More secrets of Apple Watch have been revealed in a new teardown. According to ABI Research’s new findings, Apple Watch has got few surprise elements in the design and a CPU design centered on a custom Apple S1 chip – labeled APL 0778.
After the popular teardown specialist’s iFixit teardown of the Apple Watch last week, ABI Research’s TeardownIQ went a step further to reveal more about it.
Apart from the custom processor design around S1 chip (APL 0778), ABI found a 512MB of RAM sourced from Elpida, 8GB of flash storage from SanDisk/Toshiba, and the integrated accelerometer/ gyroscope sensor handled by an STM chip. The Apple Watch also includes Broadcom (BCM43342) chip, NXP (NFC controller), and AMS (NFC booster) connectivity, IDT wireless charger receiver, and ADI capacitive touch solutions.
Here ABI says that the two surprise design elements in the Watch are ADI capacitive touch solutions, and the IDT wireless charging receiver. The IPX7 water-resistance Apple Watch packs components like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC radios in a weather resistant module.
“The design is an obvious variation from Apple’s smartphones, with many high-end functions / chips included that normally would not be found in a simple watch,” comments Jim Mielke, VP Engineering at ABI Research and Head of the TeardownIQ group. “Judging by the complexity of the printed circuit board (PCB), and the number of parts on the PCB, one might think the Apple watch is a full-fledged cellular connected watch but in fact connectivity is limited to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC.”
Previously, iFixit had revealed the first look inside Apple Watch Sport, including a look at the Taptic Engine, Digital Crown, battery and more. Check out our Apple Watch hands on here.