Inside The Apple Watch - Technical Teardown Blog PDF

Inside the Apple Watch: ENGLIH b d
Technical Teardown Blog
Posted: April 24, 2015
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Contriuted y Jim Morrison and Daniel Yang
A few das ago, Apple sent us our tracking number indicating that our shipment would arrive
toda, Frida, April 24th. We were pleasantl surprised to be a recipient of a Watch toda
considering the stir Apple created a while back when the ipped availabilit dates from toda to
Ma-June. Kind of like Christmas.
Click here to download the full Basic Product Teardown Report of the Apple Watch
(http://www.chipworks.com/competitive-technical-intelligence/overview/technolog-reports
/recent-reports/download-the-apple)
Jump to the Ma 7 Update on the 1 sstem in package
A much anticipated gadget

The Watch has been long anticipated. It will be interesting to see what impact this device has on
the market, considering that ever since Apple introduced the iPhone 3G, Apple has had a wa of
causing the consumer ood gates to open and creating a surge in consumer demand for tos.
Look at the smartphone industr toda, nearl 2 B units per ear. Currentl the wearables market
sits at around $25 B per ear with the potential to grow to $50 B b 2017. Could this Watch
change this?
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TO Pt
Market Understanding: Wearable devices
We here at Chipworks have examined dozens of wearables over the past few ears and, while
ver cool, the consumer demand has just not been there. The abandonment rate for wearables is
considerable enough that the market ma onl ever be a niche application (when compared to
smartphones for example). However, of all the wearables we have examined throughout the past,
the Apple Watch will be the most sophisticated we have seen to-date. Previous wearables have
emploed chips that have been around for ears. Nothing ver exciting. Will the sophistication of
the Apple Watch enable features that overcome the abandonment rate of its predecessors? Onl
time will tell.
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X-ra vision
Before getting too deep into the Watch, we took an X-ra of the watch in its entiret to see how
the chip laout and count compare to our previous understandings from the launch. There is a lot
of silicon in this device.
TO Pt
TMicroelectronics groscope and accelerometer

At the top left corner of the 1 module we were expecting to see a motion sensor from
Invenense, but, surprise surprise, we have a brand new TMicroelectronics 3 mm x 3 mm land
grid arra (LGA) package featuring a 3D digital groscope and accelerometer. The package marks
feature the letter C followed b a three digit numeric 4,5,1. Great job on TMicroelectronics for
this socket win.
Update: Frida we discovered the design win b TMicroelectronics for the 6 axis sensor for
acceleration and roll, pitch and aw (groscope). This is the rst time that we see a true 6X sensor
in an Apple product that doesnt require an external accelerometer. In the iPhone 6 and 6+ we
saw an Invensense 6 axis sensor and a Bosch 3 axis accelerometer. Here in an even more
compact design, the Apple Watch, we nall have a solution for all 6 axis in a single component.
We have some more indepth photos of the TMicroelectronics 6 axis sensor toda to share with
ou. From the side view x-ra ou can see two die stacked together; the MEM sensor and the
control AIC. The plan view image looking down shows the wire bond attach area on the lower
device. Later we hope to bring ou some additional images of the AIC and the MEM die once
we have separated them TO P t
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Analog Devices touch screen controller

Another surprise to us in the Watch is the socket scored b Analog devices for capacitive touch
screen controller on which we observed package markings of AD7166. The ADI site does not list
the AD7166 as a standard part number, however we did come across a link to a Product Change
Notication (PCN) showing import and export documentation (on the analog devices website) for
an AD7166-202A Cortex M3 Based Cap and dated April 2015. The link no longer functions so it
was probabl recentl taken down. Too bad.
TO Pt
Texas Instruments OPA2376

Another clearl visible device is the Texas Instruments OPA2376 Precision, low noise, low
quiescent current Op Amp:
Update: The 1 is a sstem in package for sure!

Its been almost a week and a half since we rst got our hands on the new Apple Watch. On da
one we were able to show ou onl what was not sealed inside the 1 sstem in package (iP).
The two ke words here are sstem and package.
stem TO Pt
Inside the 1 iP alone we have cataloged more than 30 components. Now, some of those
components contain multiple die; the package-on-package (PoP) assembl, for example, contains
the new Apple processor and the DRAM die. The NFC solution also contains the secure element
as well as the NXP NFC controller and radio. o there are 30 individual components, and at least
30 pieces of silicon, all in a package that is onl 26 mm x 28 mm. That is quite an
accomplishment.
Package
Apple and/or their suppliers have designed and manufactured a 26 mm x 28 mm package that is
ver unique. Lets consider its construction for a moment. We have a common motherboard to
which all of the components (wafer scale packages, PoPs, BGAs, etc.) have been attached. The
entire motherboard, with all of its components, is then overmolded with a packaging compound
containing silica or alumina spheres suspended in a resin. We see this same tpe of material in
conventional IC packaging, but we have never observed this being used over a 26 mm x 28 mm
motherboard. Was this designed to protect devices from perspiration? If es, wh then are some
devices, like the 6-axis sensor and the second touch controller, not contained within the 1 iP?
TO Pt
ome of the ke ndings so far:

The new Apple APL0778 application processor measures 5.2 mm x 6.2 mm and is fabbed on
amsungs 28 nm LP process.
Dialog has the PMIC socket for the watch, but Maxim got the codec and amplier sockets.
What happened to Cirrus? The had been the incumbent in iPhones and iPads for several
generations.
NXP scored the NFC and secure element and interface socket and Austria Micro stems got
the NFC signal booster
TMicroelectronics not onl grabbed the 6-axis sensor, but the also have an TM32 MCU
within the 1, as well as the optical emitter/sensor encoder die under the shaft of the Digital
Crown.
Texas Instruments has 6 wins in the 1 ranging from batter management to op amps.
kworks Wi-Fi LNA + switch and PA
Above ou see a composite image of all the dies we have been able to identif so far.
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ta tuned as we have more fun with the 1!

TO Pt
DOWNLOAD THE FREE BAIC PRODUCT TEARDOWN REPORT (HTTP://WWW.CHIPWORK.COM
/COMPETITIVE-TECHNICAL-INTELLIGENCE/OVERVIEW/TECHNOLOGY-REPORT/RECENT-
REPORT/DOWNLOAD-THE-APPLE)
w Apple Watch Launch Conrms WiFi and NFC IPD 2015 - The Latest Innovations in Power
Inside (/about-chipworks/overview/blog/apple- Electronics (/about-chipworks
watch-launch-conrms-wi-and-nfc-inside) /overview/blog/ispsd-
2015-the-latest-
innovations-power-
electronics)
j ubscribe to the latest Chipworks news and reports Follow Chipworks h g i
TO Pt

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Inside the Apple Watch: ENGLIH b d

Technical Teardown Blog

Posted: April 24, 2015

Contriuted y Jim Morrison and Daniel Yang

A much anticipated gadget

TMicroelectronics groscope and accelerometer

Analog Devices touch screen controller

Texas Instruments OPA2376

Update: The 1 is a sstem in package for sure!

ome of the ke ndings so far:

ta tuned as we have more fun with the 1!

j ubscribe to the latest Chipworks news and reports Follow Chipworks h g i

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