The long awaited Verizon iPhone 4 started hitting door steps today — and as they do with most things shiny and new, DIY repair company iFixIt has gotten down to what they do best: tearing stuff apart.
As you might expect, the innards of the Verizon iPhone 4 and the innards of the AT&T iPhone 4 look… pretty much identical. That’s not to say there aren’t any surprising changes, however.
Here’s the gist of the breakdown:
- Though rated at the same capacity, the VZW iPhone 4’s battery is sliiightly lighter. (25.6 grams compared to 26.9 grams)
- As expected, both handsets use the exact same A4 Processor.
- For the CDMA radio, Apple opted to go with the Qualcomm MDM6600. Here’s the interesting thing about that: The MDM6600 is technically a dual-radio chip, which can support both CDMA and GSM in one package. In other words, Apple could’ve theoretically introduced an iPhone 4 that runs on both AT&T’s and Verizon’s network. So why didn’t they? Engineering difficulties, most likely. iFixit highlights the fact that it’d be quite hard to conjure up an antenna that works perfectly with both networks. Plus: with the iPhone 5 presumably around the corner, why bother?
- The vibrate motor has been overhauled. It’s in a new place (lower left, as opposed to upper right), and makes a more noticeable vibration noise when on a hard surface
That’s all for now, though iFixIt still has a few glued-down bits to try and peak underneath. In the mean time, be sure to head over to their full tear-down page for all the splayed-out gadget goodness you could ever want.