The Atascadero, Calif.-based Mac and iPod parts shop flew a technician to Auckland, New Zealand, to buy one of the first Apple (AAPL) iPhone 3Gs when they went on sale July 11 at 12:01 a.m. local time.

No sooner had he unpacked it than he immediately set to work taking it apart.

You can follow the somewhat unsettling sequence of events — dirty fingernails and all — here.

Click on the image below to read the identifying marks on the chips.