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Posts Tagged ‘iFixit’

iFixit tears down the iPhone 12 Pro Max, showcasing new camera tech

24 Nov

Customers have gotten their hands on Apple’s latest family of iPhones, including the largest iPhone ever, the iPhone 12 Pro Max. While customers have been enjoying using the new phones, over at iFixit, the team has been busy tearing them apart. They’ve taken apart the iPhone 12 mini and the two medium-sized iPhone 12s, the 12 and 12 Pro. Over this past weekend, the iFixit crew got to work dismantling the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Image courtesy of iFixit and Creative Electron.

Before diving in, it’s worth recapping the iPhone 12 Pro Max’s features. It is powered by an Apple A14 Bionic system on chip and includes 6GB of RAM. Internal storage options include 128GB, 256GB and 512GB options. The phone features a 6.7″ Super Retina XDR OLED display with a P3 wide color gamut and Apple’s True Tone technology. It is the largest display ever in an iPhone, and according to DisplayMate, it’s a fantastic display.

iPhone 12 Pro Max camera modules. Image courtesy of iFixit.

With respect to photography, the iPhone 12 Pro Max has unique components. It has a 12MP triple camera system like the iPhone 12 Pro, but the Max includes a 47% larger image sensor, a faster F1.6 lens, improved image stabilization, a new 65mm (equivalent) telephoto lens, and improved high ISO performance. If you want to learn more about the performance of the new camera system in the iPhone 12 Pro Max, check out this article: ‘Halide’s deep dive into why the iPhone 12 Pro Max is made for ‘Real Pro Photography’.

X-ray image of the iPhone 12 Pro Max’s rear camera module. The bottom left camera, the standard wide angle camera, has a 47% larger image sensor than the camera found in the iPhone 12 Pro. The four black magnets around the same camera are used for the new sensor-shift image stabilization feature, found exclusively in the iPhone 12 Pro Max and not Apple’s other iPhone 12 models. Image courtesy of Creative Electron and iFixit.

After taking apart the iPhone 12 Pro Max’s new case construction, iFixit was able to investigate the new camera array. As you can see in the x-ray image above captured by Creative Electron, the standard wide camera (shown bottom left) has a noticeably larger image sensor. You can also see magnets around the sensor, which are being used for the new sensor-shift image stabilization tech found exclusively in the iPhone 12 Pro Max. For those lamenting the lack of the larger sensor in the standard iPhone 12 Pro, iFixit states that ‘There’s a decent chance this sensor wouldn’t fit in the cramped corner of the smaller iPhone 12 Pro without compromises.’

Close-up image of the standard wide angle camera module in the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Image courtesy of iFixit.

There’s a lot to see inside the iPhone 12 Pro Max. You can head to iFixit’s teardown for more photos and information about the different internal components and how they relate to the features of the iPhone 12 Pro Max. You can also see a replay of iFixit’s live-streamed teardown of the phone below.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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iFixit discovers camera repairs for iPhone 12 models can’t be done by third-parties

03 Nov

Repair site iFixit has discovered that repairing the cameras inside Apple’s new iPhone 12 smartphones will not be able to be, at least easily, done by third parties, as removing the cameras requires access to a proprietary tool that only authorized Apple technicians will have access to.

While trying to swap the camera modules inside two iPhone 12 devices, iFixit suspected something was up. After ‘exhaustive testing, comparing notes with multiple repair technicians, and reviewing leaked Apple training documents,’ iFixit discovered ‘the iPhone 12 camera is entirely unreliable when swapped between iPhones.’

Image credit: iFixit

Below is a video from YouTuber Taylor Dixon, who also discovered this while attempting to swap cameras inside iPhone 12 devices:

This, of course, means any DIY fixes or even those by unauthorized third-party phone repair shops won’t be happening. The graphic below is a leaked chart from Apple that shows iPhone 12 models require an authorized technician to run ‘System Configuration’ to replace a camera module (or a display). Previously, these limitations were only in place for batteries.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Video: iFixit is currently showing a live iPhone 12 teardown

24 Oct

If you’re wondering what all Apple managed to pack inside its iPhone 12, repair site iFixit is currently hosting a live teardown of one of Apple’s latest smartphone on its YouTube channel.

The review started at roughly 1:20pm ET, but it’s still going on and is available to watch from the beginning if you’d prefer to take it all in. If iFixit comes across any interesting surprises, we’ll summarize them in an update to this article.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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iFixit tears down a Galaxy S20 Ultra to show off the ridiculous camera array

05 Mar

Repair site iFixit has published its in-depth teardown of Samsung’s new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S20 Ultra. In addition to the video above, iFixit also shared a detailed account of the autopsy, including close-up shots of the impressive camera array Samsung has packed inside this monster.

The motherboard assembly, which includes the camera array, is carefully removed from the Galaxy S20 Ultra unit.

As a quick refresher, the Galaxy S20 Ultra features a camera array consisting of three individual modules: a 12-megapixel F2.2 ultra-wide camera module, a 108-megapixel F1.8 wide-angle camera module and a 48-megapixel F3.5 telephoto camera module, the last of which offers up to 100x zoom through a combination of optical and digital zoom with a little AI and software trickery for good measure. On the front of the S20 Ultra is a ridiculous 40-megapixel front-facing camera as well.

The 108-megapixel sensor inside the Galaxy S20 Ultra (top) shown alongside the 12-megapixel primary sensor inside Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro.

First up on the docket was the 108-megapixel (9.5mm x 7.3mm) wide-angle camera, powered by Samsung’s ISOCELL Bright HM1 ‘Nonacell’ image sensor. As iFixit points out, this massive sensor features roughly double the surface area compared to the iPhone 11 Pro’s 12-megapixel primary sensor and uses Samsung’s Nonacell pixel-binning technology to bring the final image down to approximately 12-megapixels.The 12-megapixel F2.2 ultra-wide camera module was glossed over in the teardown, but given a nod in the video as it’s removed from the main camera assembly.

From there, iFixit took a closer look at the 48-megapixel F3.5 telephoto camera module, which is responsible for the 100x ‘Space Zoom’ advertised on the outside of the camera bump. Similar to other periscope-style zoom lenses seen in past smartphones, Samsung uses an array of zoom lenses behind an optically-stablized prism (which is used to redirect the light 90-degrees) to get up to 4x zoom capability. As noted above, the 100x ‘Space Zoom’ is achieved through a combination of sensor cropping, digital zoom and software.

The prism (top) redirects the light 90-degrees through the lenses housed within the assembly (black box, above where the tweezers are positioned), which slides back and forth within the guides to offer up to 4x optical zoom.

Other components onboard the Galaxy S20 Ultra include the 6.9-inch Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED Infinity-O Display (3200 x 1440 pixel, 511ppi, up to 120Hz refresh), a Snapdragon 865 processor, up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a 5,000mAh battery. As you might expect for a smartphone that manages to pack that much tech inside its frame, the device doesn’t score too well on iFixit’s repairability chart. When all was said and done, iFixit gave the Galaxy S20 Ultra a three out of ten.

You can find more images and read peruse through the entire teardown over on iFixit’s website.

Image credits: Photos via iFixit, used with permission

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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The iPhone 11 Pro Max gets the teardown treatment from iFixit

26 Sep

As it does with nearly every Apple smartphone, tablet and computer that hits shelves, iFixit has torn down an iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Max to reveal what technological goodies are hidden within. The teardown didn’t reveal too many surprises, overall, but a few interesting things did pop up.

From left to right: the iPhones XR, XS Max and 11 Pro Max.

Before cracking into any of the devices, iFixit teamed up with Creative Electron to X-ray the phones before they were opened up. As seen above, there’s not a millimeter of free space within the frames and although the same general layout was used, there are a few noticeable differences between the iPhone 11 models and the iPhone XS models. Considering the iPhone 11 Pro Max is the most interesting of the devices from a photography standpoint, that’s the teardown we’ll be focusing on here, although the full teardown of the iPhone 11 is available on iFixit.

Most notably, the iPhone 11 Pro Max uses a single-cell L-shaped battery, instead of two separate batteries found inside previous Plus/Max models. Apple also dropped down the logic board, presumably to make room for the much larger three-camera array.

In ‘Step 6,’ iFixit gets to the camera modules. The team at iFixit also had X-rays performed on the camera modules, which revealed the optical image stabilization on the wide and telephoto camera modules. According to the teardown, iFixit plans on doing a more detailed analysis of the camera unit, so when that goes live we’ll be sure to cover accordingly.

The black bars in the two larger camera modules are the OIS units.

Moving on, the iFixit team digs into the nitty-gritty details of the logic board and all of the individual chips, memory units and sensors within.

At ‘Step 13’ the battery gets some attention and iFixit reveals it was ‘pleasantly surprised to find some relatively repair-friendly features.’ The battery analysis also reveals the battery inside the iPhone 11 Pro Max ‘pumps out 3969 mAh at 3.79 V, for a total of 15.04 Wh […] a whopping 2.96 Wh more than the XS Max battery, and 1.52 Wh less than the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G battery.’ Of course, this increased capacity comes with a slight size increase. The battery inside the iPhone 11 Pro Max is 4.6mm thick and weighs 59.6g, which is 0.7mm thicker and 13g heavier than the dual-cell battery arrangement inside the iPhone XS Max.

The remainder of the teardown covers the bottom section of the devices, which includes speakers, microphones, charging ports, additional cables and more. iFixit gives the iPhone 11 Pro Max a repairability score of six out of ten, mostly due to the fact that if the back glass cracks the entire device essentially needs to be stripped away to repair it.

Image credits: Courtesy of iFixit

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Repair site ifixit gives us a closer look at the Samsung Galaxy S10 cameras

08 Mar
Galaxy S10 triple-camera, image: ifixit

Gadget repair site ifixit has torn down the new Samsung Galaxy S10 and S10e smartphones, allowing us to get a closer look at the devices camera modules.

The S10 comes with the same main triple-camera as the S10+, featuring a 12MP primary module with 1/2.55″ sensor, 26mm equivalent focal length and a variable f/1.5-2.4 aperture. A 12MP tele lens comes with a 52mm equivalent focal length and F2.4 aperture lens in front of a 1/3.6″ sensor and the 16MP super-wide-angle has an equoivalent focal length of 12mm. S10e has to make do without the tele lens.

Galaxy S10 fron and main cameras (left) next to the equivalent S10e components, image: ifixit

In the teardown we get a close look at the triple-module which is encased in a yellow ABS or nylon plastic frame. Both tele and main camera come with optical image stabilization. ifixit says any further teardown of the camera components would have been too destructive but an X-ray image of the tele-camera shows the sensor and OIS electromagnets.

If you are thinking about repairing your S10 – camera or other components – yourself, you should probably think twice. ifixit gave the S10 a fairly low 3/10 repairability score. The good news is that a single Phillips driver takes care of all the screws and many components are modular and can be replaced independently but the charging port soldered to the main board and battery replacement is quite difficult.

X-ray of the Galaxy S10 tele-camera, image: ifixit

The ifixit team also says that glued-down glass at both front and back of the device increases the risk of breakage and makes any repairs more difficult to start with. Head over to ifixit.com for the full report.

Images used with permission from ifixit

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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iFixit teardown reveals OIS on all three cameras in the Huawei P20 Pro

11 Apr
Credit: iFixit

The team at iFixit has performed its usual teardown on the new Huawei P20 Pro triple-cam equipped smartphone to assess the device’s repairability. The score for the latter is 4/10—which means it’s probably advisable to leave repairs to trained service personnel—but far more interesting to us photographers is the detailed look iFixit got at the Huawei triple-camera setup.

You can see the full teardown here, but the main and most pleasant surprise is that Huawei actually built in more stabilization than their specs revealed.

In the official Huawei specifications, only the tele-lens with 80mm equivalent focal length is listed as optically stabilized, while the RGB main camera and the the monochrome secondary unit rely on the Kirin chipset’s neural processing unit for ensuring sharp images. However, according to the iFixit engineers, all three cameras come equipped with OIS hardware, which makes us wonder if there are plans to activate this hardware via a firmware update at some point in the future.

Credit: iFixit

The image above shows the triple-camera in all its glory. The primary RGB camera is placed at the center of the setup and uses a large 40MP 1/1.7 inch sensor with an F1.8 aperture and a maximum ISO setting of 102,400, on the left you can see the 20 MP monochrome camera with F/1.6 aperture, and the 8MP/F2.4 telephoto is on the right. Next to the triple-camera the engineers have placed the 24MP front unit.

For more information and images, as well a video showing the OIS hardware, check out the full report on ifixit.com.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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iFixit teardown finds Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus difficult to repair, shows dual-blade aperture

12 Mar

The team at iFixit.com has taken apart Samsung’s brand new Galaxy S9 Plus flagship smartphone and given it a pretty low repairability score of 4/10 points. The testers liked the fact that many components are modular and can be replaced independently, but found accessing the battery to be an unnecessary challenge.

The device’s display and glass back also increase the chance of breakage, and make repairs difficult to start. The need to remove the rear glass panel and disassemble the entire phone when replacing the display was listed as another negative point.

During the teardown, the iFixit crew also had a closer look at the smartphone’s 12MP optically-stabilized camera module with 2x zoom. The dual-camera comes as a single unit on a single PCB and with a single connector. Inside, they found the DRAM chips that power the 960 fps super-slow-motion mode.

The S9 Plus main camera uses a variable F1.5/F2.4 aperture, and the close-up images show the design. Instead of a diaphragm-design with several aperture blades, the lens comes with a simpler construction, comprising of two rotating, ring-like blades for switching between its two aperture values.

Head over to iFixit.com to read the full report.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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iFixit tears down the iPhone X, gives it 6 out of 10 on ‘repairability’

05 Nov
Image: Ifixit

The brand new Apple iPhone X just got a complete teardown from iFixit.com, which rates the device a 6 out of 10 on its repairability scale, putting it on the same level as the iPhone 8 Plus and Google Pixel 2 XL. It’s easier to repair than a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 though, which scored only 4 points.

The iFixit team were particularly impressed with the repairability of battery and display; the latter, for example, can be replaced without removing the biometric Face ID hardware. On the downside, the analysis found that unrelated components are tied together by cables, turning them into complex assemblies that are difficult and expensive to replace.

The teardown also gets us a good look at the iPhone X Dual 12 MP cameras—wide-angle and telephoto, with F1.8 and F2.4 apertures and OIS—and the 7 MP TrueDepth front camera with F2.2 aperture, 1080p HD video recording, and Face ID. Head over the ifixit.com for the full report and lots of detail images of iPhone X innards.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Good training: iFixit director of communications pays tribute to a repair-focused mom

12 May
 Kay Kay on the right, her mother Caroline on the left. (picture courtesy of Kay Kay Clapp)

iFixit’s Kay Kay Clapp has a lot to thank her mother for, not least her insistence that children should learn how to repair things. While Kay Kay’s dad was traveling for work, her mom became a master at fixing and patching clothing and broken household items. 

Not every mom would want their 8 year-old daughter tackling dry wall repair, but as Kay Kay says, ‘it’s empowering to learn how to fix things yourself’. Her early training paid off – as director of communications for iFixit, Kay Kay puts her passion for fixing things to good use every day.

Caroline Clapp – we salute you.

Read Kay Kay’s full article at iFixit

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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