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crwdns2933797:0Jeff Suovanencrwdnd2933797:0crwdne2933797:0

crwdns2936043:0crwdne2936043:0 crwdns2933505:0crwdne2933505:0 Jeff Suovanen

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-[* black] Like most brains, the grey matter in this Series 6 is pretty inscrutable. Unlike most brains though, the gray matter here is hardened resin.
-[* black] We spot a Skyworks chip marked 239-7 riding the back along with a couple friends, but nothing marked U1.
+[* black] Like most brains, the grey matter in this Series 6 is pretty inscrutable: it's encased in hardened resin, as per usual, making further exploration extremely difficult.
+[* black] There ''are'' a few more conventional ICs piggybacked onto the package, and we can at least spot a Skyworks chip marked 239-7. The other chips are more mysterious, and none is an exact match for the U1 chip we found in last year's iPhones.
[* icon_note] It was probably too much to ask for a labeled U1 package, but there ''has'' been [https://www.ifixit.com/News/33257/inside-the-tech-in-apples-ultra-wideband-u1-chip|more obvious printing in the past|new_window=true].
-[* black] Sans-brains, we can see the Series 6 frame has a slightly modified footprint with a narrower lip for the adhesive gasket, which is conveniently routed around the band mechanism.
- [* black] The thinner case no doubt makes room for the larger Taptic Engine and battery we found.
+[* black] Sans-brains, we can see the Series 6 frame has a slightly modified footprint with a narrower lip for the adhesive gasket, which is now carefully routed around the band mechanism.
+[* icon_reminder] The modified case and lack of Force Touch gasket probably accounts for the fact that this year's model is a hair thinner, with overall thickness at 10.4 mm (down from 10.74 mm last year).
+ [* black] Apple somehow packed more battery ''and'' more Taptic Engine into a (barely) smaller design. Impressive!