Introduction

Anxious to have the Galaxy S 3 in the palm of your hand? Join us as we take an exciting sneak peek at the Samsung Galaxy S III, the appropriately-named successor to the Galaxy S II. Images provided courtesy of Chipworks!

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    • First, let's give thanks where thanks are due: a big, solid, awesome thanks to Chipworks for providing the pictures for this teardown. We greatly appreciate their help for the Samsung Galaxy S III!

    • Here's their full analysis on the Galaxy S III.

    HELP I. AM BOT ELECTRONICALLT INCLINED BUT CANT AFFORD A NEW PHONE OR A REPAIR. STOPPED CHARGING AND I SPOKE WITH SOMEONE WHO SAID SHE SOLDERED IT AND IT RESOLVED TGE ISSUE UNTIL SHE COULSD PURCHASE ANOTHER PHONE. IM BEGGING SOMEONE PLEAAE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD HELP!!! Everytging that could go wrong today has...with the exception of a death in the family!!! Pleaae help me...please!!!!

    allison.angela.fleming -

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    • Arguably the most hyped-up Android phone to ever hit the market, the Samsung Galaxy S III has an impressive list of accolades. Here are some of the heavy-hitting tech specs:

    • Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

    • 4.8" Super AMOLED 720 x 1280 resolution display

    • 1.4 GHz quad-core application processor

    • 2100 mAh battery

    • 8 MP rear-facing and 1.9 MP front-facing cameras

    • 16, 32, or 64 GB of internal storage

    • Pictured here next to the Samsung Galaxy S2 (left) for comparison.

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    • The simple, sleek design of the newest Galaxy S implements a standard power/sleep button on the side of the device.

    • As we ready ourselves to dig into this Galaxy S, it watches us with its rear 8 MP camera. To the left and right of the camera are the flash and speaker assemblies.

    • The Galaxy S is not only watching us, but listening, as well.

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    • Much like in the Galaxy Nexus, we find a user serviceable battery in the Samsung Galaxy S III.

    • The 3.8 V, 2100 mAh battery incorporates the antenna for the Near Field Communications (NFC) module used in "S Beam".

    • For those who are curious, 2100 mAh is equivalent to 7560 Coulombs of charge. Unsurprisingly, this is the same amount of charge that a 3.8V, 7.98 Wh battery holds.

    • Well this is interesting. It would seem Samsung wants us to "refer to [the] manual before using [the] battery?" Yeah, like that's gonna happen...

    What are the two white plastic removable circles at the base of the right hand corner covering? And what does w1 and w2 near them stand for?

    patricia leclercq -

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    • Internals time. The spudger takes care of the first two plastic assemblies.

    • The first piece out is the rear plastic frame that protects the motherboard and houses a single liquid indicator sticker.

    • Removal of the frame grants us access to an easily replaceable speaker assembly.

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    • The big question now is what we should remove first. So many components in such a small volume!

    • Rear-facing camera you say? Sure, let's pry that 8 MP behemoth of a camera out from the inner framework.

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    • We continue by removing the motherboard from the inner framework.

    • With the motherboard out of the way, we can get a good look at the inner support frame. While we suspect that the frame is probably magnesium, we do not yet have any concrete proof.

    • We find a chip that isn't attached to the motherboard: a Melfas 8PL533 Touch Sensor that translates your touch inputs into zeroes and ones.

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    • Let's talk tools for a minute.

    • We don't just make awesome teardowns—we sell parts. And tools! Lots and lots of tools.

    • Like this handy-dandy electronics tool kit that we used to take apart the new iPad. You know you want one. It'll pay for itself the first time you use it!

    • We sell Mac parts & upgrades, parts for iPhone screen repair, kits for fixing the infamous Xbox Red Ring of Death, and tons more.

    • We need your support to continue building the free repair manual for everything in the world.

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    • Chipworks eagerly provided us with pictures of the motherboard less than an hour into the teardown! Here is the front of the motherboard:

    • Murata M2322007 WiFi Module

    • Samsung Exynos 4412 quad-core A9 processor with 1 GB LP DDR2 Green Memory (K3PE7E700M-XGC2)

    • Samsung KMVTU000LM eMMC(16GB)+MDDR(64MB) NAND Flash

    • Intel Wireless PMB9811X Gold Baseband processor

    • MAX77693 and MAX77686

    • Broadcom BCM47511 Integrated Monolithic GNSS Receiver

    • 33ODC 2214 4TP AC

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    • The glass is fused to the display, and the display to the Galaxy S III's frame.

    • This will greatly increase the amount of money one has to spend when replacing the glass, should one be unfortunate enough to break it.

    Get a glass protector...got one from Radio Shack and seems to work just fine. I have dropped my phone a few times and nothing has happened...also have one of those rubber cases that wrap around it....seems to also work as advertise...I know hard to believe!!

    Bill -

    when replacing the front glass on the s3 the touchscreen controls on the bottom if one was to accidentally cut the cable to one do you have to buy a new digitizer

    tina -

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    • Some more shots of that saucy camera, including a Chipworks x-ray!

    • Chipworks report that the camera has a Sony BSI sensor. Contrary to earlier reports, their initial inspection suggests it is a new sensor, and not the same one used in the iPhone 4S. The bond pad arrangement is not the same as the IMX145 found in the iPhone 4S nor is it the same as the IMX105 found in previous Samsung phones.

    Is it possible to replace tge camera of an s3 9305 with that of s3 i9300

    Bright madziba -

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    • Update: This teardown was conducted solely via Interweb, requiring us to defer judgment on a repairability score. Now that we've worked on it ourselves, we can assign it a fair score:

    • Samsung Galaxy SIII Repairability Score: 8 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair)

    • The battery can be replaced without any tools.

    • Very easy to open and access internal components.

    • There are only 12 screws in the entire device, all standard Phillips #0 (no proprietary or security sizes).

    • Smaller components (antennas, vibrator, light sensor) are modular and can be replaced individually, but are adhered to the front panel.

    • The glass is fused to both the display and the display frame, increasing repair costs.

    • You'll have to go through the entire phone in order to replace the front panel, since everything is built into the back of it.

    The nob that I touch to turn phone on and off not the switch it self. Mi nob dropped out. Switch is good just need the nob

    phillipps8 -

Walter Galan

697731 Reputation

29 comments

I have read that Triquint chips are included in the Samsung SIII but it is not included in your teardown. I have seen it in other teardowns ,could you please explain..

Michael -

Hi Guys, the PMB5712 tranceiver is from Intel, not from Infineon.

Herbert -

can you guys do a teardown of the Sprint one so we can know if the LTE SIM card is soldered in or simply covered by the plastic?

rodneybro20 -

Any one know what type of connector they use for the two antenna test ports (bottom right). They aren't MMCX but I'm not sure what they are.

Rob -

why is there STILL no repair score?

rodneybro20 -

What's the tiny silver chip right beside the power button? I melted a corner of it with my soldering iron when I was replacing the power button and now my GPS doesn't work.

Terence Yeong -

where did you get the power switch

David -

Hello Terence,

Please tel me if you found a way to fix your problem because I have the same problem here.

Thanks

Mohammed Alnuaimi -

Where are the accelerometer and the magnetic sensor placed??

Abhishek Nair -

My charger port is not working. Help me with instructions on how to repair 8. Please

devictor34 -

This post is really great! Now I know how to to my stuff. Thanks for posting this informative article. As for my part, my battery has issues and that's why I bought new a new battery . If in any case this one will still have issues then maybe my phone is defective itself. But I do appreciated this post - it's a great help!

Josie Bontilao -

I was wondering if it is possible to replace the charger plug on a galaxy s3. Mine won't charge for more than 3 seconds and I thing it has something to do with the plug. I have pictures on it that I really want to keep, but I can't get it to charge.

Savvy Rose -

We have a full set of repair guides for the S III, just check out the device page, here's the motherboard replacement guide that shows you how to remove the component the USB port is mounted to. You can either resolder the port, if it's not damaged, or replace the motherboard entirely.

Sam Goldheart -

Hi, im having troubles with my phone after of a LCD replacement, the phone sometimes work and sometimes don't, i fix this problem removing the plastic mid-frame and putting it again. So i think the problem is in the contacts between the motherboard and the plastic mid-frame..

Can you guys tell me about this contacts? how they work?

this is a picture of the contact that i tell

http://www.repuestoinformatico.com/media...

THANKS !!!

Lyoto Dragon -

انا عندي الجهاز كان مايشحن دهبت به للمهندس وتم تبديل قطعه الشحن و ذهبتو به الي البيت لاشحنه فاذا بلجوال انطفي ولم يشتغل ابداا ونرجو منكم ان تفيدونا

Naef Mohmab -

what would you suggest if the s3 is saying "Charging paused.Battery temperature too low" I cant find any answers on the web thamks

errolcalme -

wow this is vry useful

Ashly Ajith -

Hi there! Thanks for this really great iFixit guide! However, there exist a little error in the product description of the NFC controller. At the picture on step 10 (bottom motherboard) it can be seen that it's effectively an NXP PN65 and not an NXP PN544. The NXP PN65 chip contains additionally to the PN544 NFC controller also a SmartMX secure element. ;-)

Clemens -

Does anyone have the pinout for the front camera please? I want to use the colour sensor (the R/B thing where the IR face sensor transmitter goes) but can't seem to locate these anywhere. I believe this is basically the same as the Sparkfun chip ISL29125 but a different variant.

On mine the camera does not work but before replacing the module ribbon it did still detect proximity so that works fine.

Also found that the S4 mini front camera is very similar alas not identical.

Andre -

Hi,what's the White wire on the right side please it's detached from where it's suppose to go. Thanks

Melissa -

I wanted to know whether the replacement display assembly you sell (EU225010) come pre-applied or ready with “LOCA” glue.

Jimmy -

@jimmytheboi Yes. LOCA is a messy as a DIY, and difficult to get right.

Jeff Suovanen -

This is a good shop of mobile spare parts .

Es una buena tienda donde comprar repuestos moviles

Joaquin -

Thank you for your wonderful efforts in our service

saleem -

Can I check if the screen is working ? without plugging it into the phone ?

Simple Developer -

Love my sIII BUT THE CHARGE PORT BROKE ON MINE CAN I REPLACE IT

Barbara Byargeon -

Yes, it can be replaced. It does take a bit of skill and a hot air rework station though, so if you're not experienced with that I'd suggest you find someone to do it for you.

BAM5 -

And do I replace it

Barbara Byargeon -