iPhone 6s Plus Component Costs Estimated to Begin at $236, $16 More Than iPhone 6 Plus

IHS iSuppli has once again taken apart the newest set of iPhones in an attempt to come as close as possible to estimating the actual component cost of the new devices. According to IHS iSuppli’s teardown of the iPhone 6s Plus, the bill of materials for a 16 GB version comes to $231.50, with manufacturing costs and other minor items raising the overall price slightly to $236.

One of the biggest areas of increased cost is related to 3D Touch, which adds about $10 to the overall component cost of the iPhone 6s Plus when combined with Apple’s Taptic Engine used to fuel the new feature. It’s these improvements that have boosted the new iPhone 6s Plus to cost around $16 more to manufacture than last year’s iPhone 6 Plus, according to IHS Technology senior director of cost benchmarking services, Andrew Rassweiler.

“3D Touch and Apple’s Taptic engine are among the more notable feature upgrades found in this latest round of iPhones,” said Rassweiler. “With each generation the company makes measured, incremental technology improvements to its iPhone line, and this time around those changes are increasing Apple’s per-unit material cost.”

Overall, the most expensive aspect of the new iPhone 6s Plus is its display, with the addition of 3D Touch slightly increasing the component cost to $52.50 this year. Other high-cost components include the iPhone’s new 12-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front-facing camera that together are estimated to cost $22.50, and the A9 chip at $22.00. IHS also points out the incremental cost differences between each step-up in memory capacity, which sees a small component cost difference when in comparison to Apple’s $100 jump between capacities like 16 GB and 64 GB, for example.

“NAND Flash is now so cheap it’s almost irrelevant, but Apple monetizes this difference with consumers, to the tune of $100 for each additional step up in memory capacity,” Rassweiler said. “For example, a 64 GB iPhone now costs Apple about $17 more to make than a 16 GB iPhone, but Apple charges iPhone buyers $100 more for the increased memory. This is part of Apple’s ongoing strategy to improve profits by selling a product mix that is heavier in the higher-end iPhones.”

Overall, IHS iSuppli’s teardown concluded that the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus see most of their value additions in the form of overall durability for the new devices. This is thanks to new components like the 7000 Series aluminum case, an upgraded Gorilla Glass 4 cover, as well as “additional gaskets and seals” that IHS says improves the water resistance of the new iPhones, which has been studied in the days since release.

Earlier in the year, Apple CEO Tim Cook went on the record during one of the company’s annual earnings calls, denouncing component cost teardowns like IHS iSuppli’s of the iPhone 6s Plus. “I’ve never seen one that is anywhere close to being accurate,” Cook said.

Such estimates do not take into account an array of costs, including research and development, software, and licensing costs, making profit margins appear much larger than they actually are. And given the proprietary nature of many of the components, cost estimates can be rough. The estimates can, however, be somewhat useful in comparing differences between generations to get a general idea of the potential cost impact of hardware changes.

Improved Water Resistance of iPhone 6s Attributed to New Gaskets and Seals

iFixit began its teardown of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus after the new smartphones became available last Friday, discovering the specifics of the smaller batteries, Taptic Engine, and 3D Touch display. After a few iPhone fans began extensive water resistance testing over the weekend, iFixit decided to revisit its teardown of the new devices with a renewed focus on components placed by Apple that could point to the company’s interest in a more liquid-proof smartphone.

The site closely inspected a strip of glue that acts as a gasket surrounding the entire inside edge of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, accounting in total for a slight 0.3mm increase in width when in comparison to last year’s models. Described as “a string of sticky goop,” iFixit theorizes that if Apple hadn’t placed the gasket there to hold components in, perhaps “it was designed to keep liquids out.”

First, Apple takes this gasket business pretty seriously: they didn’t just run a strip of glue around the existing display like they were caulking a bathtub. Instead, it appears the iPhone’s frame has been subtly reworked to accommodate the new gasket. We noted a slight, but measurable, increase in the width of the lip running along the perimeter of the frame—it’s about 0.3 mm wider than on the iPhone 6, making it just wide enough for that little gasket to land on.

One-third of a millimeter may not seem like much, but given how tight the iPhone’s tolerances are nowadays, the change is big enough to see with the naked eye. And it’s almost certainly enough of a change that other components had to be subtly tweaked to match. Make no mistake, Apple gave this careful thought.

Even the logic boards of the new iPhones appear to be updated to at least partially protect against liquid intrusion, with all cable connectors on the logic board — “from the battery and display, to the Lightning port and buttons” — surrounded and reinforced with a small silicone barrier. As iFixit points out, the logic board’s various connectors are the most vulnerable to water within the iPhone’s body, so the fact that Apple has appeared to safeguard them against liquid damage is definitely notable.

Otherwise, the rest of the internal components of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus — like the headphone jack, speaker, power, and volume buttons — didn’t showcase any forms of waterproofing by the Cupertino-based company. Today’s news follows a few days of water resistance talk about the new iPhones thanks to a handful of video tests created by various YouTubers, along with a new rumor pointing to the “iPhone 7” adopting a fully-waterproof body when it debuts next year.

Judgment day for Apple Music: Will you be subscribing once the trial ends?

Today marks the three-month anniversary of the launch of Apple Music, but more importantly, the end of the streaming service’s free trial period for anyone who signed up on day one. At last count, six weeks after its debut, Apple counted over 11 million trial users — a figure that could’ve only swollen since. But none of that really matters. The initial success of Apple Music will be defined over the coming days and weeks as the earliest of adopters decide whether or not to become subscribers, paying $10 or £10 each month for continued access to over 30 million tracks.

With a relatively generous trial period and several platform exclusives already, Apple’s made a concerted effort to win over early users. But, being late to the game, it’s up against strong competition from Spotify, Google Play Music and others — and many of you will have countless playlists and a comfortable familiarity with these established alternatives. Moreover, Apple Music doesn’t have a free listening option of any kind, so the only way to give it the thumbs-up is to open your wallet. Also remember that Beats 1, the online radio station launched at the same time, is free for everyone (at least for now). So, if you’ve been digging the big-name DJs and the celebrity guest spots, you can continue to do so without spending a cent.

It’s been suggested that plenty of Apple Music users have made their decision already. Just in case you weren’t aware, though, you need to switch off your subscription auto-renewal if you don’t want to get charged after the three-month trial period expires. Luckily, whether you want to do that on your iPhone or through iTunes, it’s not too much trouble. Within the Apple Music app for iOS, you need to prod at the “Account” icon (top left) and head into “View Apple ID.” From there, swipe down to the “Subscriptions” header and tap on “Manage,” where you’ll find the toggle to turn off auto-renewal.

Similarly, you can do the same in iTunes by clicking on the “Account” icon next to the search bar, and selecting “Account Info.” Scroll down to the “Settings” header, find the “Subscriptions” field and click on “Manage.” This is where you’ll find the option to “Edit” your Apple Music Membership preferences and disable auto-renewal. If you’re quite happy to pay for continued access to Apple’s streaming service, however, then you can ignore these instructions. So, tell us: will you be subscribing?

Will you be paying for Apple Music?