First Look Inside iPhone 13 Reveals Revamped TrueDepth System, Smaller Taptic Engine, and Larger Battery

New images offering us our first real-world look inside the new iPhone 13 have revealed a smaller Taptic Engine, a larger battery, and revamped components of the TrueDepth camera system.

iphone 13 mini teardown
The ‌iPhone‌ 13 lineup will start arriving at customers on Friday, a week after pre-orders went live. While a more professional teardown of the device will be shared online in the coming days and weeks, occasional leaker Sonny Dickson has shared on Twitter images that offers us our first look inside of the ‌iPhone‌ 13.

According to the images, which are likely to depict an ‌iPhone‌ 13 or ‌iPhone‌ 13 mini, Apple has made the Taptic Engine smaller on this year's ‌iPhone‌ compared to the ‌iPhone‌ 12. The size reduction was likely part of Apple's effort to free up internal space to make room for a larger battery. Apple boasts that the iPhone 13 has significantly improved battery life compared to last year's ‌iPhone‌ due to the efficiency of the A15 Bionic chip and a physically larger battery, which the images confirm.

iphone 13 internal images notch
With the ‌iPhone‌ 13, Apple has made the notch 20% smaller after years of remaining the same size. To have achieved the smaller notch, the images highlight that Apple had to move the front-facing camera to the left side of the TrueDepth camera system while moving the dot projector and infrared camera to the right side. The images also show the earpiece moved to the top bezel, further enabling a smaller notch.

While there are likely other internal changes, we'll have to wait for a more professional teardown of the device, such as those done annually by iFixit, to learn more. For comparison, check out the teardown of last year's iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
General Apps Messages Redux

Singapore Orders Changes to iMessage by December

Tuesday November 25, 2025 6:39 am PST by
Singapore has ordered Apple to block or filter messages on iMessage that impersonate government agencies, requiring the company to implement new anti-spoofing protections by December as part of efforts to curb rising online scams, the Straits Times reports. Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it had issued an Implementation Directive to Apple under the Online Criminal Harms...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...

Top Rated Comments

xpxp2002 Avatar
55 months ago
That’s concerning that they’ve shrunk the Taptic Engine again after last year’s shrink. I’m really hoping this doesn’t affect the strength.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Shanghaichica Avatar
55 months ago

Not a big fan of the smaller Taptic Engine. You could tell that vibrations were weaker on the iPhone 12.
It’s all been going downhill since they got rid of 3D Touch.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dantracht Avatar
55 months ago
You had me at larger battery.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alisalem Avatar
55 months ago
Not a big fan of the smaller Taptic Engine. You could tell that vibrations were weaker on the iPhone 12.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lleial Avatar
55 months ago
I'm looking forward to the tear-down of the iPhone 13 Pro Max. That's the one that's interesting, specially for its battery!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lleial Avatar
55 months ago

I remember those days when people said one of the reasons the iPhone would fail is because it didn’t have a removable battery. Lol.
I was heavily criticized when purchasing my iPhone 7 for not having the 3.5mm audio jack; now look at everyone! People talk crap without even knowing where the market is heading. As you mentioned, now all flagship phones have a non-removable battery, but we only b***h at Apple when they push forward with change.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)