Apple has done much over the years to make the iPhone easier to repair Most notably, a self-repair program and a redesign that allows repair technicians to open the iPhone from the front or back depending on the problem being repaired With the iPhone 16, however, Apple has made sure to take repairability to a whole new level

According to Apple, the iPhone 16 is designed with longevity in mind and follows three basic principles: durability, repairability, and continuous software updates Durability and continuous software updates are things Apple has been doing for years now, and this year some important changes were made to improve the repairability of the phone

The first is that it is now much easier to remove the battery from the iPhone 16 iPhone 16 batteries are held in place with an “ionic liquid battery adhesive” that peels off when exposed to low-voltage current

This was rumored before the iPhone 16's release, and some speculate that this may be due to EU legislation regarding battery replacement And Apple claims that something as simple as a 9-volt battery can provide the current needed to free up the battery

Apple will also launch a new Repair Assistant in iOS 18 that will allow users and third-party repair technicians to configure Apple parts directly on the device This equates to being able to more easily repair specialist parts

The TrueDepth camera on the iPhone 12s and later allows users to configure settings on the device without having to connect to a Mac The TrueDepth camera can also be exchanged from one iPhone 16 (or iPhone 16 Pro) to another Finally, the iPhone 16 Pro model now has “simplified access” to some components, although specifics are not known; all Apple has revealed is that the LiDAR sensor is now repairable in the rear camera module

iOS 18 also includes a new tool called Apple Diagnostics for Repair This allows users to diagnose problems and find out which parts need to be replaced without having to rely on a second device

Finally, Apple has improved support for third-party parts and used Apple parts for repair Used parts can be formally calibrated through Apple's cloud-based servers and marked as “used” in the repair history Third-party parts cannot yet be calibrated, but the iPhone 16 should attempt to activate the part so that it “performs to its full potential”

Apple has confirmed that future software updates will enable True Tone for third-party displays and battery health for third-party batteries; the LiDAR sensor, too, if replaced without reconfiguring it upon replacement, performance may vary, but will continue to function

Frankly, better support for anything other than new, genuine parts can only be a good thing; as we have seen with the Apple Self Repair store, official parts can be very expensive and may lock some users out So the fact that they can rely on a (presumably) lower-cost option without losing important features of the phone is a big step forward for Apple