Apple Watch Series 5 Teardown Shows A Larger Battery And Similar Internal Parts As Series 4

iFixit recently did a teardown on Apple Watch Series 5, following the teardowns of iPhone 11 and 11 Pro last week. After taking the device apart, experts at iFixit found lots of similarities between this year’s model and that of the previous year.

What iFixit did to tear the smartwatch down was to heat it up so that adhesive melted, and then remove the display with a precision knife.

The battery of Apple Watch Series 5 is 1.4% larger than that of Series 4. While there is an increase in size, we may not see much of an improvement in battery life, especially with the Always-On display.

Even after the device was taken apart, we can hardly figure out what is powering the Always-On feature. According to Apple, advanced display drivers and a new ambient light sensor are what behind this function. About this feature, iFixit said that we could not see the improvement with our bare eyes as they were baked into the display by the LTPO technology.

Apple mentioned that the Apple Watch Series 5 is made with recycled aluminum entirely, and here is iFixit’s take on that statement:

iFixit concludes that Series 5 has several similar parts on the inside as the Series 4; however, they are not interchangeable: