Backside line: Apple has in all probability made one among its most important iPhone repairability strides but. Cupertino engineers might have used the usual iPhone 14 to check the self-repair waters. Whereas the telephone does not have many upgrades over final yr’s mannequin, it does have an inner design that makes it fairly completely different, as iFixit found.
After launching final Friday, the gurus at iFixit did not waste any time tearing down the iPhone 14. Whereas Apple didn’t change a lot within the handset’s aesthetics, the inside design is rather more repair-friendly. The truth is, iFixit calls it essentially the most repairable iPhone in years.
“Apple has utterly redesigned the internals of the iPhone 14 to make it simpler to restore,” mentioned iFixit founder Kyle Wiens. “It isn’t in any respect seen from the skin, however it is a huge deal. It is essentially the most vital design change to the iPhone in a very long time.”
The massive information is the again glass is well detachable now. Apple’s change to glass rear plates, beginning with the iPhone 8, was to accommodate wi-fi charging. Sadly, repairing that panel is an costly $600 ache within the bottom (pun meant).
Taking off the rear panel of the iPhone 14 is a cinch comparatively. Two screws and a single connector on the backside of the body maintain the glass in place. A light adhesive reinforces the meeting. The glue is way “much less aggressive” than what Apple makes use of on different fashions. A heating mat, suction deal with, and opening picks had been all iFixit wanted to raise off the again.
“The perfect function of the iPhone 14 is one which Apple did not inform you about. Overlook satellite tv for pc SOS and the bigger digicam, the headline is that this: Apple has utterly redesigned the internals of the iPhone 14 to make it simpler to restore.”
The identical screws that safe the again additionally maintain within the show. So each the back and front can fold out from the brand new steel midframe like “a good looking butterfly.” The midframe additionally makes iPhone 14 extra shock-resistant for the reason that interior body and battery take the brunt of the drive quite than the glass.
Sadly, Apple solely included this “secret redesign” in the usual iPhone 14. The iPhone Professional and Professional Max have the identical inner structure as earlier fashions. Wiens mentioned that in order for you an iPhone that “actually lasts,” the usual iPhone 14 is your greatest wager.
Oddly, Apple failed to say this new design facet in its keynote. In any case, the iPhone 14 does not have loads of bragging factors. It isn’t even an incremental improve to the iPhone 13.
“The iPhone 13, which got here out a yr in the past and Apple continues to be promoting, is almost an identical to the 14,” a evaluation from The Verge factors out, including that it ought to have been known as the “iPhone 13S.”
Apple’s advertising workforce dropped the ball by not taking part in up the interior adjustments and hyping the iPhone 14’s rather more repair-friendly design. Nevertheless, it might be that Apple continues to be not able to take a full leap into the DIY restore scene.
Whereas it has made vital strikes to allow self and non-Apple repairs, with product manuals and restore kits obtainable to anybody, it does not appear able to let it go solely. For instance, regardless that changing the again glass is less complicated, iOS will nag you to “activate” the panel.
“Why on the earth would you want permission to put in a sheet of glass?” iFixit mentioned in its teardown video (masthead). “Utilizing software program to forestall the alternative of parts with aftermarket elements will get a giant thumbs down from us.”
This continued anti-self-repair angle held the iPhone 14 again from getting a better iFixit repairability rating. That mentioned, it nonetheless ranked 7/10, the very best it has given the model for the reason that iPhone 7.
Picture credit score: iFixit
