iPhone 12 Teardown Shows Peek At Upgrades

The iPhone 12 was shown in a teardown video this week before general availability for consumers. This device is one of two iPhone 12 devices that'll be released in the first wave, the other called iPhone 12 Pro. This standard iPhone 12 has a significantly different hardware design on the outside compared to the last couple of generations of iPhone, so it's no surprise that the insides have changed in several key ways.

Inside you'll find a battery that's smaller than the iPhone 11. Where the iPhone 11 had a 3110mAh battery, the iPhone 12 works with a battery capacity of 2815mAh. This does not necessarily mean that the iPhone 12 won't have as much life on a single battery charge – but it might. It could also be that the iPhone 12 is better optimized to make the most of the battery it's given – we shall see!

The Taptic Engine is smaller in the iPhone 12 than it was in the iPhone 11. This component also retains the bold TAPTIC ENGINE lettering so anyone tearing down the device can see that this hardware, above all others, is made by Apple, for Apple.

The teardown also reveals the MacSafe hardware. This magnetic ring (and various other components, including NFC), is located at the back of the device in the center of the panel. MagSafe hardware does not appear to be particularly fix-friendly, but we'll need to wait for a more thorough teardown to be sure.

As is generally true, the iPhone 12 is very neatly arranged and will likely be relatively friendly to work with once the big names in smartphone repair let it be known they've gotten in. Take a peek at our iPhone 12 hands-on and first impressions now, and stay tuned for our full review of both the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, soon!