nospam
In article <1qdos91pvhnlhqo1k2f8a1paqaers80akd@4ax.com>, Eric Stevens <eric.stevens@sum.co.nz>wrote:

Eric Stevens
Well, it's inside the casing and you have to remove a cover to get at it. I don't see how you can regard it as an external switch.

nospam
you do *not* need to remove anything to get at it.

it's fully accessible from the outside. if it wasn't it would not be particularly useful.

Eric Stevens
Yes, you can operate it from the outside but you need to partially dismantle the phone to enable you to get at it.

nospam
only to replace the part, which is not what defines internal versus external.

these are examples of internal switches, where you have to remove a cover (or more) to access them, which is normally only done once. <http://www.cs1.net/pic/audio_authority/1154A_DIP_switches.jpg> <http://www.laptop-repair.info/images/acer_dip_switches.jpg>

there is *nothing* remotely close to that in an iphone/ipad/ipod.