“iFixIt” has torn down the Verizon iPhone and found it’s substantially redesigned inside. At first glance, the differences are more significant than we saw between the iPhone 3G and the 3GS.
For example, the location and design of the RF components — EMI (electromagnetic interference) shields, connector locations, even board layout — is changed.
“They redesigned the vibrator — a seemingly minor item, but it takes up a large amount of space inside the phone,” says Kyle Wiens of “iFixIt.” “My tester said that the ‘Verizon vibration was quieter, a little softer to feel, and made a better sound on the table.’ (No, I’m not making a ‘That’s what she said’ joke.) It used to be in the top right portion of the phone, across from the camera. Now it’s on the bottom left.”
But here’s the biggest news: Apple is using the same Qualcomm chip as the Droid Pro World Phone. The Qualcomm MDM6600 chip supports HSPA+ data rates of up to 14.4 Mbps and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. A/Rev. B. The datasheet can be downloaded at: http://www.docin.com/p-52040727.html .
“Qualcomm doesn’t like us distributing their datasheets, so you might want to download while it lasts,” Wiens says. “This chipset supports both GSM and CDMA — which means that Apple could have supported GSM! Why didn’t they? It may be that it was easier to design antennas for a CDMA-only phone — this phone supports two cellular frequency bands, while Apple supports five bands in the GSM version. But this is a sign that Apple may be considering unifying the CDMA and GSM iPhones in the future.”
You can find the complete “iFixIt’ teardown at http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone-4-Verizon-Teardown/4693/1 .