The iPhone 3G, unpacked and disassembled

The folks at iFixIt didn’t waste any time.

The Atascadero, Calif.-based Mac and iPod parts shop flew a technician to Auckland, New Zealand, to buy one of the first Apple (AAPL) iPhone 3Gs when they went on sale July 11 at 12:01 a.m. local time.

No sooner had he unpacked it than he immediately set to work taking it apart.

You can follow the somewhat unsettling sequence of events — dirty fingernails and all — here.

Click on the image below to read the identifying marks on the chips.

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Filed under 3G, Apple, iPhone, iPhone 3G

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We don’t just want photos – we want your analysis! Who are the suppliers? How much do you estimate it costs to make one? What components are shared with other Apple products, or with competing cell phones? We want info!

ex ped: I don’t do teardowns, but iSuppli did a “virtual” teardown a couple weeks ago that put the bill of materials at $164 and total BOM and manufacturing costs at $173. See here.

Posted By Gary Rybold, Irvine, California : July 10, 2008 1:18 pm

However Apple does it… it works! I’m giving my wife my Iphone and standing in line tomorrow to buy the 3G! Way to go Steve and all of Apple!

Posted By Bob Sokoler, Louisville Kentucky : July 10, 2008 12:52 pm

I feel a little naughty looking at this.

Posted By Doris : July 10, 2008 12:28 pm

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Silicon Valley veterans like to joke that Steve Jobs must be surrounded by a reality distortion field; if you get too close to him, you start to believe what he's saying. Thanks to the success of the iPod, the launch of the iPhone and the renewed interest in the Mac, Apple has made believers out of millions of customers - and made a lot of investors rich. But Philip Elmer-DeWitt believes that an ounce of skepticism never hurts when writing about the company. He should know. He's been covering Apple - and watching Steve Jobs operate - since 1982, first for Time Magazine, then for Business 2.0, and now for Fortune.