Stately 160, 8 times 78, 1 mm is the new iPhone 12 Large Pro Max – Apple has never taken so much space for a smartphone. The same applies to the OLED screen: The integrated 6.7 inch screen diagonal has never been seen before at the group.

That makes you wonder what Apple with all the area – the total weight increases compared to the iPhone 11 Pro Max Incidentally, only slightly on 228 g – starts. A first teardown by the repair specialist iFixIt now reveals this.

Battery smaller, but still in L-shape Basically, the hardware corresponds to that of other models from the 12 family. The MagSafe ring for contactless charging, however, looks almost small in view of the huge housing – ins 12 mini does not fit in completely. The battery – it comes up 14, 13 Watt hours – is L-shaped in the housing. For comparison: With the 11 Pro Max of 2019 it also had the form factor, but came up with 15, watt hours. As usual, adhesive tabs hold the battery in place.

iFixIt has noticed a further miniaturization of the motherboard. The SIM card reader is discreet. The components hardly offer any surprises. It is an X 55 – 5G modem from Qualcomm including SDR 865 – Transceiver for LTE and 5G installed. The power management IC comes from ST Microelectronics (STB 601 A). For the Bluetooth plus WLAN module, Apple apparently did not use Broadcom, but rather USI (339 S 00761). For the mmWave front end, which is only used in the US models, technology from Murata is used (1XR – 482).

Fat sensor, back prone to breakage iFixIt was impressed by the new camera module. It comes with a LIDAR unit and a fat primary sensor. This is 47 percent larger than the iPhone 12. Sensor shift image stabilization ensures sharp images. With the Taptic Engine, the vibration module, iFixIt discovered a previously unknown plastic module known as a “sidecar” – which function it serves remains unclear. Maybe it’s supposed to keep the battery in place.

All in all, the iPhone falls 12 Pro Max relatively repairable. iFixIt gave him 6 out of 10 possible points. The screen and battery can be replaced quite easily, and most of the other components are also “relatively modular and interchangeable”. As usual, Apple uses a lot of “rare” types of screws, which is why you need a suitable screwdriver set. Reusable staples appear to be used more frequently than glue. However, the water resistance must be restored later by service personnel, which is not very easy. Very negative according to iFixIt: The glass back of the iPhone 12 Pro Max is in acute danger of breaking due to accidents in a fall, if you don’t give the device a cover – and then the whole case has to be replaced. (bsc)