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iPhone X Teardown

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Re: iPhone X Teardown

#271

Post by johansch »

mankash666 wrote: post #45
criddell wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't Samsung do that as well though? They make screens, and CPUs and many of the other components in a modern phone, don't they? I'm wondering when Apple will start making their own camera sensors.

Multiple differences between Samsung and Apple: 1. Samsung was a semiconductor maker, that successfully moved up to make phones. Apple was a integrator of third party chips that successfully went down to own many of the chips. 2. Apple's chips are significantly better than the competition. Partly because the chip division has a captive customer whose requirements are more apparent, plus no middlemen thanks to the ver…

Number 4 got me curious about the latency for the competitors catching up with the various hardware advances.

Capacitive touch screen:

  iPhone: June 29, 2007
  HTC Dream/G1: October 20, 2008 (479 days later)
Fingerprint sensor:

  iPhone 5s: September 20, 2013
  Galaxy S5: April 11, 2014 (203 days later)
ARMv8 (64-bit) ISA:

  iPhone 5s: September 10, 2013
  Galaxy Note 4: October 17, 2014 (402 days later)
Tiny bezel:

  Galaxy S6 Edge: April 10, 2015
  iPhone X: November 3, 2017 (938 days later)
OLED screen:

  Samsung Galaxy: June 29, 2009
  iPhone X: November 3, 2017 (3049 days later)

Re: iPhone X Teardown

#272

Post by PoisonousGases »

earenndil wrote: post #216
gurkendoktor wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In terms of profits, yes. But many of us don't buy Apple for the hardware, but because we want to stay in their software ecosystem. I'd rather use a Nexus running iOS than an iPhone X running Android, and I'm even more invested in macOS. That Apple builds nice hardware is a bonus for me (but I'd honestly prefer better software right now). I mean, on paper Apple is making more money from hardware than from software, b…

> But many of us don't buy Apple for the hardware, but because we want to stay in their software ecosystem. I'd rather use a Nexus running iOS than an iPhone X running Android Afraid I'm completely different. I have an iphone but my computer runs linux. The reason I have an iphone is because the hardware is top-notch, and the OS is rather constricting -- I would much rather have an iphone running android than one run…

I'm similar, I would love to buy Apple hardware and have the freedom to put my own software on it. I'd also be happy to buy a new laptop and install 10.6.8, or buy a new iPhone and install iOS 6.

But I despise Android--I want a real Unix. I feel like Android was architected by complete idiots. Oh how I wish WebOS won instead of Android.

Re: iPhone X Teardown

#273

Post by gehsty »

noncoml wrote: post #63
gehsty wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just smaller and faster with new technology, never before seen delivered at this size, capability or scale. What does Apple have to do to impress people? Do all this then give the phones away for free?

Why do you get so defensive? What in “is no more than just another faster, smaller, and costlier“ is not accurate?

It’s not accurate because there is more, the front facing sensor array to make faceid possible is completely new, the OLED display is completely new.

Re: iPhone X Teardown

#274

Post by abritinthebay »

cjsuk wrote: post #204
abritinthebay wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're describing the cheap Chinese made knock-offs. They look almost perfectly identical and generally you can only tell by opening them up. They're awful. There are a LOT of teardowns of those. It's scary.

No you are completely 100% wrong. This was one that came with a MacBook Pro from the Apple Store actually in the sealed box when I bought it. Don't assume I'm stupid. I'm actually a qualified electrical engineer and I know switching power supply topologies and design very well. Don't assume that because 90% of the charger is well designed, the rest of the 10% is. There is no or insufficient inrush protection in the c…

I stand corrected sir!

It did sound a lot like you were describing the common issues with the knock offs though - however with the extra detail it really cleared it up, thanks for that.

Re: iPhone X Teardown

#275

Post by gehsty »

vilmosi wrote: post #106
gehsty wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just smaller and faster with new technology, never before seen delivered at this size, capability or scale. What does Apple have to do to impress people? Do all this then give the phones away for free?

>>> Just smaller and faster with new technology, never before seen delivered at this size, capability or scale. That was happening every year and marginal at best.

FaceID sensor array is literally as I describe, not a year over year improvement.

The Phone feels like it is from the future.

Re: iPhone X Teardown

#276

Post by gehsty »

dom96 wrote: post #153
gehsty wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to point the sensor towards your face and look at the screen. So far feels pretty natural, 70-80% time the phone is unlocked before I think ‘is the phone unlocked’ the rest of the time I forget I need to glance (literally glance with your eyes) at the phone, which I think comes from muscle memory of from unlocking with touchid and not looking at the phone while it unlocks... Passive security, will become sta…

I'm curious about the battery usage of this. If it's constantly looking for faces, won't this drain the battery significantly?

Battery usage is good so far, supposed to last 2hrs longer than the iPhone 7/8.

It periodically scans for attention, not battery intensive, and can actually be battery positive as it aggressively dims the screen and then turns it off if it finds it is not being looked at.

Re: iPhone X Teardown

#277

Post by rconti »

asteli wrote: post #46

This is an engineering masterpiece. The electrical engineer in me is mind-blown. I love the inter-PCB BGA-style interface. Standoff, connector and shield all in one component. And the component density is stunning. Clean internal layout, relatively serviceable, structured light 3D scanning built in. You can debate whether or not Apple have made good UI decisions, but the hardware design execution here is superb.

Part of me thinks it's absolutely stunning that such engineering is even possible, and frankly, in a way, how much you get for your money. The future is here.

Then I realize, the only reason this is remotely possible is due to volume. So it almost says less about technical progress and performance per cubic inch per dollar coming down, and more about how volume makes the above possible.

Re: iPhone X Teardown

#278

Post by rconti »

nsxwolf wrote: post #17

Do you really need to hold it up to your face like I've been seeing? The reviewers look so awkward and uncomfortable. I was hoping it would see your face laying on the desk and whatnot.

Yes and no. I've got the "attention detection" on which is supposed to ensure you're looking at it, and in the first, what, 12 hours of having the phone, I've had 0 problems unlocking it. One of my first tries was swiping up while riding my bicycle. I glanced down as I did so, and it was unlocked in the time it took me to take a glance down. TOTALLY seamless. Even with a bike helmet on, on a moving bike, with the phone at a totally non-optimal angle.

I've also found, with it sitting on my desk on a stack of cables I brought in to ensure I could sync and power everything during the transition (lightning to USB, lightning to usb-c, apple watch magnetic charger, you get the idea), that it would unlock just from a swipe, without even having to tilt it towards me.

After I've played with it a bit, I find you can be off by far more than you expect -- maybe 20-30 degrees from 'face to face' with the phone. And you don't have to be close.

It doesn't work in the lying-flat-on-my-desk use case, but if i pick it up and swipe up, it's unlocked. Period. I don't even have to think about how it's angled, or if i I'm looking at it, or what the angle is, or what the light is.

I'm VERY impressed. I thought the #1 thing I'd miss would be pressing the home button while it lies on my desk, but it hasn't been an issue yet. and the transition to swipe up instead of home button press took 0 minutes. I thought it would take me days or weeks.

Re: iPhone X Teardown

#279

Post by lostlogin »

r00fus wrote: post #184
selectodude wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple has been very serious about how they’re a hardware company vs a software company for like 30+ years now. Literally the first thing SPJ did after coming back was kill the Mac clones program. They’re obsessed with the feel of the hardware in every way. The software is just a platform.

Apple killed the clones because the clone program wasn't profitable enough to compensate for the fact that MS had already won the OS wars. It was either Apple or the clones, and so the clones got axed.

Oh the horror. The clone I used was particularly troubled and the often-sensitive order of loading system extensions was farcically unstable.
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