Steve Jobs famously adopted a “paint the back of the fence” approach when it came to design, making sure that the parts of his computers people didn’t see were every bit as attractive as those they did.
While it might strike some as obsessive levels of perfectionism, it also showcases the fact that Apple really does sweat the little details when it comes to its products. Well, it took a few years, but that same mentality has finally arrived on the Apple Watch — as a new teardown reveals.
Carried out by our friends over at iFixit, the first Apple Watch Series 4 teardown reveals a new tidiness to the device’s internals. As their report notes:
“The original Apple Watch was revolutionary upon its release, but the yearly updates have been mostly minor—until now. Where the first Watch was awkwardly layered together and used too much glue, the Series 4 feels much more thoughtfully laid out. Apple pundit John Gruber has compared this to the leap in design brought by the iPhone 4, and we might even go a bit further and call it an iPhone 5: a device that knows its priorities, and wants to look as elegant inside as out.”
The teardown is worth reading if you want a glimpse at what lies below the surface of Apple’s next-gen wearable. It describes a device with “radically different insides” to its predecessor.
There’s a new optical sensor, new electrode, new display, new noisemaker, new streamlined antenna, new Apple-designed S4 system-in-package, and new EEG reader in all-new digital crown.
It’s also not too tough to repair, at least by Apple’s standards. The website gives it a 6 out of 10 for repairability, with 10 being the easiest to repair.
While it notes that the device’s tiny tri-point screws are a repair hinderance, and that you’ll have be skilful with your micro soldering to deal with the component flex cables mounted directly to the S4 package, “Battery replacements are pretty straightforward, once you’re inside.”
Don’t even think about trying to do most board-level repairs, though!
For our full Apple Watch Series 4 review, make sure you check out the link here.
Source: iFixit
