Apple Watch Series 2 Teardown Reveals 32 Percent Larger Battery, Sticky Waterproofing Seals
The first thing noticed was that Apple has slathered on an extra dose of strong adhesives to seal in the display screen. This can be directly attributed to the Apple Watch Series 2’s newfound waterproofing, which allows it to survive being submersed in water to depths of 50 meters.
Peeking inside the device, the “press” connectors of the original Apple Watch has been chucked in favor of ZIF connectors. Digging deeper inside the Apple Watch Series 2, you’ll find a battery that is affixed using chewing gum-esque adhesives. Speaking of the battery, in place of last year’s 205 mAh, 0.78 Whr battery you’ll find one that has roughly 33 percent more capacity. The Apple Watch Series 2 packs in 273 mAh and has 1.03 Whr of power — more than even the previous generation’s 42mm model.
Since Apple is sticking to its guns on the 18-hour battery life rating that was affixed to the first generation Apple Watch, we can most likely blame the power hungry nature of the new GPS chip for not seeing an appreciable jump in run times. Given the increase in battery capacity and the more efficient S2 processor, we could easily see an Apple Watch Series 2 without GPS cross the 24-hour threshold.
Like the iPhone 7 Plus, the Apple Watch Series 2 uses a healthy dose of tri-point screws to hold components in place. And you’ll also find gaskets around the rim of the watch’s housing to aid in its waterproofing. It should also be noted that the further you dive into the Apple Watch Series 2, the more destructive the process becomes. And even if you don’t completely obliterate the tiny components making up the watch, you will almost assuredly ruin the waterproof capabilities of the device.
Needless to say, we’d recommend that you forgot trying to replace your battery on your own or muck around with the Apple Watch Series 2’s internals -- leave it to the professionals. iFixit hasn’t given the Apple Watch Series 2 a reparability score yet, but we reckon that it won’t stray too far from 5 out of 10 rating given to the original.
