iFixit Tears Down the iPhone 5 As It Goes On Sale in Australia

The iPhone 5 is already on sale in Australia where, because of time zones, it's already tomorrow. iFixit has sent a technician to an Down Under Apple Store so the site can be one of the first worldwide to tear down the iPhone 5.

iFixit co-founder Luke Soules trekked halfway around the world to Melbourne, Australia to be one of the first to receive the iPhone 5. Then, he flew like the wind back to MacFixit Australia's office and started taking apart our unit. The process is now well underway.

iFixit will be updating their their tear down on the fly, and we will be updating our post as they update theirs.

The iPhone 5 continues to use the 5-point pentalobe screw that Apple began using in the iPhone 4, requiring a special screwdriver to take apart the device.


Ars Technica's Chris Foresman points out that the battery in the iPhone 5 has practically the same capacity as the battery from the iPhone 4S, going from 5.3Whr @ 3.7V to 5.45Whr @ 3.8V, or 1432 mAh to 1434 mAh.

Swiss Federal Railways Says Apple Copied Its Iconic Railway Clock

Switzerland's Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, or Swiss Federal Railway service, has accused Apple of using their iconic clock in its Clock app for iPad without permission, according to a report in the Swiss newspaper Blick [Google Translate].



Left: Apple's Clock app. Right: The iconic Swiss Railway clock. Courtesy Wikipedia
The clock, designed by Hans Hilfiker, has become an icon of both the Swiss railway and of Switzerland itself. The trademark and copyright for the clock is owned by the Swiss Federal Railways service.

According to the article:

SBB is the sole owner of the trademark and copyright of the railway clock. The railway company will now get in touch with Apple. The aim is a legal, as well as a financial solution. It is not right that one [Apple] simply copies the design.

The paper notes that Apple Switzerland declined to comment and directed reporters to Apple's corporate headquarters in the United States.

The clock's image is widely licensed, with the watchmaker Mondaine selling replicas around the world.

(Thanks for the translation, Dave!)

Update: In the interest of fairness, we have changed our links from Tanges-Anzeiger to the Swiss daily Blick, which first reported the story. The translated quote remains one provided by a MacRumors reader from a paragraph in the Tanges-Anzeiger story.

Apple Issues Statement Over Day 1 'Maps' Glitches, Maps Team Reportedly Under Lockdown to Fix Issues

With iOS 6 released to the public for just over 24 hours now, Apple's new and highly touted Maps application has received a large amount of public criticism over missing features and glitches. Google has already submitted its own iOS Maps app to Apple, but the company has responded via a public statement issued to AllThingsD:

"Customers around the world are upgrading to iOS 6 with over 200 new features including Apple Maps, our first map service," said spokeswoman Trudy Miller. "We are excited to offer this service with innovative new features like Flyover, turn by turn navigation, and Siri integration. We launched this new map service knowing it is a major initiative and that we are just getting started with it. Maps is a cloud-based solution and the more people use it, the better it will get. We appreciate all of the customer feedback and are working hard to make the customer experience even better."

Later in his piece, AllThingsD writer John Paczkowski says the developer team assigned to the Maps app is "under lockdown" working to fix the app.