iFixit

We had to use our teeth, but we finally managed to rip the EMI shields off. The logic board now bares its soul:

• Apple A5 Dual-core Processor (more on this later)
• Qualcomm RTR8605 Multi-band/mode RF Transceiver. Chipworks has provided us with a die photo.
• Skyworks 77464-20 Load-Insensitive Power Amplifier (LIPA®) module developed for WCDMA applications
• Avago ACPM-7181 Power Amplifier
• TriQuint TQM9M9030 surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter
• TriQuint TQM666052 PA-Duplexer Module

More fun chips on the logic board include:

• TI 343S0538 touchscreen controller
• STMicro AGD8 2135 LUSDI gyroscope
• STMicro 8134 33DH 00D35 three-axis accelerometer
• Apple 338S0987 B0FL1129 SGP, believed by Chipworks to be a Cirrus Logic audio codec chip

How 'bout a close-up of that Apple A5 chip? 1 GHz Dual-core processor with 512 MB of DDR2 RAM... Yowza.

• How do we know it's 512 MB? Check out the marking, specifically E4E4, denoting two 2 Gb LPDDR2 die—for a total of 4 Gb—or 512 MB. Thanks, Anandtech!
• Oh hey, what's this? According to Chipworks, our German iPhone (marked in red) has Samsung DDR2 RAM, while the Aussie iPhone 4S (yellow) contains Elpida DDR2 RAM!

If Siri has an address, this is it. Though iCloud integration can be used with any iOS 5 device, Siri only works with the dual-core-equipped iPhone 4S.

• Come on out, Siri. We don't wanna hurt ya. We just wanna talk.

Chipworks was cool enough to provide us with a die photo of the A5 processor.

Let's see what's on the other side. Siri, roll over... Thank you.

• Qualcomm MDM6610 chipset (an upgrade from the iPhone 4's MDM6600)
• Apple 338S0973, which appears to be a power management IC, according to Chipworks.
• Reading the covered chip at an angle reveals "PM8028," which is a Qualcomm power management IC.

Murata SW SS1830010.

• We suspect that this contains the Broadcom chip that reportedly provides Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity, just like in teardowns past.

One more EMI shield comes off and we find another goodie:

• Toshiba THGVX1G7D2GLA08 16 GB 24 nm MLC NAND flash memory.

We find the same 960 x 640 pixel Retina display that debuted in the iPhone 4 last year.

The hardware might not be new, but the iPhone's display is still impressive. Graphics performance is also likely to be improved with the A5 powering it.

We noted that the Verizon and AT&T iPhone 4's display assemblies had different mounting tab locations. While most of the 4S has resembled the CDMA iPhone 4, the display assembly appears to be very similar the one found in the GSM version at first glance. Unfortunately, it's not the same.

What appears to be the ambient light sensor and infra-red LED for the proximity sensor comes off the display assembly.

Cryptic markings under the display cable read FA11 110717 4M0 816-0420 05 768 46 37.9 1032 GZ MB, or more commonly known as "Attack at dawn from the north."

Crikey! We've provoked the flex ribbon cable connectors! Stand back! They seem to be guarding the markings C1113320826DJGHT-A1MOXF... possibly the code for unlocking the pixie dust vault?