iPhone SE (2020) Gets Teardown Treatment, Taptic Engine Analysed

iPhone SE (2020) in April made its debut and has been the talk of the town ever since. The latest iPhone in terms of its design is said to be identical to iPhone 8 while its under-the-hood specifications resemble that of the flagship iPhone 11. A teardown by DIY repair site iFixit had also pointed out that several hardware components on the new iPhone SE (2020) are interchangeable with iPhone 8. But one of the differences between the two phones is the presence of Taptic Engine - available on the new iPhone SE (2020). Last month, popular YouTuber, Zack Nelson who runs the channel JerryRigEverything also tested the durability of the new iPhone. Now, he's giving us a tour of the insides of the iPhone SE(2020).

The teardown analysis by Nelson begins with removing the back cover of the iPhone SE (2020). To achieve this, the YouTuber removes two pentalobe screws at the bottom of the phone, following which the back panel comes out easily with a sharpie and some heat. After this, we can notice the internal cable design of iPhone SE (2020) is identical to that of iPhone 8. This was first pointed out in a report by iFixit during its teardown analysis.

After removing several cables and screws we can notice the Taptic Engine sitting just above the speaker grille and charging port. The video also points out that the battery inside the iPhone SE (2020) comes out easily by removing the "pull-tabs," therefore, making it very replaceable. Many smartphones these days including the powerful Samsung Galaxy S20+ use a strong adhesive to keep the battery on the phone intact. This makes it very hard to replace the battery in case of damaging issues.

Coming to Taptic Engine, we can see coiled copper wires, some magnets and metal springs inside the Taptic Engine. The video also points out the presence of oil which acts as a lubricant for the hardware component. The Tapic engine is essentially the hardware component responsible for providing haptic feedback on the latest iPhones. With the haptic feedback, users can communicate with the phone screen using touch and hold gestures.

In the concluding section of the video, we can see the phone functions perfectly fine without the Taptic Engine. Nelson also indicates that the iPhone SE (2020) is easily repairable at a low cost. Although, this isn't the first time the YouTuber was analysing the hardware features of iPhone SE (2020). Last month, Nelson also tested the phone's durability, which came out with flying colours.

To recall, Apple launched the iPhone SE (2020) on April 16. The phone is powered by the flagship A13 Bionic SoC and has a single 12-megapixel camera sensor. The price of the phone in India starts at Rs. 42,500 for the 64GB storage variant.

In 2020, will WhatsApp get the killer feature that every Indian is waiting for? Samsung Galaxy S20 in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.