Apple's senior director of iPhone product design Richard Dinh recently spoke with The Sydney Morning Herald's Tim Biggs about the design of the standard iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, including internal changes that simplify repairs.
iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are equipped with a removable back glass panel for easier repairs, making them the first models that can be opened from both the front and back sides of the device since the iPhone 4S. The change does not extend to the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, which can still only be opened from the front side.
This new structural design with a central aluminum frame "helps to dissipate more heat across the entire surface more consistently," and the ability to access the logic board from either side of the device results in "improved repairability," according to Dinh.
Image Credit: iFixit
iFixit's Kyle Wiens last year said the iPhone 14 represents "the most substantial iPhone redesign" since the iPhone X given the increased repairability. He added that the changes are "such a big deal that it should have been Apple's big announcement—the iPhone has been redesigned from the inside out to make it easier to repair."
Dinh also touched on Apple's approach to designing the standard iPhone models, noting that the company does not have any strict formula.
"We don't always follow a recipe, as much as maybe our customers would like to predict what we're going to go do next, but it always starts with the customer experience," he said, adding that "sometimes we do draw from the Pros because they're just incredible" and "sometimes we go do something different."
Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017
"APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote.
Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April.
From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements.
While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way.
By the time the ...
Tuesday February 25, 2025 2:58 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is making significant headway on its long-rumored foldable iPhone, with a new report suggesting the company has achieved a major breakthrough by effectively eliminating the screen crease that plagues current foldable devices.
According to Korean publication ETNews, Apple is finalizing its component suppliers for the foldable iPhone, with the selection process expected to be completed...
Tuesday February 25, 2025 1:18 pm PST by Juli Clover
Multiple iPhone owners today noticed a pronunciation processing issue that causes the word "Trump" to momentarily show up when using dictation to send a message with the word "racist."
In some cases, when speaking the word racist through the iPhone's built-in dictation feature, the iPhone briefly interprets the spoken word as "Trump" and "Trump" text shows up in the Messages app before being ...
Monday February 24, 2025 9:14 am PST by Joe Rossignol
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year.
The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time.
Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
Monday February 24, 2025 6:11 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to launch a second-generation AirTag in May or June this year, according to a post today from a leaker known as Kosutami.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that a new AirTag would be released in mid-2025. May or June would align with that timeframe.
Below, we recap three new features rumored for the AirTag 2:
With a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, the...
Sunday February 23, 2025 2:23 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
The first beta of iOS 18.4 is now available, and it includes a small but useful change for CarPlay.
As we noted in our list of iOS 18.4 features, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra, which can be equipped...
The fastest way to fix a broken iPhone is to buy a new one. All or this ifixit guff really grinds my gears. We want thin gorgeous devices not thick repairable bricks.
You know what really Grinds my Gears? These new iPhones. New iPhones with all those new features and fresh batteries, taking pictures of things in the dark. Ya know what? You're a.. You're out there jumping around with your new iPhone and I'm just posting here in Mac Rumors. So what am I supposed to do? We taking that new phone on a trip? Going to the mall? What do you want new iPhone? Tell me what you want!
This is a pretty obscure Family Guy reference I expect almost no one to get, but maybe one person will laugh at it, so....
Not sure this deserves any kind of ‘pat on the back’. Unless an average consumer can get parts and replace by themselves, really doesn’t matter. Still need to take somewhere and pay. Not going to be any cheaper if saves like 2 minutes repair time.
The fastest way to fix a broken iPhone is to buy a new one. All or this ifixit guff really grinds my gears. We want thin gorgeous devices not thick repairable bricks.
We? Thin? Hey Jony (Ive), speak for yourself.
Making it so that it's a little easier to repair than it is now doesn't mean it has to be thick like a brick. There's a happy medium somewhere. Take the Fairphone 4 ('https://shop.fairphone.com/en/buy-fairphone-4') as an example. It's not ugly or thick and has an iFixit repairability score of 10 ('https://www.ifixit.com/News/55818/fairphone-4-teardown-if-only-apple-made-phones-like-this').
This however is yet another piece of whitewashing from Apple, as their current third party/self repair renders any such repair difficult if not impossible not from a purely technical point of view - but due to draconian control of spare parts supply, pricing, "calibration" and tool costs.
