British repair shop Byte got its hands on an alleged Apple Watch 2 display component last week, and since then, has shared several videos showing off its design and comparing it to the display of the first-generation Apple Watch.
In its newest video, published this morning, Byte tore down the Apple Watch 2 display to give us a closer look at its individual components. According to Byte, the display is "the most advanced display of its kind," with an "incredibly thin" build that "incorporates cutting edge technology."
Using extreme cold, Byte was able to remove the display's cover glass and touch panel from the LCD assembly, along with the EMI shields from the chips. As can be seen in the video, the second-generation Apple Watch display incorporates an NXP NFC chip, which was previously a separate component not built into the display in the original Apple Watch.
What appears to be the touchscreen controller is sandwiched between the NFC chip on one side and capacitors on the other, a build that differs from the first generation device. It's not clear why NFC has been relocated to the display assembly, but it may save some internal space.
As we've seen in previous videos, the Apple Watch 2 display component is thinner than the display of the original Apple Watch (2.12 - 2.86mm vs 2.99 - 3.57mm), but given that we've also seen a larger, thicker battery, the Apple Watch 2 is likely to be the same size and shape as the first Apple Watch, despite the display changes.
The leaked Apple Watch 2 battery, which is for the 42mm device, measures in at 334 mAh, up from 246 mAh in the original Apple Watch. That's a 35.7 percent increase, said to be included to boost battery life and to support the GPS chip that's rumored to be in the second-generation device. Apple will unveil the Apple Watch 2 at a media event set to be held tomorrow, September 7.
