Our careful spudgering paid off. At the bottom of the phone, a cable connects the Touch ID sensor in the home button to the Lightning port assembly.

This adds a small element of danger to disassembly, as pulling too hard on the suction cup could cause accidental damage to the cable.

We survive this first booby trap and swiftly disconnect the Touch ID cable connector with the help of a spudger.

Alas, our first peek at the internal layout of the 5s. Comparing it to the iPhone 5, we spot very few differences, the main one being the lack of a battery removal pull-tab.