Inside the Apple Watch Series 5? A Series 4, or almost

Technicians from iFixit carried out the disassembly of the new Apple watch, after having disassembledl’iPhone 11etl’iPhone 11 Pro. They were able to report on the changes made by Apple inside the watch from Series 4 to Series 5.

CPU and GPU do not change

The Apple Watch Series 4 and 5 feature the same processor and GPU. This means that the performances are on paper similar from one model to another. The layout of the components inside the case is also similar. Also, according to Apple, the new watch is made of 100% recycled aluminum. iFixit provides details on this subject by stating that the majority of the aluminum found on tech products is already recycled and much cheaper than mined aluminum.

The new watch does use 100% recycled aluminum, but in itself, this is not a real feat on the part of the Californian firm, as one might have thought.

The differences

The Apple Watch Series 5 battery is very slightly larger, with a 1.4% gain in size compared to the Series 4 battery for the 44mm model.

More interestingly, internal storage doubles from one generation to the next. It is 16 GB on the Series 4, 32 GB on the Series 5. But it is by inspecting the screen that the most obvious new features are highlighted.

The Apple Watch Series 5 is equipped with a new “always on screen” function. This is well supported by new hardware features. Using an X-ray device, iFixit was able to report on the additions included in the Series 5's new OLED screen, including a new power management chip and a new brightness sensor.

Please note that you can deactivate the “always on screen” function on your new Apple Watch Series 5.See here how to do it.

Finally, we must mention the presence of a new compass that the Apple Watch version 2019 incorporates, powered by the S5 chip of the watch, an evolution of the S4 of the Apple Watch Series 4.

Ultimately, the Apple Watch Series 5 gets a repairability score of 6/10.

So we see there, Apple has very slightly evolved its watch this year, with meager improvements which will certainly not motivate Apple Watch Series 4 owners to check out. But new buyers and owners of Apple Watch Series 0, 1, 2 or 3 will probably find interest in this Apple Watch Series 5.

Editor-in-chief for iPhon.fr. Pierre is like Indiana Jones, looking for the lost iOS trick. Also a long-time Mac user, Apple devices hold no secrets for him. Contact: pierre[a]iphon.fr.