Apple May Make It Easier to Replace the Battery in Your Next IPhone
All batteries age, and your iPhone’s lithium-ion battery is no exception. Over time, the battery degrades and, as such, can no longer hold as much charge as it could when new. After a few years of using your phone, you may notice that after you remove your iPhone from the charger, you only have 70-80% of the time you used before.
When the inevitable happens to you, you don’t need to buy a new iPhone. Instead , you can simply replace the battery at a relatively inexpensive cost . Depending on your iPhone, you may not only notice an increase in the amount of time you’re out of charge, but also an increase in performance as iOS slows down your iPhone’s processing power when its battery is too low.
But while replacing the battery is possible, it could certainly be easier. Currently, Apple secures the battery inside your iPhone using a strong adhesive . To remove it, you need to pull on several tabs, which are easy to break, making the removal process more dangerous than it needs to be. The battery itself is also fragile, so you’ll have to disconnect and reconnect some very thin cables. Despite all this, you can replace the battery yourself, but it is easier to take it to a repair shop. (Apple would prefer you to use its own.)
But if the reports are true, the process could be significantly easier with the iPhone 16.
iPhone 16 may have an easily removable battery
According to a report by The Information , Apple is planning a new battery strategy for the iPhone 16. In this new line of smartphones, Apple may place the battery in a metal case rather than in foil, allowing for a new extraction process. : Instead of pulling the tabs to release the adhesive from the battery, you must send a low voltage electrical shock through the battery case to release it from the iPhone. If this succeeds, the process will be much safer and simpler than the current system.
Apple won’t do this out of concern for customers. This is likely in response to a new EU law that requires smartphones to have “replaceable batteries” by 2025. Europe has had a significant influence on Apple’s decisions over the past year, requiring the company to open up many of its closed platforms , including allowing independent app stores and browsers on iOS.
Despite this pressure, it will be easier to replace just the battery. There are no rumors of Apple making the rest of the iPhone repair process easier, so the iPhone 16 will likely still come with the usual strong adhesive on the case, which will need to be heated and broken to open the device.
Apple’s battery changes could also improve battery capacity
These changes could mean more than just making it easier to replace batteries. According to prominent Apple spokesperson Ming-Chi Kuo , Apple will also increase the battery density of the iPhone 16 lineup by 5–10%. This extra boost could translate into longer battery life, but as Apple rolls out supposedly power-hungry Apple Intelligence features into new iPhones, those battery gains could quickly disappear .