iPhone Air teardown reveals that Apple’s thinnest iPhone is still very repairable

As per usual, iFixit has done their excellent annual iPhone teardown and analysis, and they’ve discovered some great news about iPhone Air. Despite being an incredibly thin engineering feat, the iPhone Air is still pretty easy to repair.

Just like Apple’s keynote depicted, iPhone Air is mostly battery on the inside. The vast majority of the components are located within the camera plateau at the top. On their blog, iFixit also shared a 3D x-ray scan of iPhone Air, highlighting exactly how everything is laid out.

To be more specific, iFixit highlights that the battery is still incredibly easy to replace, particularly because of its metal casing and electrically-debonding adhesive strips. Apple introduced those special battery adhesive strips last year. It allows third party battery swaps without needing to worry about puncturing the battery – since the adhesive can be zapped with a 12V battery.

Additionally, the iPhone Air still offers a modular USB-C port, allowing for easy port swaps if that component fails. They also highlight the fact that you can enter the phone without having to mess with the OLED display, thanks to the new mid-frame design introduced with iPhone 14.

All in all, iFixit rated the iPhone Air a 7/10 for repairability. For reference, iPhone 16e and 16 Pro also scored a 7/10 – underscoring that iPhone Air is just as repairable.

Apple scoring so high in recent years has a lot to do with their commitment to releasing individual parts for repair through their self-service repair store.

Watch the full teardown here on YouTube:

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