With the Apple Watch Series 7 now on sale, the iFixit folks have gone ahead and posted a detailed teardown of the smartwatch revealing all the internal changes. The teardown also gives an insight into the potential production issues that Apple faced with the wearable leading to its delayed launch.
Right off the bat, the first thing that’s evident by looking at the internals of the Apple Watch Series 7 is that the diagnostic port is missing. Instead, Apple is now reportedly using a 60Ghz wireless interface for debugging purposes.
Like the iPhone 13 series, Apple uses on-cell touch technology on the Apple Watch Series 7. This has allowed the company to use only one display flex cable instead of two, as seen on the Apple Watch Series 6. iFixit and the Instrumental team speculate that this could be the reason behind the production delays of the Apple Watch Series 7, as a new display technology is always complex.
While the official battery life numbers of the Apple Watch Series 7 remain the same as its predecessor, Apple is using slightly larger batteries on the new models. The 41mm Apple Watch Series 7 uses a 1.094 Wh battery, up 6.8 percent from the 40mm Series 6. Compared to the 44mm Apple Watch Series 6, the 45mm Apple Watch uses a 1.6 percent larger battery.
Ultimately, the Apple Watch Series 7 scored 6 out of 10 on iFixit’s repairability scale, thanks to its modular construction and the relative ease with which it allows one to replace the display and battery.
[Via iFixit]