The Apple iPhone SE 2020 is '99%' iPhone 8, yet you can't swap the batteries
The iPhone SE dimensions and buttons/camera positioning are absolutely identical with the iPhone 8, and you can even continue using your old wrapper with it. What's changed, then?
Well, just the chipset, it seems, as the iPhone SE comes with the newest Apple A13 and slightly more RAM, which puts it in the hall of fame for $399 phones that can record excellent 4K video.
Apple iPhone SE 2020 vs iPhone 8 repair parts
The rest? Well, the rest is "99% identical" with the iPhone 8, as you can see from the first teardown of the iPhone SE by PBK. As if to reiterate that finding, from iFixit took the iPhone SE apart, too, and even told us which iPhone SE parts can be swapped with iPhone 8 ones.
In essence, both chop shops confirm that the iPhone SE 2020 is an wolf in sheep's clothing, holding mighty power under its inconspicuous iPhone 8 exterior and modest pricing. The sheer fact, however, that the iPhone SE 2020 is 99% iPhone 8 means that Apple may have managed to keep a larger profit margin on the handset that it does with the iPhone 11 family, and we can't wait to see the first bill of materials to appear.
Apple iPhone SE 2020 vs iPhone 8 interchangeable repair parts:
- Display assembly
- Camera
- SIM tray
- Taptic Engine
- Speaker
In addition, Apple swapped just enough stuff around that you can't use, say, an iPhone 8 replacement battery as a bolt-on directly, as the connectors are slightly different, or the home button.
The LTE antennas inside differ as well, and perhaps the camera packaging, though they look like identical parts. The thing most likely to break, though - the 4.7" Retina display - is interchangeable between the two phones, so repairs would come very cheap.
You wouldn't want to swap that directly, though, as you'd lose the individual True Tone calibrations. Sorry, you won't gain 3D Touch, either.
Though the two displays work interchangeably, the iPhone SE did not gain 3D Touch superpowers when we dropped in an iPhone 8 display. The SE seems to be software-limited to Haptic Touch: https://t.co/pkxfum4JqXpic.twitter.com/mqVEtGbPYe
— iFixit (@iFixit) April 27, 2020
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Things that are NOT allowed: