iFixit’s iPhone 16 teardown finds a greatly improved battery removal process

The new iPhones received a repair score of 7 out of 10.

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[tipoo]

Bit of an odd jumble this year - the 16 gets the electrical adhesive but standard non-metal battery, the Pro gets the metal battery but pull tab adhesive, and the Pro Max gets both the old pull tabs and non-metal battery

Hopefully as they test everything this year and see how it goes every 17 model moves on to all electrical adhesive and all metal batteries, same as they started with the smallest Apple Watch with the metal batteries and then moved up.


(I also think their writeup probably got one thing wrong - the metal shrouding appears to be covering only part of the A18 Pro SoC, and they guessed that it was only covering the neural engine based on the artistic renders of A18. That I thought was a surprising and incorrect assumption, the black die cap you're seeing actually covers several components including LPDDR that doesn't need cooling, the metal shrouding is probably covering all of the A18 and not the low power components. Also the artistic renders take a lot of creative licence and aren't accurate to the locations and proportions of everything all the time.)

 

[OrangeCream]

Bit of an odd jumble this year - the 16 gets the electrical adhesive but standard non-metal battery, the Pro gets the metal battery but pull tab adhesive, and the Pro Max gets both the old pull tabs and non-metal battery

It seems to me like a form of A/B testing. They'll get warranty repairs, battery replacement, and service desk reports to inform them of the relative costs and difficulties of all of the above.

Hopefully as they test everything this year and see how it goes every 17 model moves on to all electrical adhesive and all metal batteries, same as they started with the smallest Apple Watch with the metal batteries and then moved up.

The other possibility is supply chain constraints limiting their ability to adopt the same battery design across their entire lineup.

 

[ArsPlebeian]

I've always been confused about why any battery is glued on to the phone frame at all. Old phones with replaceable batteries didn't seem to have problems. Modern phones are so tightly packed that the battery has nowhere to go anyways. Drop protection, maybe, so the battery can't move a tiny bit on a severe shock?

In any case, the new electrical release adhesive is pretty cool. Happy to see some progress in repairability.

 

[OpenAI_Technica]

View attachment 91341

Dare I ask why the character on the left is holding a mountain dulcimer?

 

[OrangeCream]

I've always been confused about why any battery is glued on to the phone frame at all.

This was answered 17 years ago when the first iPhone was released

Old phones with replaceable batteries didn't seem to have problems.

There were three problems:

• Extra space was dedicated to a rigid frame encasing the battery that could otherwise be used for battery
• Extra space was dedicated to a battery enclosure that could otherwise be used for battery
• The chassis had to be designed around a cavity and a cover to allow for access to the battery, limiting the layout

A pouch type battery secured to the inside of the phone solved all three of those problems; now you can place the battery anywhere (between the screen & the motherboard, for example), you didn't need a protective shell (the phone itself was the protective shell), and you didn't need an access port/cover/tray to secure the battery.

Modern phones are so tightly packed that the battery has nowhere to go anyways. Drop protection, maybe, so the battery can't move a tiny bit on a severe shock?

Google had huge air spaces around their battery:

They used both screws and adhesive to secure the battery, because you can imagine the havoc if the battery came lose inside the Pixel Tablet.

Even if you look at an iPhone the battery is not tightly packed but surrounded by airgaps:

In any case, the new electrical release adhesive is pretty cool. Happy to see some progress in repairability.

Something has to secure the battery, and if it's screws it needs a rigid material to connect the battery to the screw. Without a rigid material you're stuck with adhesives of some sort.

 

[stormcrash]

This makes me feel better about likely replacing my 12 mini with a 16 this year

 

[ubercurmudgeon]

Does that mean if you reverse the polarity it'll rebond the battery? No, not quite.

The Doctor will be disappointed.

 

[DanNeely]

Does it need 12V to release, or did iFixit just use that voltage because they had it handy?

Pull tabs are annoying, but anyone could work them. And while a pair of alligator leads are cheap, most people don't have easy access to a low current DC current higher than the 9V from a new alkaline battery. You can get 12V from a desktop PSU, but without something else to limit the current you're going to get a lot flowing through, which could cause problems of it's own.

 

[danan]

Does it need 12V to release, or did iFixit just use that voltage because they had it handy?

Pull tabs are annoying, but anyone could work them. And while a pair of alligator leads are cheap, most people don't have easy access to a low current DC current higher than the 9V from a new alkaline battery. You can get 12V from a desktop PSU, but without something else to limit the current you're going to get a lot flowing through, which could cause problems of its own.

Oh, come now. 12V car batteries are everywhere.
/s

 

[just another rmohns]

Does it need 12V to release, or did iFixit just use that voltage because they had it handy?

Pull tabs are annoying, but anyone could work them.

If they worked, sure. But having done half a dozen iPhone battery replacements over the years, including an iPhone SE 2 this afternoon, those tabs are ducking horrible.

I have never had those tabs all pull free cleanly and without breaking, no matter the angle or pressure or speed I try. They always break, I always have to work tools under the battery to break the adhesive, and I always end up with a bent battery.

The smaller adhesive areas used on the newer phones with Qi charging makes it less awful but still not great; I can get the battery out mostly un-bent.

Today i made a new record. One tab worked perfectly! The other three broke.

It may be that my technique sucks. Or it may be that those pull tabs were simply past the limit of what this kind of 3M Command-style adhesive strips can handle, and Apple knows it, but hadn’t figured out anything less awful until now.

I would be so thrilled to be able to hook a little wire to a 9V battery and make the adhesive just… let go. That can’t possibly raise the bar any more than the weird mix of pentalobe, Philips #000, tri-wing Y000, and standoff fasteners already does.

 

[Legatum_of_Kain]

You know, I am a fan of unchanging externals, but better internals.

I cannot remember the iPhone version I had, but one of them was very sensitive to connector being moved around (this was pre-lightning), and I did not get the first lightning version, but I certainly appreciated that they made the iPhone 6-style phones really good in that respect for a while.

I know that they have to "differentiate" hardware a lot of times, but if the design is solid, do not change it.

I would love to have a mini-12 phone that is nice on the hands even if it is thicker for battery life, but that is just me.

 

[Smeghead]

Does it need 12V to release, or did iFixit just use that voltage because they had it handy?

Pull tabs are annoying, but anyone could work them. And while a pair of alligator leads are cheap, most people don't have easy access to a low current DC current higher than the 9V from a new alkaline battery. You can get 12V from a desktop PSU, but without something else to limit the current you're going to get a lot flowing through, which could cause problems of it's own.

Ifixit has an image they say is from apple's official repair guide that shows a 9V battery used for a minute and a half.

I also seem to remember hearing somewhere you can go up to something like 30V.

 

[umuhk]

I've always been confused about why any battery is glued on to the phone frame at all. Old phones with replaceable batteries didn't seem to have problems. Modern phones are so tightly packed that the battery has nowhere to go anyways. Drop protection, maybe, so the battery can't move a tiny bit on a severe shock?

IIRC rechargeable polymer cells expand and contract slightly under use. They need a bit of "breathing room", but then also need to be secured within that space. I suppose a flexible "packing material" could work as well, but flexible adhesives are probably cheaper.

 

[A_Very_Tired_Geek]

It seems to me like a form of A/B testing. They'll get warranty repairs, battery replacement, and service desk reports to inform them of the relative costs and difficulties of all of the above.

The other possibility is supply chain constraints limiting their ability to adopt the same battery design across their entire lineup.

Probably some of both. They had to design more than one maintenance scheme because of supply chain limitations, but at the same time they'll use the information from authorized repair shops to issue guidelines to inform the next iteration. Waste not, want not.

If nothing else, here's hoping by the time I'm ready for a new iPhone, the iFixit score is even higher. At least for the battery and screen. The SOC is always going to be one piece.

 

[tipoo]

Dare I ask why the character on the left is holding a mountain dulcimer?

You'll just have to watch The Weekenders

But well spotted!

 

[Skeaptical]

It seems to me like a form of A/B testing. They'll get warranty repairs, battery replacement, and service desk reports to inform them of the relative costs and difficulties of all of the above.

The other possibility is supply chain constraints limiting their ability to adopt the same battery design across their entire lineup.

I agree.

Another possible factor at play is the battery shape. Both the 16 and 16 plus have square batteries and the new adhesive. While the Pros have L shaped batteries and kept the old style of pull tabs for this generation.

 

[jhodge]

It’ll be interesting to see if the adhesive still releases cleanly five years from now.

 

[piofinn]

Does it need 12V to release, or did iFixit just use that voltage because they had it handy?

In the official repair manual Apple specify a 9V battery, as illustrated in this image from the manual:

 

[gnasher729]

The one thing that worries me about electrical release adhesives is... what if there's a short to the adhesive? Not a problem if the adhesive is adhering plastic to plastic, but if it's adhering metal to metal and one of those is a ground plane, all it would take is a sudden spike in the ground plane voltage, and you've got a loose battery bouncing around in there.

That’s an obvious worry. Do you think nobody at apple thought about that? Seriously? So the next million or so iPhones 16s will all go up in flames?

 

[Whatexit]

In the official repair manual Apple specify a 9V battery, as illustrated in this image from the manual:

View attachment 91367

This is genius! Everyone has a 9 volt battery and they’re perfectly designed to snap a connector on - one with clips like this should be inexpensive. Wonder if Apple got a patent? This should increase efficiency of shops that replace the batteries.

I had my iPhone 4 battery replaced years ago. Read up on what was needed to do the work myself and decided not to risk it, and getting the battery loose was one of the reasons. My iPhone XS’s battery is dying. I’m considering trading it in for an iPhone 16. Just visited Apple, T-Mobile and Verizon stores yesterday and got information about their plans and trade-in policies. Talk about confusing! I’ll mull over the details then see if I can get better deals by calling the companies directly. I have AT&T now, and their salesperson suggested that I call their “loyalty” department. If I decide to keep my old phone a little longer, I’ll get Apple to replace the battery.

 

[StvnW]

I also seem to remember hearing somewhere you can go up to something like 30V.

It’ll be interesting to see if the adhesive still releases cleanly five years from now.

From the official repair manual:

Adhesive removal time may increase during the product’s life. Adhesive removal can be accomplished by applying up to 30 volts, using alternate power sources such as DC power supplies. Higher voltage application will result in faster removal times.

 

[Ben G]

Does anyone know how the electrical release adhesive actually works? From the bit of info that higher voltage will make it release more quickly, it makes me suspicious that it is actually a thermal effect. Kind of like “memory wire” where it changes shape when electricity is applied. For that stuff, the actual physical change is due to the temperature being increased by resistive heating when a current is run through the wire, not because of a direct electrical process.

 

[Secondfloor]

Does anyone know how the electrical release adhesive actually works? From the bit of info that higher voltage will make it release more quickly, it makes me suspicious that it is actually a thermal effect. Kind of like “memory wire” where it changes shape when electricity is applied. For that stuff, the actual physical change is due to the temperature being increased by resistive heating when a current is run through the wire, not because of a direct electrical process.

Dang, I wish Ars would include links to source material in their articles. Then we wouldn’t have to ask questions like this, right?

 

[THT]

Does anyone know how the electrical release adhesive actually works? From the bit of info that higher voltage will make it release more quickly, it makes me suspicious that it is actually a thermal effect. Kind of like “memory wire” where it changes shape when electricity is applied. For that stuff, the actual physical change is due to the temperature being increased by resistive heating when a current is run through the wire, not because of a direct electrical process.

It's electro-chemical. When voltage is applied, the adhesive moves to one of the two plates. When the polarity of the voltage is reversed, the adhesive moves to the other plate of the two. So, you want to have the right polarity so that the adhesive sticks to the battery side, not the phone side.

The higher the voltage the faster this process takes. I imagine you can use a AA battery as long you want to wait 10 minutes.

 

[DanNeely]

This is genius! Everyone has a 9 volt battery and they’re perfectly designed to snap a connector on - one with clips like this should be inexpensive. Wonder if Apple got a patent? This should increase efficiency of shops that replace the batteries.

I had my iPhone 4 battery replaced years ago. Read up on what was needed to do the work myself and decided not to risk it, and getting the battery loose was one of the reasons. My iPhone XS’s battery is dying. I’m considering trading it in for an iPhone 16. Just visited Apple, T-Mobile and Verizon stores yesterday and got information about their plans and trade-in policies. Talk about confusing! I’ll mull over the details then see if I can get better deals by calling the companies directly. I have AT&T now, and their salesperson suggested that I call their “loyalty” department. If I decide to keep my old phone a little longer, I’ll get Apple to replace the battery.

It wouldn't be the first time patent lawyers filed something idiotic if they did; but an adapter that plugs onto a 9V battery and has two leads is a very common piece of cheap DIY hardware so there'd be a ton of prior art to smack it down.

What might be able to get a patent - and would be actually useful in repair shops - would be one that had a voltage/current monitor and a display of some sort (a few LEDs would be sufficient, but I suspect Apple would be tempted to go for smart watch type screen) to indicate when the process was complete and the battery ready to remove.

 

[ChefSalad]

I saw the 9V battery-aided battery removal on a YouTube Short the other day and I legit thought it was a parody of repair videos. That's very weird. I wonder if the electricity interacts chemically with the adhesive or if there's just some kind of built-in resistive heater that runs on 9V.

 

[Secondfloor]

JFC. Has everyone forgotten how to use the internet for research?

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/admi.202101447

How could anyone think it’s a thermal process in a phone? With a 9 volt battery. Connected to a big heat sink.

 

[Ben G]

JFC. Has everyone forgotten how to use the internet for research?

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/admi.202101447

How could anyone think it’s a thermal process in a phone? With a 9 volt battery. Connected to a big heat sink.

Thanks for the link. That was part of the reason I asked the question in the first place. You can get heat from low voltage, and depending on the heat transfer of the adhesive, it could be well localized. Additionally, if you’re pulling the battery out, you probably don’t care if it gets a little hit on removal.

As your link mentions, there are “smart adhesives” that respond to various stimuli. It also mentions why heat can be an issue, but I was thinking this would require hitting oven temperatures or anything.

Again, I do appreciate the link though.

 

[Eldorito]

You know, I am a fan of unchanging externals, but better internals.

I cannot remember the iPhone version I had, but one of them was very sensitive to connector being moved around (this was pre-lightning), and I did not get the first lightning version, but I certainly appreciated that they made the iPhone 6-style phones really good in that respect for a while.

I know that they have to "differentiate" hardware a lot of times, but if the design is solid, do not change it.

I would love to have a mini-12 phone that is nice on the hands even if it is thicker for battery life, but that is just me.

I switched from a 12 mini to a 13 pro recently due to battery life (thanks to cheap refurbs and tax writeoffs, it cost me about the same as just replacing the battery in the mini) and I seriously miss the size. I use my phone a lot, but I don't use it for anything particularly demanding and I miss being able to do things single handed.

I look forward to the day I can basically get the size I want with the camera tech and hardware I want just by throwing appropriate money at it. iPhone 18 Mini Pro would be my best friend.

 

[Victor Bitu]

The fact that is easier to change the battery is a small step in the right direction .I can only hope this trend will continue.

 

[OrangeCream]

plenty of modern phones have removable batteries - fairphone, pinephone, libre phone

Just take a look then:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Fairphone+2+Battery+Replacement/53561

It’s got everything I described: a chassis with an opening, a rigid battery, and a battery carrier.

And the cost of that is a phone that is 9.6mm thick, 1.8mm thicker, but you have a battery that is 100mAh smaller than in the iPhone 14 Plus.

If that point isn’t clear, imagine if that extra 1.8mm were dedicated to a battery instead. Just increasing the Fairphone 5 battery by 1.8mm would increase its capacity by 30%. You can look at the Asus ROG 8 Pro as a comparison. It’s slightly thinner by 0.7mm but has a 30% bigger battery. That’s my point. Fairphone clearly designed a phone with a user replaceable battery but sacrificed battery life to accomplish this.

 

[barefootguru]

I‘m guessing this is a one way process, and you need a new adhesive sheet along with a new battery?

 

[rochefort]

How could anyone think it’s a thermal process in a phone?

You do know that hot pads have been used for years to soften the glue in phones, right?