Teardown video: iPhone SE and iPhone 8 have interchangeable parts

Just a few days ago, Apple announced the new entry-level iPhone, the iPhone SE 2020. Building on the successful idea of repackaging current day internals into the compact form factor of smaller, older devices, the new iPhone SE looks remarkably similar to the iPhone 8. Essentially, the new iPhone SE appears to be an iPhone 8 with the processing power of the current iPhone 11.

But how many of these similarities go beyond cosmetics? A teardown video has just been posted on YouTube that gives us an idea of what the internals of the new iPhone SE is like—and how it matches up with the old iPhone 8.

Of course, the most obvious difference here is the A13 chipset powering the iPhone SE, which is the same chip that the range-topping iPhone 11 Pro Max uses. The host in the video explains that when viewed side-by-side, the internals of the iPhone SE look almost identical to the iPhone 8.

This includes the size of the battery (both 1,821mAh), haptic engine, camera module, and even the motherboard and antennas. In fact, what’s interesting is that you can actually swap the display panel on the iPhone SE with one from the iPhone 8, since the component specs are “almost the same”.

The iPhone 8 battery also works well enough in powering the iPhone SE, although battery connection points match up with the larger iPhone 11. The speakers and haptic engine works when swapped, too.

However, not all parts are interchangeable. The rear camera doesn’t work when swapped, although the front-facing camera works well enough when swapped.

The good news, according to the video, is that the “universal” nature” of the iPhone SE’s components means that the entry-level device is fairly repairable. This would fall in line with the “budget” nature of the iPhone SE (Malaysian RRP starts at RM1,999), which could mean that the lifespan of the new iPhone could be extended with maintenance or repairs.

In a nutshell, the video surmises that the iPhone SE isn’t really that big of an upgrade from the iPhone 8, besides the A13 chip. Parts are mostly similar (besides the aforementioned distinctions), and the host says that his initial excitement petered out when realising that he was basically tearing down the iPhone 8—again.

The new iPhone SE has already been listed on Apple Malaysia‘s website, although purchases aren’t available just yet. Pre-orders for select countries (including Singapore) begin on the 17th of April 2020, with official sales from the 24th of April. However, no concrete announcement has been made with regards to the iPhone SE’s Malaysian availability just yet, although it is expected soon at a starting price of RM1,999.

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