Modern phones are a pain to repair, thanks to increasingly small and complex components and thinner designs. One recent “innovation” involves using plastic tape to cut away some of the glue that holds batteries in place, with less than stellar results. But iFixit has discovered that the latest iPhones are surprisingly repairable thanks to a new glue that can be peeled off with an electric current.
According to the teardown video, the latest iPhones benefit from significant internal changes that allow for much simpler repairs in addition to improved thermal management. Getting inside the phone isn’t easy — as with any modern phone, with a few exceptions — requiring the company’s “Clampy” suction cup tool followed by prying with several picks. But once the back panel is removed, it comes off with a few screws and a disconnected wireless charging cable.
The really interesting bit starts at 2:36 in the video above. Instead of using pull tabs or cutting tape, the new iPhones have a small piece of exposed plastic film that covers the battery. If you run a small electrical current through it (while grounding the phone for safety), the adhesive behind the battery loses its grip. Of course, it comes out of the body of the phone without any residue.
This is a big one. Removing a glued-on battery is a real pain on most phones, amplified by the stress involved because a lithium-ion battery can be dangerous if it gets warped or punctured. Add to that the fact that the battery will almost inevitably wear out in a phone if you don’t replace it within a few years, making it the most common component to repair, along with broken screens.
Making battery replacement easy is a critical part of phone durability, which is part of why it’s so frustrating to see phones like the Pixel 9 go through such an ordeal. Certified phone repair experts iFixit couldn’t remove the battery from this phone even with three people working on it at once, contributing to a repairability score of 5 out of 10. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus get a 7 out of 10 — not exactly amazing, but a huge improvement. Most parts can be replaced in a modular fashion, though the FaceID camera system might not be as easy.
“With the exception of highly repairable devices like the Fairphone, I’m not sure we’ve ever had a battery repair process this clean and seamless,” says iFixit’s Shahram Mokhtari.
I’ve repaired a few phones in my life, but I haven’t tried it in years because the process has become too difficult as the components get thinner and more fragile. This electrically deactivated glue is exciting, and I’d feel much more confident replacing a battery myself knowing it’s there.
