Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max smartphone at the company’s Grand Central store in New York, USA, on … [+]
The iPhone 16 is shaping up to be one of the most user-friendly devices Apple has released in years.
That’s thanks in large part to a slew of fixability moves the company has made, or is rumored to be making, in recent months. This week Information announced that Apple is developing a new “electrically induced bonding” technology to make removing batteries easier.
As it is, removing the batteries from the iPhone requires some skill to pry the adhesive strips that stick it to the chassis. It is not a simple thing for a common user without experience. But Apple wants to change with a bonding technology that would release the battery after “the application of a small shock of electricity.”
Information sources claim that this new technology could hit at least one iPhone 16 model this year and roll out to the entire iPhone 17 range in 2025.
The move appears to be an attempt by the Cupertino company to comply with eco-design legislation passed by the European Union last year. Specifically, the law states that smartphone battery replacement should be “performable without a tool, tool, or set of tools that comes with the product or replacement part, or without essential tools.”
Several other announcements or quiet changes indicate that Apple’s upcoming iPhones will be significantly different from Apple’s mobile phones of the past decade.
For example, the redesigned internal chassis of the iPhone 15 makes it easier to remove the back panel without breaking the glass. Last year, the company introduced a self-service repair program that made it easier for people to repair devices at home, which has now partially expanded to Europe.
Then there’s the company’s new part-pairing policy, which means iPhone users will be able to swap parts without Apple’s permission. The change applies to the iPhone 16 and is likely a response to Oregon’s Right to Repair law. The new legislation prohibits the practice of disabling features if an unauthorized repair is performed on a smartphone.
Elsewhere, a recent patent for a future iPhone detailed a modular phone that had an easily removable back panel. The idea is that the back cover can be swapped out for panels with one or more additional hardware features. So if the user wanted a longer battery life, they could plug in a battery module, or if they wanted a different screen, they could connect a second display.
Nothing about this patent application screams Apple to me, it looks more like the LG G5, the ultra-customizable Inspector Gadget smartphone from 2016. But the patent application also sounds like the vision of smartphones in the EU bill, which talks about reusable fasteners (e.g. clips, screws and bolts that hold parts together) and replacement parts that have the effect of “improving or restoring the functionality of the equipment in which they are installed”.
There are caveats to all of this. Patents often do not become reality. The independent repair program (separate from the self-service repair program) has come under fire for squeezing the profits of repair shops that sign up. The new parts-matching policy appears to only apply to iPhones (read this story on iPads that won’t draw straight lines after a repair), and Apple has fought hard against some of the new regulations, arguing that the Oregon law would “undermine the safety” of iPhone users.
The good news is that Apple’s recent moves suggest that the next iPhone will be one of the most repairable in the company’s history. This means savings for buyers over the lifetime of the device, as iPhones won’t require expensive repairs that only Apple can perform. The headphones will also not have to be thrown away if something goes wrong.
Replaceable batteries are also one of the main battles that consumers have lost in the last decade. Partly because Android makers like Samsung and LG have been fighting to take some of Apple’s market share by mimicking the iPhone’s sleek design. Maybe we’re back on the road to easily swapping out batteries as needed instead of paying Apple $99 to do it.