Posts Tagged → right to repair

The More Repairable iPhone 16

The iFixit teardown of the iPhone 16 is interesting. Apple is continuing to creep towards better repairability each year.

A constant problem for folks who like to crack their phones open is glue. Specifically, there’s a lot of adhesive inside these devices, and getting rid of it to do any repair is time-consuming and messy. Apple solved that with the battery in the new iPhone by using electrically activated adhesive. You apply a low-voltage current to it, and the battery pops out. It’s an interesting technology that I didn’t even know existed.

If you’d like to learn more about what’s inside your phone, check out the full iFixit video below.

Apple’s iPhone Testing Lab

I found this video fascinating. Of course, Apple’s testing facility looks like something from a science fiction movie.

An interesting point here is the tradeoff between reliability and repairability. As Apple tries to make its devices more repairable, how does it maintain reliability? This is interesting because an iPhone is not a washing machine. What I mean is that a washing machine should lean toward repairability. Ideally, a 10-year-old washing machine should be something you can repair and keep running. A 10-year-old iPhone, however, is not something you’d want to repair given the rate of advancement in technology (i.e. faster processors, new features, better cameras). There isn’t an easy answer here. Nevertheless, Apple’s space-aged testing lab is worth checking out.