The new iPhone 16 and 16 Plus may look similar from the outside, but there are major changes on the inside. And the coolest one, by far, is one you’ll probably never see.
During its usual teardown, iFixit discovered several small changes to the internal layout of the parts, including a new L-shaped logic board and the removal of one of the mmWave 5G antennas. Most of these changes are due to the batteries, both of which are larger than those in the iPhone 15 models and have “a hard steel casing instead of a soft pouch.”
But the most interesting feature is hidden under the battery. iFixit discovered that the batteries are secured with a clever adhesive “that can release when an electrical current is passed through it.” This means that not only will it stay in place until an electrical charge is applied to it, but it also means there’s no need for finicky, brittle adhesive strips, just a consistent, easily repeatable process.
There aren’t even any pull tabs. The principle is this: the adhesive stays stuck until a 9V current is passed through it. Like a car battery, you’ll need to attach an alligator clip to the silver tab on the battery and another to the grounding screw near the USB-C port. Plug it into a power source and wait about a minute, and the battery will magically detach from the case.
Then when you replace it with a new battery, the substrate layer reattaches to the casing. You can see this in action in the video below.
