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© 2018www.pemnet.comConfidential 1

Apple iPhone X

May 2018

by Jacques Abboud

PennEngineering®

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Apple iPhone X

Introductory Slide – Do Not Remove



Details & Findings

Pictures and Description of the

iPhone X and our disassembly

process.

Section Heading Slide – Do Not Remove



Main Body - Screen disassembly

Using a Pentalobe driver, remove the

two screws from the bottom of the

phone. The screen and the core

body are secured with adhesives and

connected via 2 main flex cables.

Detail Slide – Copy and use for details. Case, charging station, etc…)



Threaded

Section

Tapped Hole

Hidden in Plastic 1Blank Hole in Plastic 2

• Plastic 1 is molded over the outer Aluminum skin

• Plastic 2 is attached to Plastic 1 via 2 screws and a thin black adhesive tape

• Unthreaded screw section goes into the blank hole of the square bracket

• The square bracket is a stamped piece of metal welded onto a 0.005” thick SS substrate, the latter

attached to the screen chassis using adhesives.

0.005” thick

SS panel

Mechanically Attached System 1 (MAS1)



MAS 1 General Hardware

Disassembled – Do Not Remove product.

• Pentalobe drive

• Black Nylon retention element

• M1.2 thread size

• Removable solution needed

• PEM can offer same-type solution

• Permanent solution

• PEM or Heyco can offer the

same solution or an alternative

one, namely the weldable

stainless steel bracket.



Screen - Main body Snaps

Snaps of different shapes and types are

welded to the 0.005” stainless steel substrate,

the latter being adhered to the screen chassis.

Those snaps engage into their corresponding

housing mates located in the main phone body.



© 2018www.pemnet.com

MAS 2

Confidential 8

Snaps Housing

Top View Side View

Welded Snaps

• The welded snaps are made out of stamped stainless steel material

• Each stainless steel housing corresponding to a snap is secured to the aluminum

chassis of the phone via two screws, as shown in the picture above.

• The housings are also made out of stamped and folded stainless steel material.




• Philips drive screw

• Blue Nylon retention

element


• Removable solution

• PEM can offer same-

type solution


• Heyco can offer the same

solution or an alternative one,

more specifically 0.005”

stamped stainless steel

brackets to be welded later

during phone assembly.

• Removable solution

• Heyco can offer the same

solution or an alternative one,

more specifically 0.005”

stamped stainless steel

brackets.




Electronics Innards


G

A

F

B

C

E

D



MAS 3

Confidential 11

• Sub-assemblies A, C, F, and G have their screws engaged with standoffs welded to the 0.006” thick stainless

steel chassis, the latter being trapped with tabs to the phone cover

• Sub-assemblies B, C, D, and E use surface mounts (SMT) soldered to the PCB

• The SMT of sub-assembly C has a blank through-hole

• Sub-assemblies B, D, and E use blind-hole threaded SMTs that attach to the PCB

• Screws of A thru E use a tri-lobe-drive. F and G have Philips Drives. All screws have locking patch elements.

0.006” thick SS chassis






• PEM can offer standoffs,

while Heyco can offer

the stamped flanges

• M1 and M1.2 screws

• Tri-lobe and Philips drives

• Usage of locking patches

• Removable solution used

• PEM can offer the same solution

• Permanent solutions

• PEM can offer SMTs



Earpiece Speaker & Front Sensor Assembly

Confidential 13

Location: screen



MAS 4


• A tri-lobe screw helps assemble the earpiece speaker to the screen body.

• The screw goes through stainless steel stamped joints molded to the plastic earpiece

body, before it engages with welded surface mounts fixed to the screen core via a 0.006”

stainless steel sheet.

• The latter has multiple ears extending underneath the plastic mold of the screen housing.



MAS 4 Hardware


• Permanent solution was used for the nut

(welded into the 0.006” thick SS chassis)

• PEM and Heyco can offer same-type solution.

• Tri-lobe drive

• Blue Nylon retention element






Taptic Engine

Confidential 16

BEFORE

AFTER



MAS 5


• Tri-lobe and Philips screws help assemble the taptic engine, the charging port, and the microphone

altogether to the chassis of the phone.

• Yellow-highlighted assemblies use a screw (Philips or Tri-lobe driven), a super-screw, and a standoff.

• Red-highlighted assemblies use screws engaged into standoffs only.

• Standoffs are mainly welded to the stainless steel 0.006” thick panel, the later being trapped on the

back of the phone cover using tabs and spot welds.



MAS 5 Hardware


• Permanent solution was used for the nut

(welded into the 0.006” thick SS chassis)

• PEM can offer same-type solution.

• Tri-lobe and Philips drive screws







PCB and Battery Grounding

Confidential 19

• A tri-lobe and another Philips screws help with providing grounding to the battery

and the PCB of the phone.

• The screws fix metallic stamped brackets to the right side of the phone, thru their

engagement with standoffs welded to another stainless steel bracket, the latter

being attached to the aluminum chassis via 3 Philips screws.



MAS 6


• 2 welded standoffs with thru-holes

• 3 Philips screws



MAS 6 Hardware


Front

Back

3 welds

3 snaps

• Tri-lobe and Philips drive screws





• Removable solution overall (bracket

attached to the phone chassis via

screws)

• Perhaps Heyco can offer stamped

and worked 0.008” thick SS bracket

• Welded standoffs (and snaps)

present a permanent solution

• PEM can SM (or CF?) those

standoffs, characterized by M1.2

thread size and ~ 2 mm

thickness/height



Camera

Confidential 22

• 2 Philips screws retain the camera in place, with

the aid of a 0.016” thick SS bracket ~1” x 0.5”

height x width

• The camera sits in a cage attached to the chassis

of the phone via welds and adhesives

• Yellow-highlight screw engages with an SI

interested in the plastic of the phone. The other

red engages with a standoff welded to the side of

the cage.

Plastic



MAS 7


Stainless steel cage welded (side) to metallic

inserts in the plastic of the phone, and adhered

(bottom) to the 0.005” thick SS substrateweldsSI



MAS 7 Hardware


• Philips drive screws





• 0.016” Stamped

SS bracket

• Screw machined part with M1.2

thread size. Replicable by PEM

• SI, M1.2, PEM replicable



Sensors circuitry

Confidential 25

• Philips and tri-lobe screws

attaching the circuitry to the phone

chassis. Screws engage with

standoffs welded to the back of the

phone cover.

Hidden screws



MAS 8


Standoffs welded to the 0.005”

thick stainless steel panel

M1 thread size

M1.2 thread size



MAS 8 Hardware


• Philips and tri-lobe drive screws


• M1.2 and M1 thread sizes



• Standoffs solution replicable by

PEM. Permanent attachment.



Silence and Volume buttons – MAS 9

Confidential 28

• Silence button removed first, it exposes the two other volume buttons.

• 4 Philips screws M1.2 thread size engage into tapped holes in the aluminum chassis



Power Button – MAS 9

Confidential 29

• Same as MAS 9

(previous)



MAS 9 Hardware


• Philips drive regular and shoulder screws







Alternate Solutions

PennEngineering® recommendations

of alternate hardware and cost savings

opportunities.

Section Heading Slide – Do Not Remove



Clamp Disk FastenerThe Clamp Disk installs onto a pin or a cast post.

Thru-holes allow for removability.

Generates clamp load due to flexing of the downward facing flanges.

Axial installation force.

Along with a surface mount pin, the clamp disk solution could be used in

MAS 3/slide #10 to replace the screws-surface mount nuts combination.

(Patent Pending)



TackPin Fasteners

• Replace screws with TackPin® Fasteners for ductile materials where

serviceability is not needed.

• Simple joining method for permanent joints.

• Many different head designs are available.

• This alternate solution could be used in MAS 2/slide #8, MAS 6/slide # 20,

and MAS 9/slides # 28 and 29.



Conclusions and Summary



iPhone X Teardown

• Tri-lobe and Philips-drive screws, super-screws, weld

standoffs, and threaded inserts constitute the main types

of fasteners present in this smartphone.

• A considerable amount of adhesives was used to hold

the screen to the case and the battery components to

the phone chassis.

• Many weld points were present to secure standoffs

attachment to a 0.005” thick Stainless Steel sheet.

• Stamped metal components were mainly used as

latches and latches housings.


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