A recent teardown by iFixithas revealed three design changes that make the iPhone 16 series the easiest to repair ever

While some argue that smartphone design has stagnated recently, there are areas of constant change These internal structural changes go unnoticed by the average consumer, but can significantly alter the life span and repair cost of a phone In a recent disassembly test, iFixit rated the iPhone 16 series the highest repairability of any Apple device tested This is good news after recent drop tests revealed potential problems with the iPhone 16 Pro's new thin bezel

The first change is that Apple has placed the battery in a hard steel case rather than the more common soft pouch design This means that there is less chance of the battery accidentally penetrating and igniting during repair The second change is a new adhesive that holds the battery in place and can be removed with a small current This makes it easier to remove from the phone and reduces potential damage to other parts of the device

The third and most interesting change is that Apple has allowed the iPhone 16 Pro model to be disassembled from the back and front Apple has used this design feature before with the base iPhone 14 model, but this is the first time it has been used with a steel-cased battery This makes it easier to detect and replace malfunctions without the fear of frequent screen breakage As a result, the time spent waiting for parts is reduced and repairs can be made more quickly

iFixit also praised the repair assistant in iOS 18 The assistant is designed to help calibrate and verify new or OEM parts for devices iFixit said in a blog post: “When we tested it on the iPhone 15 series earlier this week, we thought it was promising, prime If it's not ready in time yet,” before stating, ”but it worked impressively smoothly on our vanilla iPhone 16: one click to pair and calibrate all components at once, and no bugs were found 9]

As phones become more expensive, the pressure to keep them in use as long as possible increases While ease of repair may not be a prerequisite for inclusion on the best phones list, it is certainly a factor that the average consumer will appreciate