Apple released its Watch Series 7 last month, and it was finally available for ordering earlier this month. Even though the Watch Series 7 doesn’t offer big upgrades — it lacks the squared edge design it was rumored to come with — things like the bigger display and battery are still worth taking a look at. iFixit took apart the Apple Watch Series 7 in its teardown to showcase what’s inside the new smartwatch from the Cupertino giant.

Apple Watch Series 7 teardown

iFixit teamed up with Instrumental, a company created by former Apple engineers, to help them in the process. The teardown features both the 41mm and the 45mm variant of the Apple Watch Series 7. And, as expected, the components are placed similar to Series 6. Taking a closer look reveals that the 45mm has a slightly larger battery that has a capacity of 309mAh and the 41mm has a battery that has a capacity of 303.8 mAh. In comparison to Apple Watch Series 6, the battery sizes are almost the same with a minor 6.8% increase in 45mm and 1.6% in the 41mm variant.

Apple Watch Series 7

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One noticeable change, though, is the lack of the diagnose port. Apple Watch models used to have a diagnostic connector that used to attach to the Watch and helped Apple engineers to identify the problems. However, there’s no such port on the watch now. Instead, Apple is using a 60.5GHz wireless connection for diagnostics, which is said to be coming to the future portless iPhone.

ifixit teardown series 7

Series 7 (45mm) on left, Series 6 (44mm) on right

Why the Apple Watch Series 7 was delayed?

iFixit, on the teardown of the Apple Watch Series 7, says that the display looks “less complex at first glance.” The report that Apple has moved to a new screen technology that allows the company to reduce the Watch’s thickness.

In addition, former Apple executives also revealed why the Apple Watch Series 7 was delayed, according to them. The engineers say that in order to reduce the bezels and make the display look bigger in the same chassis, Apple used one cable to transmit touch and display signals, instead of two. The engineer Tobias, in a video, says that he’s “fairly certain” that due to this complexity change Apple Watch Series 7 was delayed and how such a small change could’ve rippled through the supply chain.

“The most likely culprit, by far, is manufacturing hiccups with this new display; screens have some of the most complex supply chains and assembly processes in the industry. The introduction of this new technology, combined with pushing the limits of the border design, likely caused delays in shipping the Series 7 to market.” — iFixit

Apple Watch Series 7 also features an IP6X dust and water resistance rating. Older models have had dust and water resistance ratings, but Apple didn’t specify any particular number. Some of the new ingress-protection measures Apple has introduced with Series 7 are the mesh covering the speaker grille.

In the end, iFixit gave the Apple Watch Series 7 a repairability score of 6 out of 10, which isn’t exactly good on the “repairability chart,” but good enough for Apple products. The report from iFixit says that display and Taptic Engine swaps “worked great” in its testing, as did the changing out of the battery.

Via: MacRumors