iFixit Shares Apple Watch Series 10 Teardown

Monday October 7, 2024 2:49 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Repair site iFixit today disassembled the 46mm Apple Watch Series 10, giving us a look at the components inside Apple's thinnest Apple Watch to date.

Apple used an enclosed case for the Series 10, a move that allowed for a the thinner design without impacting the sensor lens assembly. Tolerances in the Apple Watch are super tight, which makes it difficult to get into.

The Series 10 has a 327 mAh, 1.266 Wh battery inside, with a soft pouch as prior models have had. Though Apple changed the adhesive in the iPhone 16 models, that's not the case in the Apple Watch, and it uses traditional adhesive.

iFixit took a close up look at the OLED display, and there wasn't a noticeable difference between the Series 9 and the Series 10. Apple tweaked the Series 10 display to allow for wider viewing angles, but it's not a feature that can be seen internally.

iFixit gave the Apple Watch Series 10 a 3 out of 10 repairability score because it's so difficult to get to the battery and to replace the glass at the bottom.

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Top Rated Comments

BorisDG

20 months ago

The teardown remains conservative and basic. They should conduct a more in-depth analysis of the SiP, given their expertise and resources. I'm puzzled as to why this hasn't been done. The last "true" was for the S6 here ('https://d3qgsclz5jxnm0.cloudfront.net/media/note_images/image_002_HQIw1Wu.jpg'). The only cool thing was the OLED screen under the microscope.

So, they actually increased the battery capacity slightly, while making the watch slimmer. S9 45mm has 308 mAh battery.

It's thinner, but wider (more squashed). Also the SiP was said to be also thinner.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

NT1440

20 months ago

Why Apple waste such a huge precious space for this TAPTIC ENGINE ?

Signals could be given through lowest frequencies (vibration) of loudspeakers – right ?

Instead everybody would be happy with longer battery time (now poor 18 hours)

Sometimes engineers don't realize the tree while looking into the woods...

Thanks :apple: ;)

Speakers will never give you the sensation of a tap. Apple decided from day one that was the experience they wanted and developed the Taptic Engine specifically for that.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

TheMountainLife

20 months ago

Impressive. Wish the app development and excitement for smart watches was still there. Feels like it died around 2019.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)