1 October 2016

Infographic Of The Day: See Every Single Part Inside An IPhone

In the past, we've broken down the extraordinary raw materials in an iPhone 6s, but today's infographic takes it a step further: it delves into each individual component inside an iPhone as well as where it comes from.

Unfortunately, the data is not for the latest and greatest iPhone 7, which was only introduced last week. That said, it is still interesting to dive into the components and the manufacturers that make the 6s work.

What’s inside an iPhone?

The infographic highlights 34 individual components in an iPhone 6s. These parts range from German accelerometers to camera modules from Sony in Japan. Parts come from a range of eight countries, which include the United States, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK.

Many people will be likely surprised to learn that there are key pieces in the iPhone that come from Apple’s biggest competitor. At least some of the Apple A9 chips are manufactured by Samsung, but the South Korean company also produces display screens, mobile DRAM, and flash memory for Apple’s various devices. The ongoing relationship between the companies makes Apple the biggest external customer for Samsung’s components in the world.

Also interesting is that the manufacturing of physical pieces of bigger hardware (battery, screen, camera, etc.) tends to be dominated by Asian suppliers, while the technologies integrated with the printed circuit board mostly come from U.S. and European suppliers.

Technology for the iPhone 6s lithium-ion battery, for example, comes from three companies all in Asia. Two are based in China (Desay Battery Tech, and Sunwoda Electronics), while the other is located in Taiwan (Simple Technology).

Meanwhile, the following technologies from Texas Instruments in the United States integrate right into the printed circuit board: battery charger, power management, and the LED backlight Retina display driver. For another example, Bosch Sensortec out of Germany also provides two parts built into the circuit board: a barometer and an accelerometer.


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