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Add Note Edit Step 9  ¶ 

  • Here's the fabled "Do not remove" sticker. It didn't stop us last year, and it's certainly not going to stop us this year.

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Add Note Edit Step 10  ¶ 

  • Removing the logic board. Like the 3G, there is a single large PCB with all components.

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Add Note Edit Step 11  ¶ 

  • The main logic board. There's a lot packed in here. Here's a high-res image of this shot.

  • The Apple-logo chip is the primary Samsung ARM processor.

  • The 16 GB of Toshiba flash are now on the front of the board, just below the Samsung ARM.

  • phoneWreck sent us a great component diagram (second picture). They performed a thorough chip analysis of the iPhone 3GS, so check out their site!

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Add Note Edit Step 12  ¶ 

  • The other side of the logic board. You can see the battery contact pads in the lower right corner. Apple was again kind enough to not solder the battery to the logic board.

  • Here's a high-res image of this shot.

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Add Note Edit Step 13  ¶ 

  • Apple promises improved battery life with the 3GS. The battery is listed as 3.7V and 4.51 Whr. This comes out to 1219 mAh, compared to 1150 mAh on the 3G. That's only a 6% increase.

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Add Note Edit Step 14  ¶ 

  • Video recording is a long-overdue feature of the iPhone 3GS. The 3GS records video at 640x480 resolution and 30 fps.

  • The video recording quality appears acceptable, although not exceptional. You can see a video (taken using another iPhone 3GS) of us opening the phone.

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Add Note Edit Step 15  ¶ 

  • The 3GS offers Voice Control. We're not sure yet why this feature couldn't be added via software to earlier iPhones. Perhaps the voice recognition requires a better microphone than in earlier iPhones or a lot of processing power, or maybe Apple just wanted to differentiate the 3GS.

  • According to Richard Lai, the "Chinese (Cantonese) voice control works, but took a while to work out the magic words as there is no guide released yet (not out in Hong Kong until early July)." He also tested the "Chinese (Mandarin) and Chinese (Taiwanese), although the latter didn't work as well since [he doesn't] do the accent well."

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Add Note Edit Step 16  ¶ 

  • Here's all the parts. We'll continue to perform further analysis, so check back for updates, or follow @ifixit on Twitter.

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