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iPhone 16 battery replacement takes only 90 seconds

Updated: Sep 25, 2024, 6:21 AM

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The relative ease of the iPhone 16 battery replacement has earned Apple's highest ever repairability score. There is a novel adhesive that holds down the iPhone 16 battery and the iPhone 16 Plus pack.

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By applying electrical current through the adhesive, it loses its stickiness and the iPhone 16 battery can be easily swapped out in about a minute and a half. Apple recommends using a regular 9V battery and two cables with alligator clips.

The positive red clip goes to the iPhone 16 battery's silver tab, and the black one to the grounding screw on the bottom right that holds down the speaker. In 90 seconds or less, the battery can simply be removed from the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, scoring the two phones the unprecedented repairability number of 7/10 from iFixit.

The dual-entry design, first introduced on the 14 series, remains very elegant. Once inside, lots of components are independently accessible with little to no additional disassembly. The layout is smart, prioritizing access to critical repairs like battery and camera replacement. In past models, it was normal to see, for example, battery pull tabs blocked by a Taptic Engine, which was blocked by a speaker, which was blocked by a big grounding bracket—all of that having to come out in sequence. The 16’s design offers independent access to the battery, the speaker, the Taptic Engine, cameras, display, back cover, and so on. It’s really thoughtfully laid out.

iFixit, September '24

As usual, the teardown specialists complain mainly from the use of unorthodox screw types that make them use special tools to take the iPhone apart. The iPhone 16 Pro line doesn't get as high of a repairability score, as the phones still use adhesive that has to be stretched out for the battery to be removed and, in the case of the iPhone 16 Pro, the battery is housed in a metal enclosure for better heat dissipation.

The new iPhone 16 battery replacement process was likened to an Oreo cookie. "You figured out that if you dip just the bottom cookie in some milk and twist the cookie apart, the filling will always stick to the top cookie," says iFixit, while explaining how easy this makes an iPhone battery swap now.

Hopefully, the battery adhesive zapping technology will trickle up to the iPhone Pro line of phones in future iterations as well.

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.