iFixit got their hands on an iPhone 5 from Australia and started to teardown the iPhone 5 to see what’s inside. Some big changes in Apple’s latest iPhone are the 4-inch 1136×640 pixel (326 ppi) Retina display, the Apple A6 system on a chip (SoC), the 8 megapixel iSight camera, the new 8-pin Lightning connector, 4G LTE connectivity and of course iOS 6. The first thing they noticed during the teardown is that it will be a lot easier replacing the iPhone 5 screen than previous iPhone’s, “Because the iPhone 5 is opened front-to-back, replacing a cracked screen is going to be easier than ever. Compare this to the iPhone 4s, where it took 38 steps to isolate the display assembly.”

A second thing they noticed is that the new battery in the iPhone 5 is only slighly different than the battery used in the  iPhone 4S:
iPhone 5 Battery: 3.8V – 5.45Wh – 1434mAh. Talk time: Up to 8 hours on 3G. Standby time: Up to 225 hours.
iPhone 4S Battery: 3.7V – 5.3Wh – 1432mAh. Talk time: Up to 8 hours on 3G. Standby time: Up to 200 hours.
Samsung Galaxy S III Battery: 3.8V – 7.98Wh – 2100mAh. Talk time: Up to 11 hours 40 minutes on 3G. Standby time: Up to 790 hours.

An other thing they noticed is, unlike the iPhone 4S, which used a linear-oscillating vibrator, Apple has gone back to a rotational motor with a counterweight. “We praised Apple in the past for going with the quieter and less annoying linear oscillating vibrator, but now we’re scratching our heads as to why they went back.”

Last but not least, the iSight camera. “Apple was very proud of the fact that they are using a sapphire crystal in their new-and-improved camera.” and “Since sapphire is such a hard material, it would be sensible that the outermost element of the camera is made of sapphire.” iFixit tried scratching the clear cover with a pair of steel tweezers and the lens remained scratch-free. iFixit said that this doesn’t confirm that the protective cover is made from sapphire crystal, but it does mean that that it is quite hard and scratch resistant.

For way more details such as the A6 Processor, details about the 8 megapixel iSight camera, the housing, chips and more, take a look at the full “32 steps” teardown here.