iPhone SE teardown reveals which parts were borrowed from iPhone 8

iPhone SE 2020

Editorial Director of News and Content

| April 27, 2020

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Ever since it was announced, the new iPhone SE has widely been thought of as an iPhone 8 with an updated processor. Now we're finding out exactly how accurate that is.

Apple's second generation iPhone SE has been torn down, revealing all of the parts that are inside. The folks at iFixit found that the new iPhone SE (below, left) appears to have the same 12MP rear camera sensor as the iPhone 8 (below, middle). The camera sensors of the iPhone SE and iPhone 8 look pretty similar, and both are smaller than the sensor on the iPhone XR (below, right).

That doesn't mean that the camera performance of the iPhone SE will be the same as the iPhone 8, though. One big difference with the iPhone SE is that it's got Apple's latest A13 Bionic processor, which means that the iPhone SE will benefit from better image processing and Portrait Mode support.

iPhone SE teardown camera comparison

The displays on the iPhone SE and iPhone 8 are pretty much the same, but the iPhone SE lacks the 3D Touch chip found on the iPhone 8. That's not surprising since Apple has also ditched 3D Touch on its other recent iPhone models, but it's still a small difference worth noting.

The teardown confirms that the batteries of the iPhone SE and iPhone 8 are the same, meaning that the iPhone SE has a 1821mAh battery.

Because they're so similar, the folks at iFixit found that many of the parts on the iPhone SE are interchangeable. Those include the iPhone SE's cameras, display assembly, Taptic Engine, and SIM card tray. One part that's not swappable even though it's similar on both phones is the battery, which is because the battery logic board connectors differ.

While the iPhone SE and iPhone 8 might be similar in a lot of ways, the iPhone SE is still a significant upgrade over the iPhone 8. That's because it's got a newer A13 Bionic processor — the same one that's in the iPhone 11 Pro — that'll help keep it relevant and chugging along for longer than the iPhone 8. The A13 also makes the iPhone SE a better camera, and that's important as more and more people rely on their smartphone as their only camera.