Apple's newest smartphone models hit stores today in many countries across the world, including Australia and China. For the first time, Apple is selling a second smartphone dubbed the 5C featuring a plastic back and bright colors. The pricier 5S now comes in three new colors - gray, silver and gold.

Technology firm iFixit disassembled a gold-coloured iPhone 5S and examined its parts and then took apart a 5C model.

Following are some of the key parts for the 5S model:

- Chips from Avago Technologies and Skyworks Solutions are featured in the iPhone 5S.

- Companies supplying parts for the new phone also include South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix and radio-frequency chipmaker TriQuint Semiconductor.

- Broadcom Corp’s BCM5976 chip is used for the touchscreen controller.

- Murata Manufacturing’s 339S0205 (based on the Broadcom BCM4334) Wi-Fi module.

- Includes chips from Qualcomm (PM8018 RF power management IC) and Texas Instruments.

Following are some key points of the 5C model:

- The hardware design on the 5C appears more similar to the 5S than to the iPhone 5

- The 5C uses a Toshiba Corp 16 gigabyte flash memory chip

Information is from iFixit, a web site offering parts and self-repair guides for Apple iPods and Macintosh computers. The company, which has conducted similar "tear downs" on other Apple products, posted step-by-step photos of the process on its website (Reuters)