The iPhone 16 teardown shows a new way to attach the phone’s battery

As soon as the iPhone 16 series arrived the folks at iFixit started taking them apart, a process made easier this time by the one-day release of repair manuals from Apple. The unboxing process shows that the Camera Control is a real moving button, along with a flexible cable that probably measures power, and a heat sink that appears to be well positioned to keep the A18’s Neural Engine cool while handling AI workloads.

After disconnecting the battery from the board, you apply voltage from the power source (a 9-volt battery for 90 seconds will do), and the previously attached battery comes off easily enough that gravity alone can do the job. Then to make a new battery stick, it just needs to be pressed.

Apple notes that over time, the discharge time can be longer, but for these brand new phones, iFixit found that using 20V of current is enough to undo the bond in five seconds, and Apple says you can use up to 30V. iFixit also brought a microscopic close-up of the frame that holds the battery and machined ridges that should give the battery something to stick to.