We are always excited to see a new Apple iPhone, and this year’s iPhone 11 line is no exception. This is the first ever Apple event to launch an iPhone with three rear cameras. There is also the mysterious U1 chip which appeared on screen at the Apple event, but which no one on stage made mention of. And, let’s not forget Apple is replacing the 7000 grade Aluminum body with 100% recycled aluminum - a choice aimed at environmental responsibility.

The iPhone 11 Pro Max we have in our hands is a Midnight Green Model A2161 with 512 GB of storage.

Board Images

The following annotated board images show the design wins we have identified so far.

How much does it cost to make an iPhone?

Here is a high-level view into the costs of the various components of the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max:

Costing note: All cost estimates provided here are compiled using information available to us at the time of the initial teardown. Some assumptions have been made where concrete data is not yet available. We will continue to gather and refine this costing data throughout our ongoing deep-dive teardown process and analysis. While we do not expect drastic cost changes, we do expect some adjustments. Costs in table are rounded to the neareast $0.50.

Apple A13 Bionic

The A13 Bionic has an Apple part number APL1W85. It is a Package on Package (PoP) with both the A13 Application Processor and the Samsung K3UH5H50AM-SGCL 4GB LPDDR4X SDRAM, with the same 4GB DRAM capacity as the previous iPhone Xs Max from last year.

Update: The A13 Bionic APL1W85 has the die marks TMKF47. The die size (die seal edge) is 10.67mm x 9.23mm = 98.48 mm², representing a 18.27% die size increase when compared to the previous A12.

The Samsung K3UH5H50AM-SGCL 4GB LPDDR4X SDRAM has 4 identical 1y nm die, which TechInsights has already reported.

Baseband

As expected, Intel supplies the mobile chipsets to the iPhone 11. The baseband processor is Intel PMB9960 which is likely the XMM7660 modem. According to Intel, XMM7660 is its sixth generation LTE modem that meets the 3GPP Release 14. It supports speeds up to 1.6 Gbps in the downlink (Cat 19) and up to 150 Mbps in the uplink.

As a comparison, the Intel PMB9955 XMM7560 modem was adopted by the Apple iPhone Xs Max which supports up to 1 Gbps in the downlink (Cat 16) and up to 225 Mbps in the uplink (Cat 15). Intel says the XMM7660 modem is designed with a 14 nm process node, which is the same process node as last year’s XMM7560.

This may be the last time we see the Intel mobile chipsets in an iPhone, since Intel is officially leaving the mobile business. The change is bittersweet, as we now look forward to seeing the possibility of an Apple-designed modem in the future.

Either way, we expect to see a Qualcomm modem in next year’s iPhone. Whether Apple releases an iPhone 4G and an iPhone 5G next year is just something we will all have to wait and see.

RF Transceiver

Intel PMB5765 is identified as the RF Transceiver that works with the Intel modem.

Power Management ICs

Intel PMB6840, Apple 343S00355 (APL1092), which should be Apple’s own designed main PMIC for the A13 Bionic, Apple 338S00510, Texas Instruments TPS61280 Battery DC/DC Converter, STMicroelectronics STB601, Texas Instruments SN2611A0 Battery Charger, Samsung S2DOS23 Display Power Management, etc.

UWB (U1) Chip

The USI module shown below very likely contains the Apple U1 chip. Apple claims that its U1 chip uses Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology for spatial awareness, allowing iPhone 11 Pro to understand its precise location relative to other nearby U1-equipped Apple devices.

We are looking forward to hearing more about the capabilities and use-cases Apple has in mind for the U1 chip. And, with all the hype around IoT in the home, we imagine that TechInsights is not the only one interested in learning more about this chip.

So far we know the unlicensed UWB in the Apple iPhones transmits on two different frequencies - 6.24 GHz and 8.2368 GHz. Worth mentioning: the U1 chip can only communicate with other U1 chips. Hence, we expect to be seeing more of the U1 in upcoming Apple products. It would be very interesting if Apple managed to get a U1 chip into the restricted landscape of the Apple Watch Series 5.

UWB and in-room tracking is not a new concept, and has been on Apple’s agenda since before the first iPhone. Others have UWB devices, like the Estimote UWB Beacons TechInsights analyzed back in January of 2018. The Beacons used DecaWave UWB transceivers for precise location of other beacons and tags. For more information on the Estimote Beacon UWB and the Estimote LTE Beacons view a listing of the different reports we have on these parts here.

TechInsights previously completed a Basic Floorplan Analysis of the Decawave DW1000 UWB Radio IC. The report is one of the deliverables of the IoT Connectivity SoC subscription which covers Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, LTE-M/NB-IoT, LoRa, Sigfox, NFC, GNSS, UWB, etc.

Flash Memory

In our iPhone 11 Pro Max model, it has a Toshiba 512 GB NAND Flash module.

Wi-Fi/BT Module

Murata 339S00647. We suspect that the module would have a Broadcom Wi-Fi 6/BT 5.0 wireless combo IC, BCM4375? We will find out.

NFC

NXP wins the socket again with the new SN200 NFC&SE Module.

Update: We found a new die in the NXP SN200 that is different from the previous SN100 used in last year’s iPhone Xs/Xs Max/XR.

Apple 1720 Charger

We have identified 4 main IC’s in the 18 W A1720. Learn more about our findings here.

Wireless Charging

To our surprise, we found a new STMicroelectronics STPMB0 chip. We think it is very likely a wireless charging receiver IC. It also means that Broadcom has lost the socket as we have seen the Broadcom design win in the previous Apple iPhone.

Cameras

Our investigation of iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Max’s cameras is progressing, and we have summarized a mix of findings from each in Table 1. We were excited during the September Apple Special Event to hear of 100% Focus Pixels for iPhone’s wide-angle camera. We expected this to coincide with full-chip dual photodiode phase detection autofocus (PDAF), however our initial findings show a familiar PDAF pattern comparable to that used for 2018 iPhone’s wide-angle camera. The analysis in progress will determine if Apple has indeed gone to dual PD as 100% Focus Pixels suggests. If true, it would be the first use of masked + dual PD PDAF we have documented.

As expected, Sony remains the vendor for the four vision cameras in iPhone 11 Pro Max. STMicroelectronics is now into year 3 of providing its global shutter IR camera chip as the detector for iPhone’s structured light based FaceID system.

Table 1: Summary of iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro Max Camera Initial Findings

12 MP Rear-Facing Wide-Angle Camera Image Sensor Die Photo (Filters Removed)

12 MP Rear-Facing Ultra Wide-Angle Camera Image Sensor Die Photo (Filters Removed)

12 MP Rear-Facing Telephoto Camera Image Sensor Die Photo (Filters Removed)

12 MP Front-Facing Camera Image Sensor Die Photo (Filters Removed)

Audio ICs

Apple/Cirrus Logic 338S00509 Audio Codec and three pieces 338S00411 Audio Amplifiers.

Envelope Tracker

Qorvo QM81013 Envelope Tracker IC (likely).

RF Front-end

Avago (Broadcom) AFEM-8100 Front-End Module, Skyworks SKY78221-17 Front-End Module, Skyworks SKY78223-17 Front-End Module, Skyworks SKY13797-19 PAM, etc.

Others

STMicroelectronics ST33G1M2 MCU, NXP CBTL1612A1 Display Port Multiplexer, Cypress CYPD2104 USB Type-C Port Controller.

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