

No, those days are over. The haters (mostly Android apologists) only have 2 rants left:

1) "Not enough RAM."

This means zero to the average consumer. Less of a selling point than "Your wife will love..."
But high performance from just 1GB of RAM means "good engineering" to geeks.
Not coffee-shop geeks who think that learning multitouch gestures makes them technical.
Engineering geeks who read Anandtech. And understand it. All of it.

Here. Test yourself: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7335/the-iphone-5s-review
(If you're the TLDR type, just skip to the Geekbench scores.)

2) Screen is too small.

If the screen were too small, would iPhone dominate sales in the US?
Or is it that Americans have better eyesight than people in other countries?
Nope. iPhone owns the US market. Apple is the largest smartphone vendor here.
Screen size is irrelevant. Read it and weep:

http://www.i4u.com/2013/09/55660/kantar-apple-iphone-holds-434-us-market-share (http://www.i4u.com/2013/09/55660/kantar-apple-iphone-holds-434-us-market-share)
http://www.forbes.com/sites/benedictevans/2013/01/12/apples-market-share-might-be-too-high-not-too-low/ (http://www.forbes.com/sites/benedictevans/2013/01/12/apples-market-share-might-be-too-high-not-too-low/)
http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/06/apples-iphone-holds-40-share-of-us-smartphone-market (http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/06/apples-iphone-holds-40-share-of-us-smartphone-market)
http://news.yahoo.com/iphone-u-market-share-continues-grow-even-without-223039381.html (http://news.yahoo.com/iphone-u-market-share-continues-grow-even-without-223039381.html)

Most haters have given up on tech spec-rants. The 64-bit A7 has ended all of that.
Good for you for keeping the faith though. It just wouldn't be MacRumors without mindless trolls.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
840quadra Avatar
151 months ago
A bit rushed?

Not exactly the quality of photos and info we are used to seeing from iFixit . Neat to see the items, but looking forward to the detail reviews and info that iFixit can gather for us!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michaelgtrusa Avatar
151 months ago
I'm looking forward to reading these reviews. The new phone looks good.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sedrick Avatar
151 months ago

2) Screen is too small.

If the screen were too small, would iPhone dominate sales in the US?

My personal belief is that the iPhone dominates sales in spite of the smaller screen, not because of it. Important distinction.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
longofest Avatar
151 months ago
Any word how much RAM the 5S has?

1gb, same as 5. (source: anandtech)

Several of the reviews have said it has 1GB of ram

1GB LPDDR3 (http://www.anandtech.com/show/7335/the-iphone-5s-review)

Which, let's all say it together, just sucks for what's supposed to be a top of the line smartphone. It may run fine this year, but I imagine it will have a shorter lifespan than most.

They really needed to boost the RAM this time around.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
croooow Avatar
151 months ago
I'm looking forward to reading these reviews. The new phone looks good.

Really?:rolleyes:
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)