Hot-Wiring the iPhone 16: New Battery Removal and Complete Teardown

[@SalzmanSoftware]

I never thought I would see the day when an iPhone gets a 7/10 on the iFixit repairability scale!

[@agcouper]

Only because Europe forced Apple to do so

[@AndrewSelkirkEh]

when will we get a teardown and battery replacement for that new soldering iron powerpack?

[@kyle_wiens]

We're planning on having it live, along with replacement batteries, when we start shipping on October 15!

[@warriorplutotrent3827]

The chinese has already tore It down and the battery started melting😂😂😂 have to he careful with disassembly of the new battery

[@SNESChalmers147]

As of the iPhone 17, more generations of iPhones will not have had a headphone jack than generations that did.

[@DoubleU555]

Yeah, complaining about lack of one is getting old already.

[@justseifert]

​@@DoubleU555complaining about people who need one is getting old

[@TitusSc]

@@DoubleU555why? It’s still as useful and as relevant as ever.

[@illhaveawtrplz]

@@DoubleU555 On the flip side, Apple has proven their point to consumers about the usefulness of AirPods. People love them now, and they will keep buying them. Why not return the headphone jack at this point? It will make a lot of people very happy and they’ll still make a ton of money.

[@cosmingosav]

Good riddance.

[@yuanxichen2973]

Replacability of batteries is a great step forward

[@MahanYT_Official]

I like the old way more

[@FR4M3Sharma]

Bruh what? 😂

[@SlartiMarvinbartfast]

Yes, but it's still a real pain to open up the phone AND there's a risk of damaging the flex cables. Why won't Apple go a step further and make it easy to gain access to the battery in the first place?

[@Rambogner]

Definitely not more repairable apart from Apple and stores only. Consumers CAN do it if they want to risk damaging much more getting to it.

[@RandomUser2401]

@@Rambogner wtf, no. And batteries were _always_ replaceable.

[@anianii]

6:20 The Headphone Jack was removed with iPhone 7, not 6S

[@kyle_wiens]

You're correct, our intent here was that we've been without a headphone jack since *after* the iPhone 6S.

[@anianii]

@@kyle_wiens That's just confusing though, since with eSIM it was since iPhone 14 as you said, and not after

[@andrewho2456]

MKBHD level mistake

[@Wtrxprs007able]

Correct. My last iPhone was a 6S+ with the headphone jack and because the 7 didn't have it I have used Samsung since then.

[@LuisAngelSantos]

@@kyle_wiens you complaining about the lack of headphone jack is old. The headphone jack is gone, accept it! It had to go, just saying…

[@LazorVideosDestruction]

I still think there are cheaper and more repairable ways to secure the battery inside the phone, but this adhesive tech is really cool, and I hope to see other manufacturers copy it

[@LazorVideosDestruction]

The welded camera button and integrated circuit attached are most certainly Apple's method of serializing the frame of the phone

[@wisdomyaw03]

​@@LazorVideosDestructionAnd what's wrong with that. It's not as if you can't swap it with another iPhone?

[@LazorVideosDestruction]

@@wisdomyaw03 I never claimed there was anything wrong with it. That said, it can be used for dirty practices like serialization has in the past for Apple. It could significantly impact third party frames especially. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, but it's Apple afterall

[@wisdomyaw03]

​@@LazorVideosDestructionFirst of all, "serialization" in itself is not "evil" unlike what some repair advocates put out there. Secondly, the frame can be swapped with other iPhones, and doesn't need calibration to function. It just needs to be reconfigured to the new device it's being swapped to, and serves as history for parts that have been repaired in the Settings. Besides, who makes third party enclosure for the iPhone at all?

[@LazorVideosDestruction]

@@wisdomyaw03 Agree to disagree then ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[@MarcelStieber]

Very cool battery adhesive tech! Great teardown as always, iFixit!

[@ericcarabetta1161]

That electricity activated glue was fascinating.

[@AMatofFact]

This is a huge win for right to repair. Still a long way to go, but it's a start.

[@swagmalone8092]

Finally repairability for the common folk.... except worse pre iPhone X, but thanks for the electro battery removal really takes the shock out the price of the replacement😇

[@rat_step]

The new adhesive is so cool! I'm more excited about that than the new not-a-button.

[@g_glop]

If they also used it for the display and back panel it would be a chef's kiss

[@tylaroverturf]

Yet for some reason the 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max just have pull tabs and don't have this new battery removal tech. I also wonder why only the 16 Pro gets a metal battery.

[@someonetooknuggets]

Probably the same reason why iPhone 14 got dual entry design before the Pro verson.

[@IqbalHossain-vg8vr]

Its a test drive i think

[@sonacphotos]

The 16 Pro do have this tech.

[@reddcube]

The new battery removal is wonderful. And calibrating replacement parts on phone makes iPhone 16 the most repairable iPhone so far.

[@stephen_l1474]

The electrical battery adhesive is super cool, would like to see it replace more tech product adhesives (MacBook batteries plz). Honestly, the biggest win for right to repair this time is the first-party glass adhesive. Without this adhesive, it always felt like repairing an iPhone was a one-way process. Also notice phillips screw inside, while easier to find screwdriver I wonder if it will be too easy to strip after a few repairs.

[@shubus]

The replaceable battery is huge. Previously we've had a whole lot of parts serialized and thus not user replaceable. This video suggest only FACE ID maybe serialized. Guess the jury is still out on what is and what isn't serialized. Anyhow, the new model is a BIG win.

[@wisdomyaw03]

@@shubus FaceID can be swapped. It just has to be OEM part, not third party part.

[@andrikurniawan531]

new button is serialized, and weld so very hard to replaced by ourself

[@qwertzuiop875]

Yes they swap the Face ID module as a whole at least since the 12. They did this on my phone.

[@mba2808]

You are wrong, even more parts are serialized now, but you can „calibrate” them if they are original Apple parts. You won’t be able to calibrate non Apple screen or battery. They want to monopolize spare parts market.

[@wisdomyaw03]

@@mba2808 That's wrong! Apple released a document earlier this year it termed "Longevity By Design," in which they stated that third party parts, except FaceID/TrueDepth camera for security reasons, can be calibrated on device. The only caveat, which is obvious and logical, is that since Apple didn't make these parts they can't guarantee their optimal performance so it'll be stated in the Settings that it is a third party part for transparency. Also if the calibration, say for the display which has True Tone to adjust the display's color relative to the ambient light, is not working optimally you can turn it off-which is what it used to be when the display wasn't calibrated.

[@Daryl0601]

That electric battery magic is so cool

[@thenoob4310]

does this mean I can fix it for less than 400 bucks

[@Quamsi]

Depends on what breaks and who is doing the labor lol. If your replacing a battery on your own, it would probably be like 80$ assuming you have the equipment

[@thesuperstar4470]

You need to spend some money on tools

[@enda0man]

You have to be a little bit more specific than that. If we’re talking about screen replacements, maybe. If we’re talking about back glass replacement, camera replacement, etc. it’s all different prices.

[@LaidBackDeveloper]

No

[@jt.binwylin]

You buy a BMW and want to service it at the cost of a Honda, yea that's not happenin.

[@Zomboy4313]

I really wish the 16 Pro had that teal colour, it looks so nice

[@Quamsi]

If apple starts using the electrically deactivated adhesive for the frint and back glass that could make battery replacements so easy that we would be getting back to the era where you could just carry a spare battery with you to swap into the phone. Just need to find adhesive that can be reactivated by electricity.

[@shirobuta_]

😂😂😂

[@kaedenmurphy9937]

Imagine if it was software controlled too, you turn off the iPhone and connect a device to the usb c port that tells it to neutralize the adhesive on the back glass/battery, it would be super cool

[@TheLikeys]

yeah i guess.. but the issue would be to developers a material that could reactivate a one dissolved adhesive.. but yah would be a cool thing for the future.

[@VladVibes]

Just buy power bank, don't be a clown

[@yukinoryu]

We miss you Project ARA / Motorola Mods ;'(

[@wisdomyaw03]

8:34 Face ID(TrueDepth camera) can also be swapped/replaced with an OEM part and can be calibrated to work correctly. It is third party parts that is not supported, not Apple's original part.

[@makeitrainnaren]

Yup this year they've separated the pairing of the TrueDepth projector and other crystal sensor right? meaning resoldering repairs of torn Face ID ribbon cables might be possible.

[@Savi159]

Just make the camera button do touch ID as well next year am i right or am i right?

[@FR4M3Sharma]

No they need to innovate so it'll be called something else.

[@gentle285]

@@FR4M3Sharma Like SlideID or something 😂

[@devnol]

side mounted fingerprint is the best biometric option out there. My 200$ galaxy has it and it even has some touch gestures for pulling down the quick settings and notification tray.

[@ihtesham_emon]

A repairability score of 7 for an iphone, unbelievable ‼️😮

[@QAZ2453]

Imagine the battery adhesive of all things being the talking point of the iPhone 16😂😂😂😂😂

[@RezTechTube]

That battery adhesive is actually really cool. I hope others will copy it.

[@lmaoroflcopter]

Woah! Apple finally doing something innovative and it's a somewhat user replaceable battery. Would not have seen that coming.

[@qwertzuiop875]

Actually since the first iPhones they became more and more repairable from generation to generation

[@lmaoroflcopter]

​@@qwertzuiop875 Sure, that's why they linked the screens to the hardware security chips and caused a right nightmare for repairers.

[@dolurosu]

@@qwertzuiop875 That's quite literally not true at all lmao. For one, the glass back caused issues for a few gens, and then the way serialization was handled (which is absolutely something to consider when looking at reparability).

[@qwertzuiop875]

@@dolurosu When you look at the amount of modular parts per generation, directly replacable by Apple or partners then my statement is true. Glas back was needed for wireless charging, something many wanted for years. It was the standard that the phone was just openable from one side and at some point they prefered the front than back, because a easy display fix was more important than back. Now you have both. The problem with the displays was the calibration data, so true tone would be the issue. But the displays always worked, just true tone got disabled.

[@qwertzuiop875]

@@lmaoroflcopter For unofficial ones maybe. At the end just true tone got disabled if you really needed a cheap fix.

[@electroplaque]

How is the adhesive replaced?

[@modelwhhyyy]

Id assume it would come with replacement batteries

[@gentle285]

I'm 100% sure a new one will already be applied on an original Apple battery. I doubt 3rd party makers will replicate this new tech.

[@adityachowda8403]

I just witnessed one of most entertaining way of showing people whats inside their phones !

[@Drew1218s]

Thinking of finally upgrading from my 13 mini to a 16/pro. Still love my 13 mini but I’m intrigued by the new models. Fixed several issues from the 15’s and the big increase in battery is nice. I don’t care at all about AI though.

[@allansh828]

please make tutorials about checking out bombs inside electronic devices

[@johnlucas6683]

You'll have to provide the device with a specialized explosive.

[@david-wildcard]

I really enjoyed how you explained how the battery disconnects when current is applied and seeing these close up images and xray, really cool!

[@N-mj15]

In their repair manual, they used a 9 volt battery to get it of

[@gentle285]

I'm even shocked there is an official repair manual, let alone showing the process with a simple 9v battery. Respect.

[@Jj82op]

Who would have guessed that battery replacement was their biggest innovation.

[@Theoryofcatsndogs]

Seems like Apple changed from DIY repair public enemy no 1 to the daring of DIY repair in couple short year.

[@BaconFaceMcGee]

I’ve never heard of such an adhesive.

[@Djoki1]

Still unsure why we glued the batteries in the first place but oh well. This is actually pretty interesting not gonna lie. I like it. Though i still dont like the general idea of a battery almost welded to the frame. Surely it wouldnt be impossible to make a battery thats held in place with screws or even just a compliant mechanism? I mean, we made them less than 10 years ago.

[@verdedoodleduck]

Have you thought about making some of those spudges with a small ridge at an appropriate distance from the edge to stop errant dives into the insides? If the ridge was rounded you might be able to roll the spudge a little around the perimeter. Maybe depth markings around the inside if the ridge isn't feasible?

[@prajna_meher]

Those high resolution magnified images are cool❤

[@DanielsTechVideos]

Great teardown video! I was waiting for this.

[@amonrei]

Camera button, button... button Apple: STOP

[@BobMcBurger1]

Will be interesting to see how else Apple will improve replaceability in the future. This new adhesive is really impressive and something I would have never imagined. Would be useful if they implemented this elsewhere in the frame to where it can be software activated manually for such as opening the back panel to easily access the internals.

[@Mike_Who]

Could you use a 9v battery instead of a bench power supply? How will ifixit be recommending amateurs remove the battery?

[@kyle_wiens]

Yes. Our gut feel is that USB-C is more ubiquitous than a 9V battery now, so we're probably going to make a USB-C cable for powering the adhesive release. A 9V would work fine as well!

[@Mike_Who]

@@kyle_wiens nice, that sounds better actually as a I doubt most people have crocodile clips laying around to hook up a battery. A usb c in a repair kit sounds much better

[@hit0midesuuue]

This may be my reason to go back using an iPhone again. Love the repairable design of the new 16 and the Self Repair thing going on! I just hate samsung’s excessive use of strong adhesive. Been fixing my own phone since the iPhone 6.

[@AlexSchendel]

There are a lot of things I don't like about Apple, but props to them for electrically removable adhesive. Hopefully Google is taking notes.

[@TheTechyDan]

I really hope this electric adhesive is able to be used on folding phone displays. The fact that we're ~6 generations in and you still can't repair those inner screens is insane to me

[@CooperJackToys]

Would be cool if you could use the iPhone battery itself to unstick it. Like moving the connector to a different socket or something

[@RAYDEEY17]

How do you expect them to sell the air pods? They created a problem then provided a solution.

[@ziverch]

Would parts from ifixit pair and are they considered OEM parts?

[@superNova5837]

Honestly repair assistant is one of those features they should’ve announced as well

[@ajay9760]

Sir you had not disclosed the battery mah of both the 16 & 16+ phones. Please disclose the battery comparing with 15.

[@anarfox]

Needing special tools not normally found in a household isn't what I would call a win for repairability.

[@BlindMango]

That's what I was thinking, your average joe isn't going to have that, but the battery pull tabs probably weren't all that much easier either

[@mrsemifixit]

Why the choice for battery removal like that only on the 16 but not the 16 pro?

[@ziich1]

That adhesive tech is actually really cool and innovative. Hopefully we can see more manufacturers take advantage of this. Also could this replace more of the adhesive in the phone?

[@CodyAvant]

I think they will/should do an API that allows game devs to use camera / lock buttons as L+R triggers. They’re placed perfectly for it.

[@dalmirnogueira]

You still need to heat and cut the glue on the back glass to access the battery. So I wouldn't call it "repair friendly", but it's way better than before

[@Ph3nomen0N]

After all the negativity and criticism I'm glad Apple have stepped up their internal design and repairability game. And it's nice to see people appreciate it too

[@Mischmasch44]

Which phones benefit from the new OEM parts swapping? I have an iPhone 13 and I am wondering if I can use parts from other iPhones to replace them on mine without any error messages. The only articles I can find are from April this year when it was announced…

[@ggandalff]

Having an option to remove the back glass by just selecting the option in the settings (twitch the clear warning) would be a game changer

[@FirdausAmir]

Final got improvement

[@a1l2e3x4s5o6]

lol Is that soldering iron ad a jab back at Linus?

[@phanipradeepvalluri4109]

Excellent explanation brother

[@Stuntman707]

This is really cool to see. Glad to see Apple starting to consider better repairability in their designs. Still got a long way to go though.

[@DanielPierce]

Imagine you insert a special USB-C cable that had extra pins that connect to the adhesive of the front or back glass…

[@raduavram]

hope that the iphone 17 will be a 8/10 :D

[@MuhdFaizFXIZZ]

This gives hope and make me want to perform battery replacement by myself 🎉

[@Georgekartveli]

If you check Apple's website they still claim that the iPhone 16 line has mmWave support in the US models. But based on the teardown it doesn't seem like there is an antenna for it. Is Apple lying or did they somehow integrate it into the camera button perhaps?

[@andrewho2456]

In previous implementations of the side-firing mmwave antenna, Apple opted for a semi-custom frontend antenna made by USI when all other phones on the market used Qualcomm's antenna kit. This year we might see a fully custom design for the first time, and it potentially has multiple mmwave antennas! (See Apple's patent US20210167487A1) Edit: there's a chance that Camera Control comprises one of the mmwave antennas, with maybe a second one on the back glass

[@IHeartMacsH8r5]

Does this mean you can add a SIM reader to these models unlike the 14's and 15's since the Taptic Engine has a "buffer" connection using the SIM tray?? Edit; It seems that they moved the mmWave antenna is ON The top speaker. That's that the extra antennas were on it. So it's not hone, but moved. I heard thew new modem doesn't require as many mmWave antennas unlike the 12-15

[@alexpanait]

How about Pro or Pro Max? Lower score for them?

[@alessandromauri93]

Beautiful video and amazing News 😂 Maybe in a few years I'll buy one 😂

[@thereverant5203]

Hey iFixIt, what battery is in this soldering iron that you are going to release? Hopefully a standard-sized Li-ion battery like a 18650/21700/26650, right? Not a custom sized battery like those in phones and tablets? I want to be able to hold on to this soldering iron for 10-15-20 years and not worry if I can find batteries down the road.

[@NicleT]

That seems to be good news. Will you do the 16 Pro next?

[@EsquireR]

faceid still esily break by water damage detection and requires whole module replacement without oem alternative?

[@calorion]

5:21 I'm sorry, did I just hear you say that you can now *service the battery*??

[@devnol]

Wow. For the first time in a while I'm starting to think Apple is in the right track here. Now if only you could use aftermarket parts as well... Still though, big step in the right direction and that new battery adhesive tech is fascinating.

[@philipp594]

The best thing is the battery charging limit!

[@DumahBrazorf]

A riveted button, how smart for repairability.

[@AvnishPandya]

Can anyone let me know the exact brand and model of such electrically debonding adhesive? Thanks

[@kwxl]

How do you glue back a new battery?

[@abc123fhdi]

how good is the ip rating after battery replacement?

[@CL-yp1bs]

Nice battery

[@foglebr]

That battery removal process is fantastic! Thank you EU!

[@rvalent9366]

CAN WE USE HEAT TO REMOVE THE BATTERY?

[@Luzgar]

That's a neat trick, but who hold the patent for that ? Can anybody else do it ?

[@VMiXEZ]

Why some model has metal battery shielding?

[@minhphuctran3695]

I think they change to electric glue so it is more easy done by machine

[@slimshady-it8fu]

Thanks to eu for forcing this change

[@lichtstreuner]

did not expect 🤯

[@Felixsimp420]

@iFixit, can you confirm what qualcomm cellular mode is in the iphone 16 series

[@alinoorstar]

Next year iPhone give 3.5mm headphones Port and saying it's a biggest innovation 😅😅😅

[@gentle285]

They can call it however they want, just give it back..

[@eduardoizquierdo309]

Still not as easy as old android phones where you could pop off the back cover and battery with only your fingernails

[@Coconut7403]

This type of progress should have been happening since the iPhone 10 where they stopped changing the design.

[@izzatrahman7339]

the devices that really need baterry removal feature is samsung😂😂

[@AngeAlexiel]

i guess you could stop complaining about the jack missing , it's too big and i think most people prefer Airpods since a while now ... but great internals like always , and more repairable than ever , even the pro's .

[@Taylor-js9sg]

This old fashioned thing called a removable rear cover is the real solution. Along with headphone jack. But of course its all financially based nowadays, sell a stupidly priced Bluetooth earbuds, and have to pay someone to stick in a battery!

[@brackpersian]

So 16 pro max is the only one being shortchanged with old technology? 16 pro has metal casing 16 and 16 plus has this new tech 16 pro max has nothing new

[@kruthaykumarreddy9439]

How about we give it a bit higher rating then?

[@DoubleCTech]

So Apple just drop the mmWave antenna? That’s odd but I am sure almost no one will notice. I guess that also marks the end for mmWave in general. 🤷‍♂️

[@Lepo4256]

Even _if_ Apple did the battery thing for their own techs. It is a huge step forward because their techs are frequently limited on the repairs they can offer because of the design of the devices.

[@abc123fhdi]

they finally added vapor chamber to the iPhone after it's been in Android for years.

[@TheAethist]

My take on this being more repairable is that it's great however are the parts going to be easily available from Apple. I'd hazard a guess of that being no since though they'd make money it'll be a problem in terms of selling the next year's Iphone.

[@dogoku]

The new battery adhesive is cool and all... But screws would still have been better. It feels that they did this to deter normal people from replacing the battery themselves, since most people wont have the tools or the knowledge to apply a specific voltage to remove the battery

[@Aikano9]

Apple’s repair guide says to use a 9V battery, the same one you have in your smoke alarm.