iPhone 16 achieves high scores in teardown video thanks to new quick-remove battery
The iPhone 16 and its Plus counterpart have now been released in the absence of the shiny new battery shield present in the higher-end 16 Pro and Pro Max. Nevertheless, the vanilla members of the new flagship series have a feature all their own that might make up for that.
The Cupertino giant has now released a new iPhone 16 Battery Repair Guide that confirms the presence of electrically-induced adhesive under the device's battery, in place of the dreaded pull-tabs as usual. Apple claims that it is possible to "hot-wire" this glue with nothing more than a simple 9V battery connected to red and black crocodile clips.
They need to be connected to a new silver tab on the battery and a grounding screw found on the nearby speaker array respectively for the debonding to take place.
iFixit confirmed that this protocol works as part of its new iPhone 16 teardown video, noting that it can also work with other up-to-30W power sources, some power banks included.
The new kind of battery glue, thought to be supplied by Tesa, is extremely incalcitrant without the use of its electrochemical properties, as discovered by Phone Repair Guru during another 16-series teardown.
Nevertheless, the new feature has earned the iPhone 16 series an iFixit score of 7/10. The 16 Pro and Pro Max have yet to challenge this achievement; however, with their traditional pull-tabs, they are unlikely to score such a win for their reparability any time soon.
