A world traveller seeking adventure decided to take on a challenge when someone told him it’s possible to make your own iPhone using recycled parts.
Software engineer Scotty Allen spent a few months in Shenzen, China looking for all the parts he needed. He eventually managed to pull off the feat for a little over half the price of a new phone. And there’s a video (above) to prove it.
It’s true that Allen ended buying many components he didn’t actually need, paying about $1000 in all. But he reckons he spent only about $300 on the parts he used for the actual phone – a 16GB iPhone 6S, which currently costs about $500.
The markets in Shenzen gave Allen everything he needed by way of the main components (logic board, display, battery and back casing). He had originally hoped to build his own logic board, but this proved difficult probably because of the Touch ID and Secure Enclave pairing.
A recycled logic board with a Touch ID sensor solved his problems. As for why he chose to not focus on iPhone 7, he explained that it’s pretty hard right now to even find those parts.
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