Apple said it during the keynote, and then confirmed it the week of the launch, the iPhone 16 range has made a big effort in terms of repairability. The most important hardware change is undoubtedly a new type of battery adhesive, which allows for easier and safer replacement of the battery once the phone’s chassis has been removed. This is what the teardown specialist, iFixit, wanted to verify.
A simplified procedure
iFixit has published both a classic article and a teardown video. Here are the three takeaways about the iPhone 16:
- Improved battery removal system : Thanks to an adhesive using an ionic liquid, the battery can now be removed more easily and safely.
- More modular design : The iPhone 16 offers simplified access to several internal components (the cameras or the speaker), making repairs easier.
- Powerful repair assistant : The tool built into iOS 18 allows you to calibrate and check the proper functioning of replacement parts. Apple has also listed the 8 tools for repairing an iPhone.
iFixit explains that while the new features have disappointed customers, and us, the internal design will please DIYers.
Our teardown lab is full of iPhone 16 parts, and we’ve had a lot of fun playing with them. Apple’s latest smartphone lineup has largely disappointed tech critics, who are divided on the usefulness of the new camera button and are twiddling their thumbs waiting for Apple’s smarts to fall apart.
The battery
By applying a low-voltage electrical current, the adhesive holding the battery in place loosens, allowing for a clean and effortless removal from the phone’s chassis. Older iPhone batteries are secured with regular glue and must be pried out using four extendable tabs. This method is tricky, and when the tabs give way, the technician must use a tool to pry the battery out, with an increased risk of fire if damaged. With the iPhone 16’s new electro-activated adhesive, these complications are avoided. Simply connect alligator clips to a power source, and the battery safely detaches on its own.
The manual states that you can use up to 30V to trigger the electric release. We tried releasing our battery at several different voltages. At 20V, the battery released in about 5 seconds. At 5V, it took just over 6 minutes.
So the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus have this new repair process, but not the “Pro” ones. The batteries in the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max still have tabs, but their cells are now enclosed in a new metal casing. Apple could extend the new technique to the entire range next year with the iPhone 17.
New heat dissipation system
The iPhone’s ability to dissipate heat has always been important: When the processor gets too hot, it has to slow down and reduce performance. In the new world of AI, with machine learning models built into the device, performance will be more important than ever. Not to mention AAA games.
Apple has significantly changed its approach to dissipating heat from the main A18 processor with a new ferrous heat sink. This heat sink sits in the motherboard sandwich, soldered inside the RF half of the logic board, which has an L-shaped footprint, similar to that of previous iPhones and last year’s 15 Plus. The thermal paste transfers heat from the A18 to this area, rather than to other components.
Interestingly, this heatsink only covers about half of the A18 SoC.
If the alignment of the chip’s markings matches Apple’s marketing photos, then the heat sink sits above the Neural Engine, Apple’s machine learning hardware. The more efficiently the Neural Engine works, the better it will perform. These improvements will allow the iPhone to operate at peak performance for longer than previous models.
The only new feature on the iPhone 16 is the dedicated camera button. But it’s not just a simple button, as we might have expected.
Yes, it physically operates. Yes, it’s a button. But that’s not all. When we took it out, we discovered that it had its own little integrated circuit.
First thing’s first, the button appears to be laser welded to the frame. Previous models’ buttons had a locking mechanism that made them fully replaceable and repairable. Now, if the button malfunctions, iFixit says the entire frame will need to be replaced.
The soldering seems unnecessary, except to secure the button and its IC to the frame. There is a new “housing” component in the phone’s service history, and we have confirmed that it follows this IC – when we replaced a button, the term “housing” appeared in the history.
To replace it, you will obviously have to go through the new “Repair Assistant” mode which “worked perfectly for us on the iPhone 16”, according to iFixit.
On the other hand, the button is positioned in place of a 5G mmWave antenna in the iPhone 15 (and in all models up to the 12). Today, it seems that there is only one mmWave antenna left, located against the camera. Still, 5G performance tests have shown a gain in speed.
The repairability rating
In the end, the iPhone 16 does significantly better than the iPhone 15, with a nice 7/10, compared to 4/10 previously, mainly because of the difficulties related to the combination of parts.
The highlight is the new battery removal procedure, which is robust and easy to perform without expensive proprietary tools. However, it does require a little preparation before installing a new battery.
Apple’s repair manuals are well-written, above average for other manufacturers, and available from launch. Some areas for improvement include the lack of schematics for board repairs and procedures for the charging port or buttons.
