Apple Watch Series 4 teardown shows slight battery increase, svelte new components

Although similar to the Series 3 on the surface apart from its larger screen and EKG technology, the Series 4 Watch shows some serious efforts at interior redesign, an early teardown of the device reveals.

Apple is using new case and button designs, and the display is thinner, according to iFixit. The company has also optimized other components, for instance shrinking the Taptic Engine, though it is longer. In the Series 4, the Taptic Engine "clicks" as people turn the crown.

The new Watch is also believed to have a relocated barometric sensor, placed inside the speaker grille. In any case the sensor no longer has a separate hole as on the Series 3.

Battery-wise the Series 4 has a 1.113 watt-hour supply, 4 percent greater than the 1.07 watt-hours before. This is notable because the redesigned case is about 6 percent thinner.

iFixit rates the device 6 out of 10 for repairability, commenting that screen replacements are "difficult but do-able," and that battery replacements are "pretty straightforward" once the screen is off. Obstacles to repairs include extremely small tri-point screws, and the Watch's S4 system-on-chip, to which some flex cables are mounted directly. Most board repairs are said to be "impossible."

The Series 4 launched in a number of countries last Friday.

10 Comments

mwhite 287 comments · 9 Years

About 6 years ago

Yea but my daughter's battery won't hold a charge, was full charged by 4 hours of hardly any use it was down to 26% took it to Apple but they didn't have a replacement for it now she may not get the next one until November....

StrangeDays 12980 comments · 8 Years

mwhite said:

Yea but my daughter's battery won't hold a charge, was full charged by 4 hours of hardly any use it was down to 26% took it to Apple but they didn't have a replacement for it now she may not get the next one until November....

You've posted this a few times. So your Watch is under warranty? If so just send it in via mail for battery replacement service. If not you still can but they'll charge $79 for it.

https://support.apple.com/watch/repair/service/pricing

StrangeDays said:

mwhite said:

Yea but my daughter's battery won't hold a charge, was full charged by 4 hours of hardly any use it was down to 26% took it to Apple but they didn't have a replacement for it now she may not get the next one until November....

You've posted this a few times. So your Watch is under warranty? If so just send it in via mail for battery replacement service. If not you still can but they'll charge $79 for it.

https://support.apple.com/watch/repair/service/pricing

It's brand new they should of fixed it at the Apple store she went into or had extra's for replacements, they know not all will be perfect.....

AppleZulu 2205 comments · 8 Years

mwhite said:

Yea but my daughter's battery won't hold a charge, was full charged by 4 hours of hardly any use it was down to 26% took it to Apple but they didn't have a replacement for it now she may not get the next one until November....

You should give it a few days. New user enthusiasm can drain a battery, as can simply completing the initial installation of all the apps, data, etc. Your daughter could have a dud, or she could find that battery performance goes back to normal after the first day.

prairiewalker 60 comments · 9 Years

Disappointed that I can't buy a Watch 4, 44mm GPS in Gold Stainless Steel. I think only GPS + LTE has Gold Stainless option. I understand the marketing reason and am willing to pay more but have no need to have LTE with the increased AT&T monthly charge.